Anxiety levels were at an all time high as I woke at 3am in a sweat and ran down stairs to change my wake up call to 6am instead of 4am. You see I had planned to catch the 3rd class local train to the Cambodian border. This train is well known to be a horrific ride, not to mention the state of the toilets, theft and livestock amongst the jammed in locals. David and I decided it would be a great adventure to ride in to Cambodia local styles, but at 12am David’s UK bank decided to freeze his account leaving him with no dosh. Suddenly the thought of being on the train terrified me so I settled for the bus and went back to sleep for another 2 hours.
Beside me on the bus was a chap from Ireland, Michael. He was nice enough and he made my 6 hour ride to Aranya Prathet – Poipet border less about my knees being jammed against the seat infront and more about entertaining conversation. Moving through the customs procedure was a pleasant experience, however not for Michael who had lost his arrival/departure card for Thailand and became engaged in a heated discussion with the customs officers, causing his face to become wrinkled with worry and wet with perspiration. Half and hour later and we popped out the other side and into a taxi to endure the ass-shattering 4 hours to Siem Reap. The story about town is that the road between Poipet and Siem Reap is owned by a Japanese airline and so they are refusing to upgrade the road so that people will first shatter their ass all the way to Cambodia then fly via the Airline back to Bangkok.
The road was an absolute eye opener, and Im really glad I got to see it. The road itself is a runway of rocks, boulders and foot deep potholes.
On the surface is a swarm of every type of vehicle imaginable, all loaded up to the nines with furniture/rubbish/people.
Some motorbikes had a family of 4 or 5 dangling off them!
Littering the mucky side of the road were an array of interesting sites - street vendors with big juicy melons, or trays of sundried snails, or French baguettes. Grown men with carts almost floating away with fish shaped balloons. “Petrol stations” selling litres of fuel in used soft drink bottles. Children splashing about in the shallow muddy waters and doing dive bombs off the bank, trying to cool their skin from the heat of the day. And in every gap or space between this commotion, rubbish. Lots and lots of dirty, man made rubbish. In the last 100 meters of this road the rocks suddenly become smooth seal, and the run down sheds along the roadside become 5 star hotels and manicured gardens. I was spat out of the taxi and straight into a tuk tuk to the Rosy Guesthouse. It truly was quaint. Run by an English woman, the place was decorated with beautiful bamboo furniture and ambient lighting. Hammocks swayed on the decks and the place had a subtle smell of Hyacinth. The walls were adorned with water colour paintings of the Mekong delta, and lizards lazed between these.
The next two days I explored the wonders of Angkor – the capital of Cambodia’s ancient Khmer empire, by tuk tuk. First was Angkor wat. Such an awe inspiring building.
Created by creative ambition and spiritual devotion. Actually the largest religious buidling in the world. The cental temple consists of 3 elaborate levels, each of which encloses a square surrounded by intricately interlinked galleries. At one particular point you can see all 5 towers.
Angkor Thom consists of 4 wonders. Bayon, consisting of 216 gargantuan faces of Avalokiteshvara. Baphuon,
Terrace of Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King which is adorned with numerous celestial nymph, or, apsara.
Amongst the temples are the 12 towers of Justice. These towers were used to settle disputes and determine the guilty by first putting the two subjects inside a tower. Which ever one fell ill was believed to be the one in the wrong. I would love to try this concept out in modern day!
Ta Prohm is a spectacular visit which is slowly being digested by the huge gnarled trees surrounding. This temple is better known as the film set of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.
At the butt crack of dawn on the second day I climbed the mountain to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sun rise. It was an eerie, spiritual feeling to be the only one watching the peaks of the temples and mountains emerge out of the night sky.
A 35km journey out to Banteay Srei was worth it. Considered to many as the jewel in Angkor’s artistic crown, I was impressed with the elaborate carvings and the way the afternoon sunlight brings out the best in the pink sandstone.
In the evening I wandered around the night market and had a beer with the local people at the bar. A pleasant end to the day.
I spent one more night in Siem Reap at a different guesthouse Ivy 2, which I could have definitely done without.
My room crawled with cockroaches and I observed at least 3 fatter than average rats scuttling across my floor. Fortunately I made friends with the Australian girl behind the bar and ventured out on the town on her motorbike to a bar grand opening. The free absenth shots and 50 cent beers made my bedroom critters more bearable!
Up early and off to Phnom Penh...
