Cambodian Christmas (The Holidays in Siem Reap: Part 1/2)

 

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The ruins of the temple Bayon, Angkor Historical Park.

15 December 2017: First Impressions

Taking the night bus from Bangkok's Victory Monument to Siem Reap can take sixteen hours including a four hour border stop. Flying one of the regional airlines means a 35-minute flight with barely any time spent at cruising altitude. Flying was the way to go.

Michael and Pinky peeking.

As our Thai Smile flight ascended high above Bangkok at dusk, street lights were just beginning to come on. Rush hour traffic left red and white car lights at a stand still. Endless lines of lights along Bangkok's roads and highways looked like blood coursing through the veins of the city, spreading and sprawling as far as the eye could see.

After finally leaving the far reaches of the mass hodge-podge of development of Bangkok and its outlying provinces, there was nothing to see out the plane window but black with a few occasional scattered clusters of light. We were flying over rural Thailand, and eventually rural Cambodia. Far removed from the Big Mango that never sleeps.

Touching down, I could see the wide river running through sleepy Siem Reap and the lights of city tracing its edges. 

We had a bumping touchdown and came to a stop. Stepping off the plane's ladder onto the tarmac in the cool, humid air, I breathed in a fresh and clean breath. We were in Cambodia. 

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Before going to Cambodia, and before my brother Michael had told me about its culture and history from his travels there, I had unfortunately barely given the nation of nearly 15 million citizens a second thought. I knew something of its bloody past and the brutal quasi-Marxist regime of Pol Pot. I know of the genocide and the attempted purge of history, culture, and religion. Yet, I had no idea what to expect of modern Cambodia.

Though I can say little to what the nation is like as a whole for the average person, I can write of my observations as a traveler in country. I met incredibly friendly people who seemed to always be smiling and joking, I experienced the tangible fruits of cultural expression that has been resurrected by its folk, and I saw with my own eyes one of the most breath-taking wonders of the world: Angkor.

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The road into Siem Reap. We traveled in the back of a tuk-tuk pulled by a motorbike. Dust was everywhere, but the night was still and calm. You could see a million stars in the night sky.

My mother, my bother Michael, his girlfriend Pinky, and I all piled into a tuk-tuk at the airport (unlike Thailand, tuk-tuks are the preferred and most economical mode of transport in Siem Reap). The international terminal at Siem Reap airport is brand new with Khmer-style sloped roofs, but the minute you leave the airport you can tell you’ve entered a developing country. 

It took about 30 minutes to get to the Mango Rain Hotel. On the way, as we raced on what looked like a relatively new six-lane asphalt highway, we passed rural rice fields and street-side cart vendors. Past us on the the road sped tuk-tuks, SUVs, tourist busses, and motorbikes. 

The scenery to the side of the road seemed very rural one minute, then all of a sudden up popped a small cluster of two or three story high residential or commercial buildings. Then it was rural again, and next came the property of a huge luxury resort, sprouting from seemingly nowhere. In Bangkok, I have seen luxury in the vicinity of a slum, but this completely baffling arrangement was something entirely different: Cambodia is the first really undeveloped country I've ever explored.

Tucked behind a tiny alleyway in the densely pack town of Siem Reap, one finds the Mango Rain Boutique Hotel. The Mango Rain Hotel is not fancy, but it is clean, comfortable, and has beautiful grounds. The compound has an open-air restaurant, and the buildings housing guest rooms surround a large stone courtyard with green tropical plants.

It was not a heavy tourist season, and so I got to enjoy having several conversations with some of the hotel staff. Several of the staff were very eager to use their English and hear about America, and I got to ask some of them about their country as well. One man went on and on about his friend in America seeing snow and asked me if I thought we might have a White Christmas. Probably not in Texas!

Unconventional foreigners pose in front
of retro Santas at the Mango Rain.

Michael savors a morning spot of tea.

16 December 2017: Angkor in all its Splendor

We woke early to meet our arranged tuk-tuk driver, whom we had hired to take us on a small circuit of the ruins at Angkor for the day. Incidentally, his name was Kim, just like my mother. But Kim was his surname, not his given name. In Cambodia, the surname comes first in a name.

Before heading out, I ate a delicious breakfast of fried rice, egg, and fruit, and drank my fill of hot Khmer coffee. I also got to learn a little Khmer (Cambodian) language from some of the staff at the restaurant during breakfast. This included:

អរគុណ arkoun tom-tom (thank you)
លាហើយ lee-haey (goodbye) 

On the translation for "thank you" in Khmer: it is my speculation that the waitress who taught me this phrase was messing with me. I tried using it in other exchanges at other shops and markets, and I often was met with polite giggles. I know that "arkoun" does mean "thank you", but the "tom-tom" prefix was something I had not heard anywhere else. I imagine that it is a silly or antiquated way of saying it, and my Cambodian friend was being mischievous. It turns out that "tom tom" means "big big", and it definitely made me sound silly each time I tried to use it!

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The Temples at Angkor Archaeological Park

Fall weather at Bayon temple.

The ruins at Angkor were breathtaking. The park holds the remains of various temples, palaces, and administrative buildings built at the Cambodian capitals between the 9th and 16th centuries-- at the height of the Khmer empire. It is believed to once have held the largest pre-industrial city in the world. 

We first stopped to buy tickets at the large, modern tourist center, then hopped back in Mr. Kim's tuk tuk for a short ride on a dusty, well-trafficked stretch of road toward Angkor Wat, the most famous of the temples in the park.

We drove through the jungle, and passed parks where hammocks were set up and Cambodians enjoyed family picnics. Before I saw the temple, I saw the moat: large, perfectly rectangular, and built nearly a millennium ago. As we rounded a bend, and the trees cleared, I saw Angkor Wat, and its stunning mountain-shaped peaks. It has withstood centuries and proudly and stoically draws awe to this day.

For its acclaim and its size, Angkor Wat was fun to explore. It is incredible to be a visitor to a site that has drawn pilgrims for nearly a millennium. At the wat, there were many sets of steep staircases, long bridges over two different moats, tunnels, arches, and ledges to walk on. Many of the interior walls had reliefs showing scenes from Hindu mythology, and there were several active Buddhist shrines within the temple.

In my opinion, Angkor Wat is something like London's Tower Bridge or the Grand Palace in Bangkok: it is worth seeing for its notability (it is popular because it is incredible), but with all the tourists everywhere, it's not intimate enough to be anyone's most favorite place.

When visiting Angkor, bring a hat and be prepared for lots of walking (and climbing!).

I have a thing for arches.

Call my Kyle Croft: Tomb Raider.

We completed the small circuit at Angkor, which included stops at the famous Angkor Wat, the temples and other buildings at Angkor Thom, stops at a few smaller temples, and a stop at Ta Phrom, a temple well-known for having  been over-taken by the jungle.

My favorite structure overall was Bayon at Angkor Thom. The temple Bayon is notable for the giant faces adorning its roof, looking out in all directions. The faces are speculated to be either a Bodhisattva or Khmer King Jayavarman VII, but no one actually knows. I love thinking of the stoic serenity of the faces and all they might have seen and weathered (beautiful and atrocious) over the centuries. Bayon is also notable as one of the sites where the 2001 Tomb Raider (featuring Angelina Jolie) movie was filmed.

En route to Angkor Thom, the second stop of the circuit.

Angkor Thom's crown jewel, Bayon. 

There were several active Buddhist shrines
hidden within many of the
ancient temple cloisters.

 

The famous four-sided heads of Bayon.

My other favorite temple was Ta Phrom, the temple being devoured by the jungle, from which it once stole land. At Ta Phrom, perhaps more ancient and less cared for that some of its sister temples, trees and plants have overtaken some of the stone structure. Though it does sound trite, it really feels as though nature is taking back what was once hers, to restore it to its original state.

Many of Angkor's temples have been "adopted" to be cared for by other nations. Angkor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but as Cambodia is still rebuilding its economy, it accepts financial and archaeological support from other governments to care for its most famous sites. These include Japan, China, Korea, India, Thailand, and the United States. Ta Phrom, for example, had been adopted for restoration by India.

The jungle taking back what was once hers. (Ta Phrom)

 My mother had to buy a krama, a Cambodia
scarf, from a local vendor, in order to cover
her legs to enter many of the temples.  

One of the thrilling but also troubling things about Angkor is the accessibility of the temples. Even at the densely touristed Angkor Wat, but especially at the smaller temples deeper in the jungle, most parts of buildings were very accessible.

You could ascend many of the steep stone staircases, perch in archways and window frames, stand on ledges, and touch reliefs on walls. This is exciting and fulfills everyone's childhood dream to become an explorer or adventurer. However, it is not good for preservation. I think, that, eventually, as the park becomes increasingly more visited by tourists, spaces will become more restricted. There is already decent infrastructure in place, with guards and clearly marked instructions for tourists in place.

One of the smaller, less visited temples near Angkor Thom.

Michael receives a blessing from
a Buddhist nun within Angkor Thom.

I feel incredibly honored and lucky to have seen these beautiful sites. It is surreal to join millions of others who have glimpsed this majestic, sacred sites over the centuries. It was surreal to feel the dust on my feet from the ground that millions have trod before and see the wonders that an diminished once-powerful empire built.

History is alive!

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 Stay tuned for more posts about my trip to Cambodia.