PART 1: ANGKOR NAGA

30 June – 2 July 2013. Days 1 to 3 of 17. 

Siem Reap, Angkor Archaelogical Park (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants, Ta Prohm, Ta Keo, Banteay Kdei) CAMBODIA. 

Overnights in Siem Reap, Phonm Penh, CAMBODIA. 

 Just 7km outside the Cambodian city of Siem reap lies the ancient capital of Angkor boasting 18 temples dating from the early 11^th Century and covered in carvings of the ancient seven-headed serpent “Naga” – more on this UNESCO protected 8^th Natural Wonder of the World later. Our 9 hour flight on the Vietnam Airlines Airbus A330 was smooth and seemed quick. After a 3.5hr layover in Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM where we sampled our first Vietnamese dish of Chicken and Pork “Poh” for dinner, it was a quick one hour A321 flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Our hotel “Shinta Mani” was terrific – too luxurious for me.

Our first encounter with the nightlife of Siem Reap was very interesting. Tuk Tuks everywhere, very reminiscent of Thailand but a lot less crowded and a lot cleaner. Very warm and humid. Not too smelly. Siem Reap is not big. Pop is 40,000 and it is home to the famous temples of Angkor Wat which we would visit tomorrow. In peak season the tourists outnumber the locals – there are 32,000 hotel rooms in town! Patsie and Revi did not waste time in getting their first massage ($6USD for 1hr) whilst we looked at people getting their feet exfoliated by a tankful of nibbling fish – this is the craze here. As we sampled the fish and pricing, our youngest Boo-Dah member, Orlanda told the attendant “We will be in touch” as we walked off – hilarious for a 7 year old. After a relaxing beer at around 10:30pm it was time to head to the cold comfort of our hotel room. The women and children took two tuk tuks whilst Bundy, Nick G and John G walked to the hotel, got lost and were accosted by two prostitutes – one a lady and one a lady boy! We managed to “slip through” and make it to the hotel – what a first experience!

The following morning was blue sky and hot steamy conditions. Breaky was an experience in itself with lovely fluffy omelettes, Asian noodles, tropical fruits and mango yogurt. By 8am we were seated in our private air-conditioned van with Mr Seng Darlin introducing us to the history and culture of the Khmer which is quintessentially Cambodian, founded as Fu-Nan back in the first century AD. Most scholars reckon that the Khmer were somehow descended from India given Sanskrit writings discovered in the country and held by China. This contrasts with the origins of modern day Vietnam which is more linked with Chinese origins.

There is no better example of Khmer culture than in the ancient city of Angkor Thom just outside Siem Reap. We saw a total of five temples with the first and most important being “Angkor Wat” which is one of the eight wonders of the world and the largest religious building on the planet. It is bigger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome covering a footprint that is 1.5km by 1.3km. The main temple itself is 287m long, 17m wide and the centre spire reaches 65 high. This magnificent building was built by King Suryavaram II as a Hindu Shrine between 1113 and 1150AD.

It is now a Buddhist sanctuary with no more Hindus remaining in Cambodia – most are Buddhist. Many archaeologists also believe that Angkor Wat was meant as a mausoleum for the King that built it. The word “Angkor” means “Holy City” whilst “Wat” means “temple”. We spent 90min crawling all over it and sampling its outer sandstone façade with volcanic pumice as the main load bearing material within. Our 7 “little Buddhas” really enjoyed it, climbing all over the stairs and posing next to its many many pillars. Our mobile air conditioned paradise (mini-bus) then took us to the ancient city of Angkor Thom, surrounded by 13.2km of moat and within once housed the King and his family plus up to 2,600 of his officials, army and priests. It was a quasi-university and place of worship much like Machu Piccu in Peru. At its centre is the temple of Bayon which contains many huge smiling human faces made of sandstone symbolising the 4 key elements and virtues of the time.

Next to Bayon is the “Terrace of Elephants”, a 150m long sandstone of relief of, you guessed it – elephants and served a s a royal grandstand to observe parades and shows held in the royal city. Just outside the ancient city is a very interesting temple called the “Ta Prohm” which features huge, 350 year old “Sprung” trees with their roots growing over the stone roofs of the temple much like a strange little church in Southern Greece dedicated to a young female Christian martyr called St Theodora where Oaks grow off the church roof. This temple was built in 1186 as monastery and was made famous internationally by the film “Tomb Raider” starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft since it was filmed at this temple. As a matter of fact all the temples in the Angkor area resemble something those in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The “Ta Keo” temple is dedicated to the seven-headed “good” serpent known as “the Naga” which legend has was blessed by Buddha to protect the living from evil spirits through fire.

You can see the seven headed Naga behind many of the figures of Buddha. For this reason, I reckon, as John “Archaeologist” Golfin is the reason the English of Dawson, near York, have called their chilli, “The Dawson Naga” which has officially been declared as the hottest chilli in the world. The final temple, “Bantaey Kdei” was the smallest we saw and used as a place to bless the King’s troops and as a weapons store since no one would suspect it as such. Our guide was well read and a father of two and shared a great deal about how he felt about modern day Cambodia as well. The greatest tragedy in its history was the civil war that led to the Vietnam War and was started by in-fighting between communist Russia and China influences within the country.

The worst period in Cambodian history was the mass genocide by the Khmer Rouge of half of the Cambodian population between 1975 and 1979 from 7 to 4 million people. Unfortunately the main military leader of that regime continues to rule the country under the guise of democratic elections having been in power for since 1979 and now aged 62. There is still much corruption and poverty in the Cambodia but the country has made enormous progress with tourism.

Only 57% of all children go to school since, although meant to be free, the remainder of parents cannot afford the government bribes that must be paid to get kids to school. All kids speak Khmer from home and at school and French and English are also taught at school. Most people above 60 still speak French reflecting the 1863-1953 occupation. China has taken a huge interest in the country after the civil war because of 800,000 tons of gold and five major reserves of oil under land.

In return, the Chinese have built new roads, airports and railway. Vietnam is a close ally whilst tensions are strained with Thailand. Laos and Burma are neutral. The population of Cambodia has reached 15 million but the road toll can reach 15,000 per year due to a large number of no-helmet pillion passengers and bad roads. The hotel pool never looked better. After a full-day of the Angkor temples under a very hot and steamy sun it was great to cool off in the pool with drink in hand. Nick and I were up for a challenge so we went for 10km run after 5pm towards the temples – we saw a lot from the road, many kids riding their bikes back from school, mostly tuk tuks, lots of farmers returning home from the markets and a long straight road lined with jungle and the sounds of many birds.

Dinner tonight was typical Khmer down at the very bustling night markets. We sampled some traditional dishes including: grilled eggplant with finely minced pork and fresh chilli, mango salad with lemongrass, finely minced chicken “pad” and a variety of BBQ meats. Cambodian’s are far less vegetarian than the Vietnamese and eat way more meat. The flavours however are similar. Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage featuring home-made Angkor Beer! After dinner we spent some time walking around the night markets and all the kids put their feet in the tank of fishes to get a podi-dermic thrill. I put my hand in and it is such a gimmick – I could have put in my head!!!

Tue 3 July began with an early morning run since Bundy and I fell asleep at 10:30pm thinking we would stay up to drink red wine. I ran alone this morning and in the other direction along the Siem Reap River. What a difference to the day before. Lots of poverty. People living in shack on a brown stagnant smelly river. Dead dogs and rats on the roadside. People cooking food just a stone’s throw away from these “dead things”. My heart sank. Even though it was 7am, the humidity was hard to bare. It was like running a treadmill inside a zero ventilation closet. I was glad to get back to some aircon and a cup of coffee and croissant.

The coffee in Cambodia is good with ample espresso machines around due to the former colonial French influence. Bundy, Thomas (his son) and I started out at 9am for a walking tour of downtown Siem Reap whilst the others finished breaky and prepared to go to an orphanage followed by shopping. We walked past the Royal Residence, adjacent gardens, the Raffles Hotel and finally the Angkor Museum where we spent 90min learning more about ancient Angkor. By 1:30pm we were back poolside along with the rest of the Boo-Dah gang. At 3:45pm in a green mini-van on the way to Siem Reap domestic airport to catch our 45min flight to the capital, Phnom Penh. What a flight. We were delayed by 1hr for a good reason. There was a huge thunderstorm over the capital and the pilots decided to press on. They were lucky. Our ATR-72 turboprop flew into a giant thunder cloud and we were thrown around like a kite in a wind tunnel. Even I, an "erotical engineer (aeronautical engineer)" thought it was our end. We popped out the other end of side after 10min - obvious to me - the pilots took a chance and won!!! Once landed we realised that we were in a big city. Traffic and chaos everywhere. Our hotel was in a terrific central position in downtown Phnom Penh, just 15min walk from Riverside Mekon! Lucky for us there was a traditional Khmer restaurant just opposite which employed street kids!

The cuisine was exactly what I wanted. For entree I had TARANTULA! It is like fish. They bring them out live to crawl on you and then you pick one and they cook it. I picked it up and crunched on it and gladly swallowed it - it tasted like an overdone crunchy teriyaki salted crab. Antonia was the only other one brave enough to put two arachnid legs in her mouth. The Khmer mains included: green mango salad with smoked fish, grilled eggplant with mushroom and fresh chilli and thin beef strips sauteed with coconut. The Tarantula's were tastier and full of protein...