The sun wasn’t shining on my ass yet when I woke up on the second day of my trip. In fact, it was still early, 8am Singapore time, 7am Cambodia time.
After a leisurely breakfast, I rented a bicycle (this time a T-bar one which I’ld continue to use for next 2 days) and started my way towards Angkor Thom, some 2km further away from Angkor Wat.
After a leisurely breakfast, I rented a bicycle (this time a T-bar one which I’ld continue to use for next 2 days) and started my way towards Angkor Thom, some 2km further away from Angkor Wat.
South gate to Angkor Thom
History lesson time! Angkor Thom is a 3km square walled city built as a new capital city in the late 12th century. Within the city, there are a few temples as well as the Royal Palace.
To get a trip within Angkor Thom, one can either ride a bicycle in, travel in motorcycle or tuk-tuk, or if have money to spare, wave USD10 at an elephant for a ride in. The only issue with having an elephant ride as a sort of attraction is that the elephant would leave steaming hot pile of ‘I’ve been here’ markings every now and then, fertilising the road and the soles of unwary tourists’ shoes.
To get a trip within Angkor Thom, one can either ride a bicycle in, travel in motorcycle or tuk-tuk, or if have money to spare, wave USD10 at an elephant for a ride in. The only issue with having an elephant ride as a sort of attraction is that the elephant would leave steaming hot pile of ‘I’ve been here’ markings every now and then, fertilising the road and the soles of unwary tourists’ shoes.
Left: Elephant ride Right: Sweeping up elephant dung
The first stop within Angkor Thom was the Bayon. Similar to the towers of Angkor Wat, the giant stone faces making up the towers of Bayon are just as widely used in postcards.
Bayon
Looking at the structure of the temple, again, I wondered why they stacked rocks upon rocks to build temples. First of all, isn’t it just a matter of waiting for the rocks making up the roofs to crumble and fall under its own weight? I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anything like insurance policies for the monks and believers visiting the temples. Secondly, how the heck did they load those heavy rocks up? And those giant faces, I believe it’s carved before piecing it up like jigsaw. How did they do it?
What are they shooting?
Ahh...a model
In terms of architectural structure and concept, it is akin to those of Mayan civilization and the Egyptian pyramids, using rocks as bricks. Similarly, how they were built remained speculation. For the temples in Siem Reap, a guide (again overheard since I didn’t engage a guide) had brought attention to holes in each block of rock. Those, he said, were made when transporting the rocks up, possibly to place in poles.
Climb at own risk
Another resemblance to Mayan temples, and a bane to tourists, is the steep and narrow steps in all the temples. The Cambodians of old must have very small feet and good balance to actually use these steps. Logically, of course, it is a great way to defend since enemies can’t really charge up fast. It’s a miracle that with hundreds of tourists climbing up the steps at various sites, no one has make a big red splatter on the ground yet (not that I’m aware at least).
Steep steps at Bayon
After spending almost half a day exploring the nooks and crannies of the Bayon, I had lunch at one of the stalls set up outside. Ordering fried rice with egg, the portion was enough for two. But I was famished, the fried rice was good and every single grain went into my stomach.
Next stop was Baphuon temple. The temple is currently undergoing extensive restoration and as such was out of bounds.
Next stop was Baphuon temple. The temple is currently undergoing extensive restoration and as such was out of bounds.
Baphuon: Before and Now
Another ridiculously steep flight of steps
Going right next door is the Phimeanakas pyramid temple. These is the tallest scalable temple in Angkor Thom and guess what, I actually collected my guts and climbed it all the way to the top.
Left: Phimenakas Right: Climb up to peak
Left: Stairs up Phimenakas Right: View from top
No climbing sign on top of Phimenakas (after climbing the stairs and scaling the top)
I was practically jittering my way up the stairs, and lo and behold, a more obscene climb awaited me in order to get to the top. Going down was a lot worse (for me at least), basically because I had to look down. Thankfully, I did not ‘let go’ help moisturised the temple steps.
The Phimeanakas structure does not make sense to me. At least with other temples, there are varying levels to explore. For the Phimeanakas, it is actually a solid block base with just the very small area on top for any religious purposes. To me, it’s more like an altar. Then again, the guide book state that according to legend, the Kings of Angkor have to make love with the serpent every night at the top lest and disaster befalls. With that purpose, I guess they didn’t really need much space.
The Phimeanakas structure does not make sense to me. At least with other temples, there are varying levels to explore. For the Phimeanakas, it is actually a solid block base with just the very small area on top for any religious purposes. To me, it’s more like an altar. Then again, the guide book state that according to legend, the Kings of Angkor have to make love with the serpent every night at the top lest and disaster befalls. With that purpose, I guess they didn’t really need much space.
Kleangs (thought to be food store)
Hmm...should I share?
By the time I finished exploring Angkor Thom, it was almost 6pm (local time). Exiting the ancient capital, I noticed a lot of tourists were going up in a single direction. I thought it most probably be watching sunset atop the hill. I was proven right as I followed them as Singaporeans will follow their government.
Straight path up
There is a straight path of steps up to the Phnom Bakheng temple on top of the hill. Unfortunately it was probably deemed dangerous and blocked off. Poor souls like me had to go round and round the hill until we reached the top.
No surprises, there were already many people up at the temple. More people, including me, were climbing like monkeys up the flights of yet other obscenely steep and narrow steps.
No surprises, there were already many people up at the temple. More people, including me, were climbing like monkeys up the flights of yet other obscenely steep and narrow steps.
People getting more...and more...
...and more
The people on top just got more and more, until a point I was wondering if this temple will one day collapse under the sheer weight of tourists given the day after day of such loading. As a matter of fact, the block of rock near an edge I was bracing my camera on, trembled when another tourist sat on it. No prizes for guessing I immediately moved to find another safer spot.
All geared up for sunset
Sun setting
Setting to yellow yolk
Given the fact that I was travelling on a bicycle, I didn’t wait for the sun to set completely as I didn’t want to get caught up in the carnival of tour buses, motorbikes and tuk-tuks.
I had taken the risk of catching the sunset and cycling back as I had noticed street lights along the roads from Angkor Thom to Siem Reap. Little did I know the lights from Angkor Thom to the ticket booth wouldn’t be lighted. Travelling based on vehicle lights (which not all vehicles switched on), I tried to keep to the side of the roads as much as possible.
I was virtually eating flies on my way back. It hit upon me then the reason windshield and visor on helmets were invented.
Reaching safely back to my hotel, I took a shower before heading out for dinner and a quiet read at a bubble tea shop, which became my favourite night hangout for the next few days (since I don’t pub).
I had taken the risk of catching the sunset and cycling back as I had noticed street lights along the roads from Angkor Thom to Siem Reap. Little did I know the lights from Angkor Thom to the ticket booth wouldn’t be lighted. Travelling based on vehicle lights (which not all vehicles switched on), I tried to keep to the side of the roads as much as possible.
I was virtually eating flies on my way back. It hit upon me then the reason windshield and visor on helmets were invented.
Reaching safely back to my hotel, I took a shower before heading out for dinner and a quiet read at a bubble tea shop, which became my favourite night hangout for the next few days (since I don’t pub).
posted by Cylee at
12:44 pm I
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Monday, November 26, 2007
First Day @ Siem Reap
Finally sitting down to start blogging about my Cambodia trip. It seems funny, every time I start blogging about a trip after I come back, it always start with ‘finally’.
Anyway, Day 1, I was looking forward to the bed in the hotel I’ve booked in Siem Reap. Not that the bed was Simmons Beautyrest series or anything near its quality. After all, I’m staying in a USD7 per night hotel, not RTP’s sister hotel in Siem Reap, which cost USD75 per night at the employee rate (I laughed at my manager when he suggested taking up the employee rate at Grand Hotel D’Angkor). Simply, it was because I hadn’t have more than 5 hours of sleep since the day before.
My flight to Siem Reap was scheduled at 6am. To prevent my wallet from suffering from pre-trip slimming, and consequently depriving a taxi driver of a little more bump in his bank account, I took the night train and stayed overnight at the airport.
It was cold and I hadn’t had a jacket with me because I didn’t want to carry extra weight. This meant I didn’t get more than 30 minutes of dozing all added up.
Good thing about taking Jetstar is it is still operating out of Terminal 1, and it has pre-arranged seating. Therefore, there was no ‘*Ding* + boarding mad rush’ occurring.
Anyway, Day 1, I was looking forward to the bed in the hotel I’ve booked in Siem Reap. Not that the bed was Simmons Beautyrest series or anything near its quality. After all, I’m staying in a USD7 per night hotel, not RTP’s sister hotel in Siem Reap, which cost USD75 per night at the employee rate (I laughed at my manager when he suggested taking up the employee rate at Grand Hotel D’Angkor). Simply, it was because I hadn’t have more than 5 hours of sleep since the day before.
My flight to Siem Reap was scheduled at 6am. To prevent my wallet from suffering from pre-trip slimming, and consequently depriving a taxi driver of a little more bump in his bank account, I took the night train and stayed overnight at the airport.
It was cold and I hadn’t had a jacket with me because I didn’t want to carry extra weight. This meant I didn’t get more than 30 minutes of dozing all added up.
Good thing about taking Jetstar is it is still operating out of Terminal 1, and it has pre-arranged seating. Therefore, there was no ‘*Ding* + boarding mad rush’ occurring.
An empty departure area @ 4am
The flight was uneventful. Again, I attempted to sleep, but the angle of the seat’s headrest prevented me from getting anything more than a less than fitful doze.
Reaching Siem Reap, I was the first to be out of the airport plainly due to my no check-in luggage travelling policy. I had expected a van to pick me up. Instead, the hotel gave me my first experience of travelling in a Cambodian tuk-tuk.
Reaching Siem Reap, I was the first to be out of the airport plainly due to my no check-in luggage travelling policy. I had expected a van to pick me up. Instead, the hotel gave me my first experience of travelling in a Cambodian tuk-tuk.
My tuk-tuk driver with 4D numbers
Reaching the hotel, I had to wait awhile for my room to be ready. By the time I reach the room, I totally scrapped any idea of a sleep first. I revised my plans and proceeded to Angkor Wat – on a bicycle.
My travel research had shown that cycling to Angkor Wat and many of the major sites is possible. It’s just a matter of a longer travel time, a cardio work out and the risk of getting hit by a vehicle on its busy and sometimes narrow and bumpy roads. At the cost of USD1.50 compared to USD12 for a whole day tuk-tuk rental, it was a well-worth risk to take for a poor traveller like me.
The range of the bicycles available is not something one will release fireworks and scream with delight for. All bicycles are China-made with only a single gear, seat supported by dual spring and a basket in front. The only difference is whether the handlebar is U-shaped or T-shaped.
I got the U-shaped bar on this first day, and it was a tough beast to tame. The bicycle was tough to manoeuvre, rickety, too well used and probably as old as the relic I was going to see. I won’t puff up my chest and say I’d got no problems handling it. Truth be told, I wasn’t used to this type of bicycle, and placing my bag in the front basket sometimes keep it off balance. In fact, I hadn’t reached Angkor Wat without any incident.
I fell down once along the road. Luckily, there weren’t any vehicles coming at me either way at that time to carpet the road with my brains. After that fall, I learnt to tame the bicycle slowly, instead of in a rush.
My travel research had shown that cycling to Angkor Wat and many of the major sites is possible. It’s just a matter of a longer travel time, a cardio work out and the risk of getting hit by a vehicle on its busy and sometimes narrow and bumpy roads. At the cost of USD1.50 compared to USD12 for a whole day tuk-tuk rental, it was a well-worth risk to take for a poor traveller like me.
The range of the bicycles available is not something one will release fireworks and scream with delight for. All bicycles are China-made with only a single gear, seat supported by dual spring and a basket in front. The only difference is whether the handlebar is U-shaped or T-shaped.
I got the U-shaped bar on this first day, and it was a tough beast to tame. The bicycle was tough to manoeuvre, rickety, too well used and probably as old as the relic I was going to see. I won’t puff up my chest and say I’d got no problems handling it. Truth be told, I wasn’t used to this type of bicycle, and placing my bag in the front basket sometimes keep it off balance. In fact, I hadn’t reached Angkor Wat without any incident.
I fell down once along the road. Luckily, there weren’t any vehicles coming at me either way at that time to carpet the road with my brains. After that fall, I learnt to tame the bicycle slowly, instead of in a rush.
Main gate to Angkor
Reaching Angkor Wat, there wasn’t any of the ‘wow’ effect on me. It was only when I walked in I realised I was looking at its main gate, not the Wat itself yet. Only upon stepping in did I come to see the large space the entire temple took up from its moat to the five towers.
Parts of Angkor Wat were being repaired and reconstructed when I was there. Over the course of the next few days, I would learn that different temple sites are adopted and sponsored by different countries as part of the conservation efforts.
Parts of Angkor Wat were being repaired and reconstructed when I was there. Over the course of the next few days, I would learn that different temple sites are adopted and sponsored by different countries as part of the conservation efforts.
Obligatory, touristy photo of Angkor Wat with reflection
Walking within Angkor Wat itself, I discovered that all four sides are symmetrically similar. The most impressive thing would be the bas reliefs and wall carvings. The bas reliefs along 8 lengths of walls running approximately 58 metres long each depicts 4 different stories.
Intricate wall carving
Touring of the central and 4 side towers were not permitted during my visit as conservation efforts were on-going. Nevertheless, just from the outside and the surrounding corridors, the marvel of the architectural design is enough to impress.
Towers under repair
Walking out from Angkor Wat after spending a good 3 hours odd inside (surprisingly how easy it is to lose time wandering inside), it was still early to return to the hotel. However, there wasn’t enough time left to tour another temple, not to mention I need to spread my itinerary over 4 more days.
With nothing planned, I cycled off in a direction, not knowing where it would take me. Down the road, I passed by a helicopter airfield. Apparently they provide touring of Siem Reap by helicopters. At the same time, they have a hot air balloon service much like our DHL balloon, only bigger, to view Siem Reap.
With nothing planned, I cycled off in a direction, not knowing where it would take me. Down the road, I passed by a helicopter airfield. Apparently they provide touring of Siem Reap by helicopters. At the same time, they have a hot air balloon service much like our DHL balloon, only bigger, to view Siem Reap.
Siem Reap Balloon
I didn’t stop to enquire about the price. No doubt it’ll be out of my budget, and most importantly, I had no desire to be up so high.
After a couple of kilometres, I came upon a dirt road. Seeming to lead into a village, I cycled in. The view of the village was refreshing. No tall concrete buildings but just houses in acres and acres of land unblemished by any city eyesore.
The dirt road seemed never ending. I didn’t carry on to find out after cycling more than 30 minutes in. It was not a question of lacking the spirit of adventure. Rather, the issue was cycling on the super bumpy dirt road on an old rickety bicycle. I was without a doubt that I most probably won’t have any children in the future.
After a couple of kilometres, I came upon a dirt road. Seeming to lead into a village, I cycled in. The view of the village was refreshing. No tall concrete buildings but just houses in acres and acres of land unblemished by any city eyesore.
The dirt road seemed never ending. I didn’t carry on to find out after cycling more than 30 minutes in. It was not a question of lacking the spirit of adventure. Rather, the issue was cycling on the super bumpy dirt road on an old rickety bicycle. I was without a doubt that I most probably won’t have any children in the future.
Village dirt road
Fortunately, with only a few near misses, I didn’t lose control of my bike and fell into any mud puddles or heaps of cow dung fertilising the road.
Fried noodle - Khmer style
By the time I left the dirt road behind, I was famished. Giving viewing sunset at Angkor Wat a miss, I headed back towards Siem Reap searching for my dinner and of course, long await rest.
posted by Cylee at
3:40 pm I
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Going away
Finally, the day I’ve been looking forward to have come. Vacation!
Yup, flying off to Cambodia tomorrow morning on a flight with godforsaken timing, which means I’ll be sleeping over at the airport tonight. Or haunting around the halls like a homeless ghost. Well, this basically means I’ll probably be having an afternoon siesta in my hotel room when I reach. Not really that well spent in my opinion, but hey, I got plenty of time there.
This is the first timing backpacking that I’ve actually booked a room ahead. Usually I’ll just fly over and have the taxi drop me off somewhere with cheap accommodations and start trying my luck.
Probably the early hours of arrival make it less appealing for such endeavours. And, it’s the first time I’m going to be staying in a non-airconditioned room. Half the price, minus the comfort. I can’t argue with that since I’m on less than a shoestring budget and the cost seems to be coming up more than expected already.
Alright, better start packing up. Let’s just see how big a hole this trip will burn in my pocket.
Yup, flying off to Cambodia tomorrow morning on a flight with godforsaken timing, which means I’ll be sleeping over at the airport tonight. Or haunting around the halls like a homeless ghost. Well, this basically means I’ll probably be having an afternoon siesta in my hotel room when I reach. Not really that well spent in my opinion, but hey, I got plenty of time there.
This is the first timing backpacking that I’ve actually booked a room ahead. Usually I’ll just fly over and have the taxi drop me off somewhere with cheap accommodations and start trying my luck.
Probably the early hours of arrival make it less appealing for such endeavours. And, it’s the first time I’m going to be staying in a non-airconditioned room. Half the price, minus the comfort. I can’t argue with that since I’m on less than a shoestring budget and the cost seems to be coming up more than expected already.
Alright, better start packing up. Let’s just see how big a hole this trip will burn in my pocket.
posted by Cylee at
7:24 pm I
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