Probably my favourite temple as the Bayou temple with many intricate faces looking outwards and the mighty walled city of Angkor Thom is equally impressive and must have been something else when it was one of the largest cities in the world in its heyday. The huge gates with massive faces and figures must have been an awe inspiring and intimidating sight. I would love to have posted more photos but the iPad has decided it doesn't like my camera now (probably because it is not manufactured by Apple!) so it only lets me upload a few and not my favourites. I hope you get a feel for the place anyway.
Unfortunately, and perhaps inevitably, the area is absolutely overrun with tourists and all the hullabaloo that comes with the sheer number of visitors. I hope I can be forgiven for using a little artistic licence with some of these photos. The decision to hire mountain bikes was however a great idea and did allow more detailed viewing of some of the 'smaller' temples (each of which would in their own right be a national monument in any other place) where there were less crowds and serenity could be found. The cycle around the incredible walls around Angkor Thom were deserted and the only people up there were locals collecting wood for their clay stoves. The other distinct feature of the area is the number of orphaned or poor children and the small bands set up by the victims of landmines playing traditional Khmer music. Again a solemn reminder of this areas recent and current problems with poverty and oppression. More on this maybe later.
We also had a tuk tuk tour to some of the more far flung temples, which was great, but our tuk tuk driver had a one track mind and seemed more concerned about acting as some kind of pimp rather than acting as a tour guide "you want some boom boom tonight" (accompanied with a most curious gesture) was greeted with a muted "no we are here to see some temples" response from the both of us. He eventually got the hint and the rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet. We decided not to give him a tip!
It is also worth making a note of the observations of many a 'modern monk' equipped with smartphones, iPads, digital cameras and was funny to watch them gleefully take selfies of themselves with the various temples in the background. One can only assume these monks are still in training and the last thing you give up these days is gadetry! I guess to be fair if you are a Buddhist monk travelling here from far away then you would want to record the moment for posterity, and who can hold it against them!
An early start this morning saw us getting picked up 'Cambodian style' in a totally rammed mini van to get on a boat to Phnom Phenh. This seemed like a nice idea, who wouldn't want to go on a nice 6 hour boat journey?! Sadly we read the section the lonely planet saying it was best avoided after we booked the tickets. A rather precarious journey perched atop a very fast moving tin can ensued (we only left 2 hours late) in the full glare of the sun with only a bunch of sunburnt Russians, some middle aged hippy types and the cast of Beverley Hills 90210 for company. The guy running up and down the narrow gangway along the side of the boat selling beers was a light relief tho. It wasn't actually all that bad and the journey through the riverside villages was great with lots of gleeful kids waving at us as we sped by and nearly toppled them out of their boats. This is most certainly a unique and fascinating landscape. It seems most of the rural population of Cambodia lives a fine line between sustistance living and poverty - will need a few more days here to work out which side of the line.
The only reason I say the boat trip was not that bad is because it was significantly better than the bus journey to Sihanoukville that followed. Whilst the bus itself was significantly more comfortable than a rolling metal bulkhead; the puking passenger opposite, arguing elderly couple, nutty woman in front and the ridiculous amount of guys rammed into the stairwell having a right laugh in the company of the worlds loudest man has kind of taken the sheen off it. Plus the rush hour traffic meant we arrived about 3 hours late and a late night check in on the best hotel we could find in the area was greeted with a bunch of drunk Russians causing chaos for the hotel staff, what a delight!
A constant reminder of the trials and tribulations of this part of the world is always on the local papers and television screens with huge protests in Thailand. There is an eqaully strong sense of misgiving amongst the working class here in Cambodia seeking a higher minimum wage and all sorts of scandal and corruption with their Government starting to come to a head with the populous. I have a feeling the travel issues we have experienced so far are just a taster of what we may have to come...we shall see!
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