Hi All,
I think you can probably guess how this bus trip story will start but
I´ll humour you anyway.Bus was scheduled to depart Kratie at 7am but
7am came and went then so too did 8am and still no bus.We were
informed that the bus was delayed because they had blown a tyre but
that they would be here in 20minutes.At 840am just as we were
beginning to lose faith in the transport gods of Cambodia a bus
slowly rounded the corner. Hallelujah the bus to Phnom Penh has
finally arrived, only an hour and forty minutes late, but the next
dilemma is will we actually make it to Kompong Cham to catch our
connecting bus to Siem Reap or will we be forced to spend the night on
the shores of the Mekong River.We didn´t depart Kratie until about
8.55am and the ticket collector told us that it was about 4hrs to
Kompong Cham so we didn´t hold out much hope for catching our 1220pm
bus but he was confident that they would hold the bus for us until we
arrived.There were only 3 foreigners on the bus and we accounted for 2
of the 3.The 3rd was a young woman from Belgium who had been travelling
through China,Thailand and Cambodia and was enroute to Vietnam to visit
her father so we talked for most of the journey only drawing breath
every now and then to marvel at something out the window.The bus trip
was uneventful and as it was a road that we had previously been on it
was relatively boring.We had the usual near misses with animals,
pedestrians and motor vehicles but no actual contact so near misses
don´t count.We did however come upon some vehicles that were not so
lucky including one motorcycle with attached trailer that had been
involved in an accident and from the aftermath it was obvious that as
per usual it had been so overloaded with goods that the bike had
been compressed by the weigh of goods as the cargo toppled over the
front end of the bike.Didn´t see the ride which may or may not have
been a good thing!!!We eventually reached Kompong Cham bus station
about 1250pm and find that much to our surprise there is indeed a bus
waiting to take us to Siem Reap.I guess we shouldn´t really have been
surprised as I´m pretty sure that every bus runs late in Cambodia so
it had probably only just arrived as well.I think that silently we were
praying that we would miss our connection so that we could break our
journey up but it wasn´t too be so we reluctantly climbed onto our new
bus for the next 4hr leg of the journey to Siem Reap.It seemed as
though we were going to make it too Siem Reap at about 5pm as
scheduled until one of the bus´s tyres exploded resulting in at least a
few people needing to check their underpants for soiling and the need
for the wheel to be replaced.The heat was oppressive so everyone
retreated to whatever shade they could find we waited and
watched.Eventually our journey resumed and for the first time in this
journey we saw the Tonle Sap (Great Lake),which is South east Asia´s
largest lake.I´d like to say that I was impressed by its size but I
wasn´t as it is nearing the end of the dry season the lake drains back
into the Mekong river and the lake is apparently only around 4000sq km
in comparison to its more impressive 13000 during the wet.I´m sure from
the air it would look impressive even now but by bus it just looks like
a lake.We eventually arrived in Siem Reap an hour later than scheduled
to find our pre arranged tuk tuk driver waiting patiently to take us
to our guest house.
We were looking forward to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. It was one of our must see items of our travel plan.
Vanessa found a great cheap hotel right near the centre of SIeam Reap and it was very comfortable and best of all had airconditioning. Yahoooo.
It didn't take us long to find out that foreigners are not permitted to hire motorbikes in Siem Reap which gives you three options for visiting the archaeological sites within the Angkor region (a) tuk tuk (b) package tour or (c) bicycles(silly option that only masochists would consider given the oppressive heat and suffocating humidity at this the hottest time of the year) You have probably worked out by now that we are frugal with our money and that we don´t have an aversion to exercise but we are not foolhardy and we wouldn´t intentionally but ourselves in danger of heat stroke or dehydration or would we???? 1 second thinking time is over.Yes we would you know we would as we are a little too enthusiastic (foolish may be a more appropriate word) at times .We decided that the $1.50AUD that was required to hire bicycles for the day was too good an offer to pass up so loaded up with as many litres of water as we could physically and sensibly carry we head off towards Angkor Park headquarters at 630am to purchase our 3 day passes.It was a mere 5.5km to the entrance of the park which involved navigating the usual road hazards on Cambodian streets-dogs asleep in the middle of the road,motorbikes driving the wrong way up streets ,cows and calves wandering across roads without looking left and right and the many other hazards.We had already worked up a sweat by the time we reached the entrance and posed for the photograph for our pass and consumed a litre of water already and the day was only young.Frequently spoken and written about as the ¨Eighth Wonder of the World¨,the ancient city is a photographer´s paradise,and offers a staggering 400km squared of temple ruins and monuments.The size of the archaeological park is overwhelming and we were attempting to see it on bicycles.Where exactly do you start is the question?
The temples of Angkor cover a huge area and the scale doesn't become apparent until you start moving between sites. Just getting to the ticket office from Siem Reap is a 6km ride! It became a matter of endurance for us. This of course is retrospective as at the time we decided on the grand tour which included Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Baphuon, Terrace of Elephants, Terrace of the leper king, Phnom Bakheng, Preah khan, Preah Neak pean and Ta Som. We had the time and the started with plenty of enthusiasm.
It was great to sit at the sites and imagine them in their glory. It was even better to sit in their shadows and get some respite from the oppressive sun.
I will just list a few points from our favourites sites.
First we stopped at the fortified city of Angkor Thom which is marked by 5 monumental gates-the north,south, east, west and the victory gate each topped with 4 very large faces. Very impressive. Continuing on is Bayon Temple with 216 enigmatic and gargantuan faces staring down at you. I liked this temple. The bas relief's were vast and impressive.
The Angkor people were strongly influenced by Indian culture and went through a couple of phases. The earliest phase was Hindu influence and then later Buddhism. Some of the monuments had earlier carvings defaced by the next generation. The ruins survived time to be discovered and looted by Archaeologists then unfortunately the Khmer Rouge damaged much of remaining artwork in their reign of terror. The area was also landmined but they were cleared in the last 20 years.
We thought that we were well prepared for the hot conditions and had packed plenty of water and food however we were consuming more water than expected and by the end of the day had consumed at least 9 litres. We ended up purchasing chilled bottles of water from the numerous sellers along the way and tried to drink them before they got hot. It is probably hard for you to imagine how hot is really was out on the road.
Preah Khan. This is a great temple and is overgrown. It is overlooked by tour groups but is probably one of the most impressive to visit. Children wait at all the temples and ruins to sell bracelets,beads ,wooden flutes and books .Like a chant the children recite their mantra over and over again You buy 10 bracelets for $1 (USD) see 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 our reply no thank you their response you buy 10 bracelets for $1 (USD) see 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10....................and on and on it goes.The children are extremely persistent and at times annoying but considering that they are generally only about 5 or 6 years of age they generally aren´t there by choice it is their parents that are encouraging them so we try to be tolerant of them. The children eventually realize that we aren´t going to buy and resume their game of thong tossing.We even encountered children who dispite the fact that they had baskets of bracelets and flutes to sell were quite happy to play on Tarzan vines swinging over bodies of water and pose for photographs then try and sell to us.We occasionally brought fresh pineapple and shared it with the children but more often than not we brought nothing.At one temple every time a foreigner walked past or near a group of men sitting under shade cloth the musicians would play a tune and then as soon as they past they would stop and conserve energy.Why play if a foreigner isn´t going to pay.Who were the men? they were victims of land mines.
2nd day
Rest day. We had worn ourselves out with the 35km bike ride in 42 deg C humid conditions so decided that we weren't ready to ride the bikes again. Our backsides were sore from the cycling experience. We visited the central market and purchased a few clothing items from a shop that said that we were the first customers for the day. I think that might have been because we were the only tourist in the who complex. The others were probably out at the temples. Then it was onto the normal markets for a quick stop but it was so hot inside that we decided that this certainly was not the place to purchase fresh produce.
We found a restaurant which serves basic Cambodian food and beer is cheaper than soft drink so Vanessa is reluctantly attempting to drink it.The best part is that she doesn't really like the beer and ends up giving it to me.
3rd day
Off to an early start to get to the temples. We were headed to Angkor Wat and I had great expectations considering it was supposed to be the 8th wonder of the world. It didn't impress us as much as the temples on the previous day. Perhaps the Angkor temples as a group rather than Angkor Wat make the area impressive.
I think that some people tend to forget that Angkor is a Khmer holy site. Whilst singlets, knee exposing shorts and dresses that leave bare shoulders are appropriate for the beach towns they are not at all respectful or appropriate for Angkor and many people were refused entry to some sites.Ignorant people must pay the price and that is either to return to their guest house and select more appropriate clothing or pay the price and purchase one of the t shirts and or wraparound scarves that are on offer at an over inflated price.I think that the sales are good during tourist season.
It was another hot and sweaty ride and after Angkor Wat we visited Ta Prohm which was the original tomb raider temple. It was supposed to be left in the state that the archaeologists found it so that future generations could marvel at the site with large trees overgrowing wall and on top of collapsed temples.Unfortunately there have been some restorations but it is alright apart from the large number of tour groups passing through. It was not as impressive as one of the less known sites we visited on the first day.
We decided that we did not want to see any more temples. We got the picture. I think that the visit to the Angkor temples would have been much more interesting for us if we had a summary guide to the temples, their history, scandals and points of interest.
4th day
We caught the bus back to Phnom Penh and stayed the night at our previous accommodation and next day flew to Bangkok.
