16th March
Our six nights at Siem Reap were to be spent in three different guesthouses because of mistaken bookings and lack of availability.
Firstly was Siem Reap Rooms. We were collected from the bus free of charge. When we arrived we were welcomed with homemade iced tea and sat at the front desk.
The check in process was one of he nicest so far. We were talked through all of the tours that the guesthouse offered and told of the most popular and recommended tours amongst guests. All details were neatly written on a two sided A4 map. The first side was of the city. All recommended restaurants, bars, cafés, museums and markets were marked, we were even given directions to an ATM that didn't charge! This incredibly smiley and helpful man had basically helped organise our stay at Siem Reap. We felt bad that we were unable to book our temple tours through the guesthouse because we were only staying one night.
We were shown up to our room which didn't disappoint either; we had a big double bed, air conditioning, a big bathroom, a TV and most of all it was clean, and smelt clean.
We spent the day relaxing and looking up some of the restaurants recommended by the reception. They were all highly rated.
We set off for a walk along the river into Siem Reap city. It was buzzing with tourists. The city is the third largest in Cambodia, with its economy relying heavily on influx of tourists visiting the astounding temples. In true Cambodian entrepreneurial style the locals catered the visitors by setting up restaurants, cafés, stalls, massage parlours, and even mobile businesses of books (typically of the Khmer Rouge regime or the Temples), jewellery or postcards.
Facing us were a mass of restaurants lining the river, a number of bridges crossing the water, including a brightly lit Chinese style bridge that connected the old market place to the new. As we passed we were greeted with the usual: "Hello lady, you buy, hey lady, what you look for?".
We walked down one of the main streets and were constantly beckoned into various bars and restaurants, we declined and walked on. We already had a destination in mind: Pub Street.
The streets name glowed in neon lights above its entrance, with flashing arrows. Music was playing to all the bars and staff eagerly awaited customers.
In the middle of our table was a gaping hole that was soon to be filled with our own BBQ. The dish places on top had a cone shaped grill; a chunk of fat was places on the top and dripped down so we could place our meat to cook. Surrounding the grill was a bowl that was filled with water and an array of vegetables and noodles. The water came to the boil, we ate the noodles with the meats, and then enjoyed the vegetable soup that had been left to simmer away. It was delicious. We began with the less adventurous of the meats and worked our way up to the crocodile and the kangaroo (which was my favourite, probably because of how dark the meat was; similar to a really dark steak!)
After dinner we investigated the markets, we were amazed by the mass of masseurs and tanks filled with dead skin eating fish just waiting to nibble on someone's feet - they were everywhere. Of course, persuading Blair to get either a massage or a foot dip with the flesh eating fish was an impossible feat.
The number of stalls selling knock-off designer clothing, jewellery and watches was pretty overwhelming too. Every stall you saw sold something slightly nicer, or better quality than before. Blair wasn't feeling the market browsing, so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
We checked out of Siem Reap Rooms after a huge breakfast and walked down to our next home for the night: Sam So.
Our room smelt of stale smoke and urine. There were stains on the sheets. Needless to say is was a huge step down from Siem Reap rooms.
We checked in around 13:00. Despite not feeling well due to a bad stomach, Blair and I escaped the smelly room. We explored the city a bit more and stocked up on supplies in the local pharmacy.
Blair was actually happier walking around shops than facing the outdoor heat. The difference between the north west was incredible. Blair's T-shirt would be soaked by the time we'd arrived the bridge before crossing into the city. Our skin to the touch would be damp or dripping with sweat.
That evening I went for dinner alone; Blair wasn't well at all. I was craving Italian and had found a place amidst the maze of restaurants just off Pub Street. The alleyways were tiny and cobbled, they reminded me of the narrow walkways in the old towns of north-eastern Spain.
I sat in Il Forno and ordered a calzone and the nicest glass of red wine I have had in years - mam and dad, not to worry, I remembered that it was a Sangiovese Cabernet Sauvignon, this should narrow the search a little. Like one of the reviews had mentioned, I really did feel like I was in Italy. It was perfect the only thing missing was Blair's company.
As I headed back to the hotel, the bars, particularly the Irish bar (no tourist destination is complete without one) was packed. It clicked immediately: it was St. Paddy's day.
I sat at one of the bars and had a drink and quickly got chatting with some other British tourists who wanted tips on Cambodia in exchange for information and recommendations in Vietnam.
We may have been thousands of miles away from the emerald isle, but Siem Reap celebrated St. Paddy's with all the drink and energy it had!
We finally moved into a hotel where we could arrange the highlight of the stop: the Temples. We checked into Motherhome guesthouse. It was more like a hotel than a guesthouse; we even had a bath and hot water! There was an onsite massage parlour, offering a huge range of traditional treatments.
We arranged for one of the hotel's tuk-tuk drivers to collect us a 05:00 the following morning and take us for our first tour of the temples. We opted for the small circuit to begin with. This was a tour of five temples: Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei and Prasat Kravan. The highlight was going to be our first stop; watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat.
The hotel had prepared packed breakfasts for us of fresh fruit, toasted sandwiches and bottles of water. Our driver waited for us outside. He introduced himself as Tom, ran through the day's itinerary and we were off.
The morning was cool and I was glad I had brought my cardigan and pashmina. I had read up on the dress code and general etiquette for the temples because a) I didn't want to show disrespect and b) I didn't want to be refused entry to any of the temples.
We sped past a number of tourists all at different stages of their bike ride to the temples as well as bus loads of Asians.
We stopped at the ticket offices where we paid for a three day pass at $40 each. We had our photos taken and printed onto our passes.
Tom then drove us further through the dark until we arrived at a huge mass of tourists buying coffee from vans and being sold books and torches.
Blair pulled out a torch of his own and we walked along a bridge that crossed a river that encircled Angkor Wat. The skies were lightening and we began to see the outline of the entrance into the grounds of the first temple. We treaded carefully through the pitch black entrance way, taking care where we placed our feet to avoid tripping. Angkor Wat stood impressively before us. Crowds had gathered around the lilly pond to the left of the temple. We found a decent enough spot and waited for the skies to change and the sun to rise.
When we realised we weren't going to get the sunrise we hoped for, due to the heavy clouds, we wondered off through the central temple and explored its grounds. It really is stunning. The photos will do far more justice than any description I could write.
Next was Bayon, a raised temple, that struck me as reminiscent of Aztec or Mayan architecture. As we assented the top we were approached by an elderly man with a shaven head (usually an indication of a monk or nun). He tied red braided bracelets around our wrists and gave us sticks of lit incense to place at the Buddha's feet. This ceremonial-like act was done entirely in silence, until we were asked for 2000 riel each. We did so, but instantly felt conned.
I had read of many monk and nun imposters walked the temples grounds and set up camp coning the tourists using every trick in the book.
The third temple was one of the temples I had been looking forward mostly to visit. I had seen many photographs of Ta Prohm, and many postcards bared shots of the temple ruins, complete with the trees and their roots reclaiming the land.
By now we felt we were practically melting and the sun was out in full force.
Every time we jumped into the tuk-tuk Tom had filled the cooler with wet wipes and bottles of water. We guzzled our own weight in water and steadily walked and explored the grounds of the last two temples of the circuit. Each time we were dropped off Tom would negotiate an easy meet up point.
By the time we had finished the tour it was still fairly early. We got back to the hotel at 11:30 and jumped into a cold shower and put the air con on full blast. Blair decided to nap and I booked a tuk-tuk to drive me over to the sister guesthouse which had a pool.
That evening we had dinner at Motherhome and I booked a 90 minute Lavender oil massage. The massage was given in a small treatment room by a very young looking girl who looked no older than 15, and she was tiny. Despite her size she had some serious strength, her fingers were crunching out all kinds of knots. It was so relaxing. I was served some fresh ginger tea after the treatment and sat in a relaxed daze for about twenty minutes before I left. In the waiting room I spoke with my masseuse, it was then I found out that she was 19 and had on only been working as a masseuse for a few months.
Following morning we met Tom at 08:00 for our second day of Temple tours. We were now being taken on the big circuit tour which consisted of thirteen temples and a stop at the landmine museum.
It was already warm and an hour into the tour Blair's head was constantly dripping with sweat and my sports bra and top were saturated. What made the exploring even more of a challenge was avoiding the bus load of Asians who are naturally inclined to travel everywhere in herds. We quickly learnt that they have no concept of queueing at all or waiting your turn, which I should have known from time spent in Spain for that its very much a British idiosyncrasy. They were obviously armed with their cameras and indulged by taking as many different poses from as many angles as humanly possible. By the fourth temple I had abandoned usual meek and polite temperament and became pushy and overly confident. However, it was a necessity that awarded us with brilliant photographs and ahead of the crowds of happy snappers.
We drove around 40km to Banteay Srey, which were religious symbols and monuments carved into the stone of the waterfall and river bed. It was a steep 3km hike through the Cambodian jungle and every 100-200m a sign would indicate that we were that much closer. We came across some beautiful scenery on our way up and some wonderful sights of enormous uprooted trees. These sights provided us photo opportunities and more importantly rest. We were nearing our destination and had finished our water. We were met by people descending the climb and left us with words of encouragement: we were almost there.
When we arrived there were a few people there. We were actually a bit disappointed. Apparently we had walked a tough 3km for very faint circular markings in a small patch of river bed. Blair was not amused at all.
Just as we were leaving a guide beckoned us to follow him and told us he'd show where the special carvings and waterfall were. We were skeptical but followed anyway. It was fine with Blair because we were finally walking downhill. We climbed down trees, rocks and hopped over puddles. We came out to an opening where the river was wide and shallow. Beneath the crystal clear water we could see these carvings, they looked perfectly preserved despite being under a constant flow of water.
We were told by the guide that these carvings were around a thousand years old. They signified the harmony of masculine and feminine within the Hindu religion. Carvings of naga, the worshipped snake figure were seen everywhere. At the sides of the river, particularly on any large rock face were carvings of children riding on elephants and sculptures of frogs. There were stories behind all of the carvings we saw, but unfortunately the guide had broken English and so they were tales lost on us.
We descended further until we stopped next to the river and heard the gushing sound of falling water. True to his word, the guide had brought us to a waterfall. He told us that due to the water having flown over the religious symbols, the water was now candidates as Holy. He invited us to shower if we wished. I jumped at the chance, and carefully walked along the slippery rocks to get to its centre. I could finally wash off the film of sticky sweat! The water was refreshingly cold, Blair took photos and filmed for a while before he passed everything to the guide and cooled himself down too.
The guide showed us back to the path, we thanked him and passed him a few thousand riel.
The walk down was made easy due to the fact I was kept cool from my waterfall shower.
We met with Tom and drove off to our next stop: the landmine museum.
We paid a small entrance fee. The museum was small but it was run by a Khmer man named Aki Ra. He has been known throughout Cambodia and international tourists for a while. In his youth, Aki Ra was a chhlap (a child spy for the Khmer Rouge). He was recruited by the regime and trained to lay landmines. Placed on the walls are memoirs of his from his time with the Khmer Rouge. He recollects placing hundreds in farming lands and crop fields, armed constantly with M16's. He remembers being handed the enormous weapon and adjusting the way be walked in order to carry it around. He was eight when he was given the weapon.
Following the defeat of the regime and witnessing the ongoing suffering of the Cambodian people due to unexploded ordinances, Aki Ra decided to use his skills and experience to diffuse the landmines. He did so illegally and used a long wooden stick and a metal detector to discover them before diffusing. Tourists began paying a dollar to visit Aki Ra's collection of defused ordinance. He used the money to finance his practice of diffusing. When the a government set regulations and demanded that ordinance diffusers required training and a certificate of practice, Aki Ra responded and became a fully qualified ordinance diffuser.
He received financial aid from international sponsors to set up the museum. The government also instructed him to move the museum within the grounds of the national park. All funds go to housing and educating orphans and amputees of ordinance explosions. Each of the children housed, schooled and cared for by the museum have a board telling the visitors their individual stories. There are boards of information about the Khmer Rouge and their horrific methods in recruiting children, executing prisoners and of the weapons they used. Glass cabinets full to the brim of ordinance shells sat in the centre. Hand grenades, guns and other weapons were encased underneath all of the information boards. Finally was an area full of the most incredible stories of individuals from all over the globe, caught in different wars who succeeded in helping and saving the lives of people who were being persecuted against. These ranged from Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, South Africa, Germany, Bosnia Herzegovina. Acts of extraordinary bravery, selflessness and kindness of singular humans to help those who otherwise would have been tortured and murdered by regimes who plagued the twentieth century.
The final stop of the tour was to watch the sunset at the highest placed temple. We walked for twenty minutes up a pathway that spiralled up the hill.
Once we had arrived, there were already crowds of Chinese waiting to climb the wooden staircases to the temples top. We were told that a maximum of 300 people were allowed. There was an hour before the sun was due to set so we began our climb, until I was stopped in my tracks and denied entrance; I was wearing shorts. Asian women before me were climbing the temple in short skirts, but I wasn't going to argue. We moved aside and I hid behind a tree, there I fashioned a skirt out if my top and wore a shirt to cover my arms and shoulders; I was roasting. We walked back to the guards. The man who had denied me entrance eyed me suspiciously, he asked one of his female colleagues to inspect me. She was far less strict and let me along with a wave. Waiting for us at the temple were large groups of Chinese huddled in the shade, waiting for the sun to set.
Blair was disappointed with the view, particularly because tall cranes blocked the scenery. He spotted another temple, although it was smaller and lower, he preferred the thought of watching the sunset alone; a true romantic at heart!
The smaller temple was surrounded by forest. The Aztec-like temple was incredibly old and the steps had eroded and become narrow and smooth. We had to climb using all fours and we got videos of the sunset and treading carefully on our way down.
On our way back to Tom and the tuk-tuk, we walked passed the elephants used to take you up to the temples and around the park. While their riders were munching on pre-cooked cockroaches, I stood petting and stroking two of the elephants. They were beautiful and stepped closer, almost as an invitation to continue stroking. They were big but so gentle. Blair's photos captured just how excited I was to see those magnificent creatures.
That evening we ate at a local Khmer café and went off to bed for an early night before another long day of sight seeing tomorrow.
We were showered, dressed and had eaten by 8:00 and were ready for our lift to the outskirts of Siem Reap.
We met the two guys who ran the motorbike tours. Scott was a French-Canadian and taught Spanish at one of the local pagodas to orphans. Peter was a German who also offered free German lessons to another local Pagoda. They stood next to our transport for the next eight hours: our very known motorbikes. They ran through the basics and took us for a few practice runs around a quiet road.
They introduced us to our driver from earlier who had kept quiet. His name was Sa Pei and he was to be our guide for the day. The three of us jumped onto our bikes and waved the guys as we sped off onto the main roads. Sa Pei kept us on tarmac roads for a while until we were comfortable enough to go onto rougher terrain. We soon took a sharp right turn onto bright terracotta dusty roads. We were surrounded by paddy fields as far as the eye could see and towering palm trees. The roads were pot-holed and narrow.
Our first stop was at a local house that ran a small business selling drinks and snacks. Sa Pei bought us water and cokes and offered bananas freshly picked from their trees. He told us a bit about himself and about the local area. His mother had died when he was very young, and when his father remarried Sa Pei was disowned. He sought refuge from a local pagoda when he was seven. The Pagoda was to be his home until his late teens. The monks and nuns fed him, clothed him and educated him. There he learnt how to read and write and learnt how to speak English.
He also told us about the corruption that was still rife in Cambodia, particularly in the rural areas. The government would confiscate land from families that had lived there for generations, because they couldn't produce the appropriate paperwork! Families were unable to to send their children to school because they could not afforded the 25¢ daily fee. The main ways to earn money was through farming or selling wood that they had chopped down from the forests. The government had forbidden deforestation and so had left the rural Khmer population with only one way to earn money.
We biked onto our next stop. Sa Pei paid for our entrance fee and we walked around the enormous temple ruin. We soon lost the crowds of tourists by climbing some of the trees that had overgrown and taken over the crumbled ancient rocks. We came across a family that had set up camp on the very outskirts of the temple, a mother cradled a young baby and another four young children ran around the ruins and accompanied us for a while.
We met with Sa Pei and he took us to a local Khmer eatery and were treated to some great food. Blair however missed out, he still was feeling I'll, by now we suspected that the Doxycycline medication we were taking as a malaria precaution was the culprit.
We drove for an hour or so until we pulled into the gates of a Pagoda and the living quarters of the monks and nuns. Sa Pei greeted the elderly monks respectfully and with great familiarity. He informed us that this was the Pagoda that he was raised as a young orphan.
The nuns all sat on the ground in the shade. In their hand they held coloured paper and shards of bamboo. The sharp edges of the bamboo acted as scissors, and they cut out different decorative shapes. These were then collected by the monks and stuck the shapes onto a huge model (using a natural mixture to create glue - its main ingredient being the sap from the rubber tree).
Sa Pei explained that they were preparing for the Khmer new year, celebrated in April.
I sat with the women and they expressed concern over the exposure of skin to the sun. I watched them work away quietly and methodically, when the silence was broken; our arrival had given the women reason to chat amongst themselves. The woman to my left suddenly jumped and erupted with laughter. Women were jumping out of their skins left right and centre laughing until they were practically coughing up a lung! We soon realised that they were playing practical jokes on each another. One woman would poke another in the ribs, sending the pokee into a possessed state where she'd point her finger and ramble away in Khmer until she snapped into her quiet humble self again. The rest of the group found this hilarious, and when I joined in with the laughing it spurred them on even more.
We left after a while and took a sandy pathway; this was the most difficult part to manoeuvre the bike. After fifteen minutes we arrived at a big lake and Sa Pei left us to swim. We stripped off to our bathing suits and walked through the slimy clay. It was like stepping into a bath. It was until we were in waist deep that we felt the cooler undercurrent. Blair got his Sonycam out and filmed the lake and the views.
Tonight we were famished so we decided to go back to Il Forno so Blair could enjoy a delicious lasagne. We feasted for a good hour until we were full fit to burst. This put Blair in a great mood and so he was happy enough to walk around the market. Blair ended up buying four watches and we put our newly acquired bargaining skills to good use. The final purchase not the night was the best. Blair was interested in two watches from the same stall. He was quoted $50 for the first. We both laughed, Blair handed her back the watch. All negotiations were typed into a calculator so passing customers wouldn't over hear. She type in $48. She got the same reaction. We knew what tactic was coming next; she asked what amount we'd be willing to pay. Blair entered $10 into the calculator. It was now her time to laugh and she said she needed to make profit. She typed in $25. Still no sale. Blair said that for that price he would take both watches. I was trying on glasses at this point and interjected: "No, too much, $20 for the watches and glasses." The woman clearly didn't like this proposition and when she declined the offer Blair thanked her, placed the watches on the counter and began to walk off. She ran after him and agreed reluctantly to our last offer. She placed the items in the bag and we passed her the $20. As we walked off a Western lady was looking at a watch and asked for a quote: $50. The lady shook her head and said it was far too expensive. The Khmer lady asked how much she was willing into pay. The answer was $40. The Khmer lady thought hard, she was playing her part perfectly. Then asked for $45 and no less. The western lady agreed and was over the moon with her purchase. Needless to say we walked away chuffed to bits.
This morning we woke at 4am. We had asked reception to put aside two bikes for us. The bikes were waiting for us. We were on our way back to Angkor Wat in hope for a far better sunrise than Tuesday. It took us around half an hour to cycle there. We got our third and final stamp on our passes.
We were slightly earlier than Tuesday and so found a prime spot. Blair's camera was at the ready, his human tripod also.
We were there just over an hour and managed to capture a perfect repression of the sun rising. I can't wait to choose nine of my favourite and get them framed.
On the way back we pulled upon the side of the road and spotted a family of monkeys climbing the trees and foraging for food. Blair took some photos and got some final shots of the magnificent Angkor Wat in the background.
We were also back in time for a good breakfast and to pack up and checkout of Motherhome
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