We checked in to the Bangkok Airlines flight to Siem Reap. We were originally assigned neighboring aisle seats, but for some reason, they decided either I or my father couldn't sit in the exit row. So, they 'asked' us to change seats, and we were moved forward. The flight left one hour late, but since we had our visas in advance, we were out of the airport quickly, and we went off to the temples. We drove past Angkor Wat and went to Angkor Thom, where we photographed the statues on the bridge, and walked in. Our next stop was the Bayan temple.
The Bayan Temple is the second most famous temple of the Angkor complex. It was originally built with 54 towers, each with four faces. 17 towers have decayed, leaving 37. At any point on the surface of the temple, one of the smiling faces is looking at you. It is one of the more interesting experiences.
In 1996, the Bayan had some other tourists when I went by, but not many. Now, they've set up wooden stairs in places, added handrails, lighting, and there were many people on the Bayan temple. Maybe it is greedy of me to want to keep it unvisited, but the numbers did decrease the quality of the experience. But, at the time, I did not know the worst was yet to come.
Our next stop was the terrace of the leper king, where we looked at a lot of carvings, and my father came across his first land-mine victim. We also visited the terrace of elephants, and then went to lunch.
Lunch was at one of the open air restaurants across from Angkor Wat. My father and I both had Ayok, the national dish, and I also ordered some beef with lemongrass. Ayok was fish (in this case shrimp) with onions in coconut curry. It was quite delicious. The beef with lemongrass was decent.
After lunch, we went to a craft school, where we saw how Cambodians were learning wood and stone carving, and silk painting. I met an interesting person, Jenn Danielsen, who is interested in studying human rights law to help the people in places like Cambodia. My father and I also looked for some souvenirs, but didn't find anything at an appropriate price.
In retrospect, this was the most interesting stop of the day. I can see how some of my thinking is starting to change as a result of the MBA, I was looking at the site as a business, and thinking of what kind of alternatives there might be. For example, automation of stone carving could increase productivity, but since the living stipend for students is $25/month, is it worth it? Furthermore, if you were to automate the process, would you then overproduce, and force a lower price, and lower profits? Interesting thoughts.
After that, we visited Angkor Wat.
My first experiences of Angkor Wat, back in 1996, were like a revelation. I crossed the causeway, went through the gate, and there it was. 2006 was a lot different. Based on the estimates for visitations, I and 10,000 of my closest friends, descended on the famous temple. It was almost impossible to take a picture that did not have people in it. It was difficult to walk in some places due to the crowds. Plus, since it was hotter than most people were accustomed to living, in places, to be blunt, it smelled bad. (I include myself in that description, as I probably smelled like a horse.) For someone who has never been to Angkor Wat, you can still be very impressed with the temple, but for someone who was there back before the civil war ended, it was a personal loss of innocence. Crowds of people. Hot air balloons. I read about all of them, and thought I had prepared myself for the experience, but I don't think one can prepare. "Imagine what it was like when no one was here?" I don't have to imagine it. I remember it.
My father, who had never been before, very much enjoyed it, but he did not like the crowds, either.
We checked in to the Hotel Khemara Angkor, clearly a 4 star hotel. The only weakness is that they do not have Internet connections in the rooms, although they do have one in the lobby. Since my father forgot one of his files, I had to use it to ask my sister to mail it to him. Other than that, the rooms are well maintained, and even the mattress is in good shape! (Since I like a firm mattress, that makes me happy.) We relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner.
We originally planned to visit the Tonle Sap restaurant, since it was highly rated, but it looked like it was really touristy (several full-sized air conditioned busses were parked outside, clearly it was aimed for those tourists - of all nations - who were "touring Japanese.") Worse, all they offered was a buffet. Personally, I'm not fond of buffets. While I guess I can satisfy any hunger at an "all you can eat" buffet, you rarely get the high quality food, and it is inevitably not the chef's best effort. The food is mass- produced, and warmed on steam tables or under heat lamps. There is no effort at presentation. With all that against it, we opted to head out. Our tuk-tuk driver took us to another restaurant near the stadium, Borey Sovann, where my father had sweet and sour pork, Cambodian style, and I had beef with chili past (sic), Khmer spices, and roast peanuts. We also split an order of Cambodian fried rice. The dishes were quite tasty, although the beef was rather tough. It also wasn't all that spicy, so maybe "past" wasn't a typo on the menu.
Even more amazing, showing how ten years can make a difference; I was able to pay with a credit card. In 1996, cash was the only currency in Cambodia, and the majority was US dollars. Cambodian rials were only provided in change instead of US coins. Cambodia is still a dollar-based economy, but there are ATM machines and now credit cards.
There was some sort of circus in the old sports stadium as we went home. No evidence of Papa Lazaroux in attendance, but "the circus is coming to town" did enter my mind.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and slept, our first good night's sleep since we were in North America.
The Forest Outside Angkor Thom |
Another Look |
And Another |
Parade of Angels |
The Walkway |
A Daemon |
Parade of Daemons |
Parade of Daemons |
The Moat |
A Foot |
Angkor Gate |
Angkor Gate |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
Etchings |
Etchings |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
Inside the Bayan |
A Spider |
Clearer |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
The Bayan |
My Father in the Bayan |
My Father in the Bayan |
A Killer |
Terraces of a Story |
Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat |
The Dancer |
Angkor Wat |
The Library |
Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat |
What a Crowd! |
A Reflection |
The Reflection |
It was a good sleep, but I was still restless overnight. There was no clock in the room, so I'd look at my watch every now and then before rising at 5:30. The shower was hot, and I feel a lot cleaner -- the perfect way to feel before going into the jungle!
I am amazed that I've crossed nine time zones, with no real evidence of jet lag. I was tired at the end of the day yesterday, but perhaps that was because it was a long, exhausting day. The overnight flight west, with extra sleep, seems to be a better option than the daytime flight and 1AM arrival. I was jet lagged in 1996 when I fell soundly asleep at Taman Negara the day I arrived in Malaysia. I would probably have been jet lagged in Hong Kong on September 12, 2001, had I not been wired from the news.
Or, it perhaps represents my personal experience with jet lag. I tend to have no issue when leaving home. It is only when I go back home that I get let lagged. So, maybe the answer is to just keep traveling?
We went to breakfast at the hotel. Our tour was scheduled to pick us up at 8AM. Breakfast was a mixed buffet, much better than at the Comfort Suites. I had some noodles and tempura along with an omelet. We had a new guide, Sam, who was better at bringing the temples to life. Our day started with a drive to Bantay Srei. Ten years ago, one needed to hire a bodyguard to visit these temples. They were an example of some excellent carvings, in older sandstone. These were Hindu temples, and originally featured lingams (phallic statues) but these have all been stolen or destroyed. Driving to Bantay Srei was 45 minutes, but was worth it.
The next temple was Pre Rup, which had several levels of climbing. We passed it on the way out, and stopped on the way back. It is an older temple, but is well preserved.
The last temple of the morning was Ta Prohm. Next to Angkor Wat, this is the most recognized temple in Cambodia, thanks to the Tomb Raiders movie. Instead of making a massive restoration effort, they have left this temple the way it was found, with trees growing over the walls and through the building.
Unfortunately, this temple is probably going to be destroyed by visitation. More than 1000 people passed through in less than an hour, when we were there. At times, places were so crowded, you couldn't move. You'd be queued up to see different parts of the temple, and groups of 50 tourists "touring Japanese" would pass by. Visiting Ta Prohm was a nightmare due to the crowds. It has reached the point where there are no redeeming characteristics to visiting this temple.
After this visit, it was lunch time. We first stopped at a couple jewelry stores, where I found a pair of cufflinks. Maybe not the best to say "Cambodia," but including a ruby, 8 sapphires, and some black onyx, and looking vaguely like a cross between the St. Andrews cross of Scotland and the sun of Japan. We went back to the craft shop where my father bought two wooden boxes.
Lunch was at Phnom Srei, which was the best food we've had so far. I had roast pork in honey, and my father had spicy frogs' legs. It was fairly expensive, but was delicious.
A Ganesh at Bantay Srei |
A Garuda at Bantay Srei |
Another Garuda |
Sanscrit at Bantay Srei |
Sanscrit at Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
Another Garuda |
A Closer Look |
Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
A Naga at Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
Bantay Srei |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Pre Rup |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
Ta Prohm |
A Pretty Plant at Ta Prohm |
After lunch, we went to the Rolous Group, some of the oldest temples near Siem Reap. These are about 17 kilometers east of the city, and are not visited as frequently. I wanted to see them back in 1996, but I did not have enough time, so I made it a point of putting them on the schedule.
The first temple was Lolei, a temple that was originally at the center of a large reservoir of water. The temple itself is not in tremendous shape, and is undergoing extensive renovation. A functioning Buddhist monastery is on the grounds, and we looked inside for a photograph. One busload of Koreans did show up, ending our exclusive experience at the temple, but even then, it was comparing the crowds of North Dakota to New York City.
Second Rolous temple was Preah Ko, the Sacred Bull temple. Three decorative bulls face the lions guarding the temple. This temple is in much better shape than Lolei, but is still in a rundown condition and is being refurbished. There were several notable stone carvings at Preah Ko, and some excellent relief work.
The last temple at Rolous, and the most impressive, was Bakong. This is a pyramid in the shape of Mt. Meru, and was a reasonable climb. There were three primary levels, and a couple secondary levels above that. The steps were typical for the Angkor temples, large and steep. The original Khmer must have had long legs and a good sense of balance. We spent a good bit of time here, climbing, looking at the carved elephants and the different towers, and enjoying the relative lack if people around us. We did watch some local children climb a tamarind tree to harvest the fruit; one child must have climbed over 75 feet to reach the top of the tree, and was vigorously shaking the branches to get the tamarind pods to drop.
Bakong is the oldest of all the temples we saw, dating back to 875 AD, 300 years before the construction of the Bayan. It seems to have survived fairly well, better than the two other temples of the Rolous Group that we visited, and the lack of tourists there makes it a much more pleasant experience. It was closer to my experience of 1996 than anything else.
After Bakong, we headed back to the hotel, where I checked my email to see if my sister had resolved my father's problem (she hadn't) and where we rested for a bit before dinner. This dinner was at Bantaey Srei restaurant, the first restaurant we visited that was mentioned in Lonely Planet. I ordered fried beef with prah ko, which was some sort of stalk-like vegetable, and my father ordered sour fish soup. We also shared a plate of fried rice with egg and Chinese sausage. Not as good as lunch, but not too bad. We went back to the hotel for an 8PM bedtime, as we were to be picked up by oSmoSe at 5:30 AM for our birding trip to Prek Toal.
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
The Buddha |
The Buddha |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
A Jackfruit |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Poisonous Spider |
Poisonous Spider |
Sparrows |
Sparrows |
Sparrows |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
A door in Lolei |
A door in Lolei |
A column in Lolei |
Sanscrit in Lolei |
Sanscrit in Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Lolei |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
A Bull in Preah Ko |
A Bull in Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Sanscrit in Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
Preah Ko |
A Bull in Preah Ko |
Bakong |
The Bakong Moat |
The Bakong Moat |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
An Elephant Carving |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong Elephants |
The Stairs to the Top of Bakong |
Harvesting Tamarinds |
Harvesting Tamarinds |
A Lion Carving |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
The View From the Top of Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Bakong |
Some Pretty Flowers |
Some Pretty Flowers |
Closer |
Closer |
Closer |
A Pretty White Flower |
A Pretty Purple Flower |
A Tree |
The Bakong Moat |
The Bakong Moat |
Fruit Bats in Siem Reap |
Fruit Bats |
I was awake before the 4:30 AM wakeup call, and showered. Our ride even arrived early, so we checked out of the Khemara Angkor and went on our way, but not after checking email. Lillian still has not responded to my father's request, and I ended up paying for the internet connection. For a fractional DSL, it wasn't too bad.
We drove south to the floating village of Chong Khnies, where we caught a boat to Prek Toal. The floating villages that surround the Tonle Sapp are essentially portable towns. Since the Sapp changes size significantly between the rainy season and the dry season, towns that rely on fishing need to move with the shoreline. They are called "floating villages" and roughly 1,000,000 Cambodians live in this way.
Prek Toal is on the west end of the Tonle Sapp, the large lake in the middle of Cambodia. As we are about four months into the dry season, it is near its smallest size, but we still could not see from the boat to the final destination.
While on the boat, I photographed sunrise on the Sapp.
The boat ride was about 90 minutes long, and eventually we came up to the Environmental Center for the Prek Toal bird reserve. The village of Prek Toal is also a floating village, but one that remains at the same longitude and latitude, just floating higher and lower as the water level changes. Here, we hit a snag, the planned route for the birding trip was not accessible, so we had to take another motorboat around to the next river entrance. Even that failed, as we ended up needing to take another river, as the waves on the Sapp were too big for the smaller motorboat.
We did eventually find a way to enter the birding reserve. We transferred from the motor boat to 10 foot long "paddle boats." They were more like pole boats, but that's neither here nor there. We went along some rivers in the area and looked at birds. There were quite a few. I found the blue-tailed bee-eater to be a beautiful bird, and one must be impressed with the grey-headed fish eagle. The lesser adjutant was the bird of the day for my father, and the swamphen was a close second. The full list of birds is:
The only problem with the birding was the pole boats were quite uncomfortable after a while. One must remain sitting in the boat, or it would capsize. You do not want to be immersed in that water! So, after a while, the gluteus maximus muscle would get extremely sore. In my case, my calves and thighs also would start hurting, and my feet would go to sleep. The most comfortable position was lying on my back, but you couldn't see anything that way!
After a good day's birding, we went back to the village for a quick tour, and then headed back across the Tonle Sap, and caught our ride. This was unquestionably the most expensive tour of the trip, and was also definitely worth the cost.
oSmoSe is an entirely Cambodian operation, with the money paid being put back into the Cambodian economy. This is in notable contrast to the rest of the Angkor Wat experience; a lot of money is being spent at these temples, and the vast profits are leaving the country. Even the administration of the national park is handled by a foreign company, so the bulk of the $20 daily entrance fee goes out of town. The hotels are almost all foreign owned and operated. It all reminds me of why I don't like Wal Mart. When you have this situation where the majority of business is not locally owned, the profits are not re-invested locally at the same rate. Mom and Pop businesses will invest more in their local community, making them strong. Non-local business may re-invest some, but will also remove money from the community to fund other ventures. While certainly non-local investment deserves some return, the mix is wrong in Siem Reap, and the mix is wrong in towns that have been Wal Mart-ed.
We were back at the hotel by 4PM, to wait for our 6PM ride to the airport. Here, we learned that my father's pictures did not come out because he did not know the memory card was full. I fixed that with my iPod, but he has no pictures of Prek Toal. Even more amusing, it turns out that he was shooting video. So, he'd point the camera and press a button and think he's taken a picture, then carry it to the next picture, where he'd press the button to stop shooting. He's got a lot of interesting video of his feet.
Back at the hotel, my mother finally responded to my father's email, so he could finally send off the remaining post cards. No post cards from me, I'm doing my communication on the web.
Our ride was on time, but our flight was not. Since my last visit, Siem Reap has added metal detectors and X-ray machines, but the organization is a bit lax. Then again, the airport is run by the French, who get to extract $25 per passenger in departure tax. I guess it is to help the struggling French economy, since Siem Reap is so wealthy.
Tonle Sap |
Sunrise |
Reeds on the Sap |
More Sap |
Prek Toal River |
Fishing Nets |
Fishing Nets |
A Cat |
A Cat |
A Cat |
A Perch |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Indian Cormorants and a Darter |
Indian Cormorants and a Darter |
Indian Cormorants and a Darter |
Indian Cormorants and a Darter |
A White Pelican |
A White Pelican |
A White Pelican |
A White Pelican |
A White Pelican |
A White Pelican |
A White Pelican |
Two Pelicans |
Two Pelicans |
Two Pelicans |
Two Pelicans |
Two Pelicans |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
A Brahminy Kite |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Blue-tailed Bee-eater |
Purple Swamphen |
Purple Swamphen |
Openbill |
Openbill |
Openbill |
Openbill |
Openbill |
Openbill |
Two Cormorants |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle |
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All images are © Copyright 2006 James C. Armstrong, Jr.