Siem Reap Cambodia

Term ended with Dinner/drinks at Joes with Peter, Libby and Eric and another sleep-in on Monday morning before flying to Siem Reap on Monday afternoon. I was greeted at the airport by my guide, Sophy and driver Han. My plan was to have a cooling dip and dinner before the nights entertainment at the Phare Cambodian Circus. Unfortunately on arrival I was informed that although the pool was open at the moment it was going to be closed for cleaning, FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS! I was not happy as I had only had 2 requests: to be within walking distance of the town centre and to have a pool...admittedly I did not specify 'one I could use!' I prepared myself for a swim and ventured up to the roof but as the pool was green and you couldn't see through the water I decided to give it a miss and went for a wander round town.

Han, my driver and Sophy, my guide. The úsable' pool

 After dinner in the hotel I was whisked away to the Circus. Phare artists are students and graduates from Phare Ponleu Selpak's vocational training centre in Battambang. The association was formed 20 years ago by 8 young men coming home from a refugee camp after the Khmer Rouge regime. The programme involves dance, gymnastics, and music and was very energetic and entertaining.

Tuesday involved a full day of temple sightseeing beginning with a small one, Cham Krong, where, much to Sophy's astonishment when he asked me if I wanted to climb up the stairs, I said yes! I think the poor man felt obliged to follow me up, probably thinking I was going to have a heart attack.

From here we moved on to Angkor Thom, which was the last capital city of the Khmer empire.  It is well know for its well preserved South Gate and at the centre of the city is the Bayon Temple, with other major sites, including the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north. The bridge across the moat has 'good' guys on one side (slanted eyes and smiling) and the 'bad' guys on the other (round eyes and scowling)!

South Gate of Angkor Thom

Amazing carvings at Angkor Thom and my guide insisted on the trick shot!

The last visit before lunch was to Ta Prohm the temple complex made famous through the Tomb Raider movie. Apparently in its day the site was home to more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers), with an additional 800,000 souls in the surrounding villages working to provide services and supplies. When the French began restorations in the early 21st century, they decided that Ta Prohm would be left largely as it had been found, as a "concession to the general taste for the picturesque." According to pioneering Angkor scholar Maurice Glaize, Ta Prohm was singled out because it was "one of the most imposing [temples] and the one which had best merged with the jungle, but not yet to the point of becoming a part of it"

 

Ta Prohm

If you watch Tomb Raider, at some point, Harrison Ford stands on the wall to the left of the tree! All these people were queuing to take a photo of themselves in front of it!

After a very tasty Khmer lunch it was on to Angkor Wat. To be honest I was getting a bit 'templed out' by now, and it was extremely hot,  but one can hardly come to Siem Reap and not visit Angkor Wat so I soldiered on. The monkeys here are pretty smart. We saw one sitting on a stationery motorbike unscrewing the lid of a waterbottle!
Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally founded as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura  the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation.
Fortunately the original steps have been covered with purpose built ones, which despite still being steep, are at least of a size that a western foot fits on!

By the time we returned from all that exercise I was ready for a swim. Luckily the hotel management  had organised with their 'sister' hotel around the corner for me to use their pool and they even threw in a complimentary drink as well. I followed this with a leg massage and a wander around the night market.
We started the next day with a visit to the "Chantiers Ecoles - Les Artisans d'Angkor" which provides training to young Cambodians in an effort to revive the ancient Khmer traditions of stone carving and wood sculpting. This was one of the few places where you didn't need to bargain over prices and a couple of small items made their way in to my bag.

Then we  drove over some rugged, pot-holed roads to visit the floating village of Chong Khneas, located 10 kilometres south of Siem Reap. We took a boat trip in a traditional wooden boat on the Tonle Sap Lake, the "Great Lake" of Cambodia, one of the largest in Asia. Our timing coincided with the end of the school day and it was interesting to see the school's version of a 'bus line'. The children were, necessarily, well-behaved!  

 After lunch back in Siem Reap I spent the afternoon visiting the intricately carved and well preserved temple of Banteay Srei. This temple is built from red sandstone and is known as the citadel of women.

 

From here we moved on to Banteay Samre Temple which is adorned with impressive relief’s depicting scenes of Vishunu as well as Krishna legends. By now I had had enough temples to keep me going for a few days so it was a quiet dinner and wander around the night market before bed.

Thursday was an early morning start for a bird watching tour with the Sam Veasna Centre. I was collected at 5.30am by my guide, Lean, and we headed back towards the plains around Tonle Sap Lake. We saw 30 different species, many of them being repeat sightings for me. The highlight was definitely my first sighting of an Indian Roller and the blue-tailed bee-eater. As we were wandering along the banks of the lake we met up with a group of trainees from the Centre. Lean told me they train 6 at a time and they have to undergo fairly rigorous testing before the are allowed to lead an expeditions. Shortly after meeting them it began to rain so we returned to the hotel where I had arranged to meet Socheat from Book Buddies. This project delivers English reading books to children in local schools and orphanages. I had a small bag of golden books to hand over to him.

By then it was time for lunch and then off to the airport, where I found a book, 22 Walks in Bangkok, which I figured Duncan and I could use on the next leg of my holiday.