Feb. 3/13 – The purpose of our trip to Siem Reap, a province that is 315 km from the capital city, Phnom Penh, was to see the Angkor Wat which is one of the finalist for the 7 Wonders of the world. It didn’t win probably because the people in this side of the world don’t have access to the internet to vote. Even today, 4 out of the 14 million people in Cambodia alone still have no internet access at all. I mean if I had to vote then I will vote for this, not for the Chris Redeemer in Brazil or even the Colosseum in Rome. It was just a matter of access to the voting system. We decided to go on a luxurious 6-hour bus ride with wifi which costs $13/person instead of in the less comfortable ones or older buses that were for $9 or $11. Lol
Angkor Wat is the largest temple among the more than 20 temples inside what’s called the world’s largest religious complex with lots of other temples, ruins and lakes. This religious place is located inside the Angkor Archaeological Park which stretches over some 400 square kilometres, including a forested area. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992, Angkor Archaeological Park houses ruins of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries, the most famous of which are the Temple of Angkor Wat and the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom.
Even though it is now over-run with tourism, it was still fascinating to see the wall carvings on the temples. One can “see” so much history written on the walls. Ta Prohm is the most interesting to me because of the giant trees growing in and above the temples. We were told that one of the Tomb Raider movies was filmed here. It was amazing to see these structures in what was the middle of the jungle. I find it unbelievable that these temples were built so many centuries ago (800-1000 years ago) with the help of craftsmen, slaves and lots of elephants that transported the stones from the mountains, passing them trunk to trunk. And today, the structure stands tall and erect. Quite amazing!
Despite the fact that Angkor Wat is the biggest among them, I liked the ones inside the Angkor Thom more especially because Angkor Wat was so crowded with tourists and tons of people chasing us to try and sell us stuff. Also, there was a lot of restoration work going on, so there were scaffolds and tarps in what could have been good photo spots.
While we were here, other than my many visits to the night markets for shopping, food and massages, we also managed to go to the Cambodia Cultural Village to see miniature version of all the landmarks in Cambodia. On top of this, we watched the traditional Khmer wedding show.
Another interesting place we went to visit was the traditional Khmer village of Kampong Phlok which is a floating village on the Tonle Sap, acknowledged to be the largest lake in SW Asia). It was a nice 40-min ride in the tuktuk from Siem Reap. People here have no electrical power so they use battery as their power source. They cook with wood which is why you see so many wood piles on the photos.
The reason the houses are built so high is that during their rainy season (6 months a year), the water level on the river rises to more than 20 feet high. I felt sad to see the run-down conditions of the houses these 600+ families live in. But at the same time, I admire the smiles on the children’s faces I witnessed while they were jumping in to swim in the mustard yellow color river. I saw a lot of men fishing with nets and women cooking. Life seems very simple here that it made me wonder and compare it with the lives of the people in the busy metropolis – such a nice thing to ponder on while I was lying down on the hammock during our 90-minute boat ride along the river to the lake…..
We are going back to Phnom Penh today to catch our flight to Bali tomorrow….
Originally posted on Amy’s travel blog: TravelwithAmy.ca