There's a Wat to see in Siem Reap.

Of course, the reason we came to Siem Reap is to see Angkor Wat. Not just one temple, it’s an entire complex of structures (about 300 monuments) built in the 9th to 13th centuries, back when the Khmer empire was an ass-kicking super power.

We decided to use the services of a guide so that we would know what the heck we were looking at. The cost for a daylong tour was $25 for the guide, and $20 for the car and driver, plus a $20 entrance fee.

We left at 8am, and it was already searing hot out. In the car, our guide, Prom, gave us a quick primer on Cambodian history (it’s deep, complex, and recently pretty awful). Prom spoke English very well, but had an odd Cambodian/Australian accent. (He said he picked up the Aussie inflection from tourists.)

Our first stop (also my favorite stop) was Ta Prohm. Built in 1186-1187, it was overtaken by jungle and the result is quite stunning.  Huge trees are growing on roofs, gripping walls, and have generally taken the place over. It’s magical, picturesque and looks like a movie set. Oh wait, it has been a movie set! The area where Angelina Jolie filmed a scene for Tomb Raider is roped off to visitors. You can look, but no touching.

We got back to the car and the driver had chilled towels and more water for us. Nice! From there we went to the grandaddy of the area, Angkor Wat. Oh my… it’s huge. Whereas Ta Prohm was tumbling down, Angkor Wat is remarkably well preserved. That is because it was intermittently occupied and used by Buddhist monks over the years, who kept things up somewhat. Bas-relief carvings, from different eras and in varying degrees of qualities, covered the walls. There were extremely steep, narrow stairs to the towers, which until 6 months ago were open to tourists. There was only one tiny handrail and terrified tourists kept getting stuck at the top, so they have built a better staircase… but it’s not open yet.

More cool towels were waiting for us, then it was finally time for lunch. We ate at a restaurant within the area…expensive, and none too clean. Plus, at $20 including tip, it was pretty expensive by SE Asia standards. It wasn’t that good, and I wished we had packed our own.

Next on the list was Angkor Thom, a whole city, really. It was surrounded by a moat and accessible through an impressive gate. There were several things to see inside. First, we stood in the blazing hot sun to view the bas-relief carvings in the wall, which showed life long ago. It played out like a move, with markets, hunting, journeys, battles, and even baby delivery portrayed. It was really well preserved... you could even see the flower decorations on the coats! Next we walked through the Bayon, an ornate structure topped with 54 smiling towers. After some time admiring the smiling faces and roasting there, we strolled to Baphuon. This collapsed temple was completely disassembled by the French (maybe in the 1960s, but I don’t know for sure), who took it all apart and laid out the hundreds of thousands of pieces in the surrounding area. The plan was to shore up the foundation, and reconstruct the temple as it has originally been. Then war broke out, the French left, and all documents (i.e. those telling which piece goes where) were destroyed! But the French are back at it, in the process of putting it all together without the original plans. God bless ‘em. (Projected opening is in 2009).

The Elephant Terrace was next. This was kind of a platform for the king, who sat there and watched entertainment on the field in front. The terrace is carved with elephant depictions, hence its name.

Our guide suggested we go back to the hotel at this point, but we had paid for a full day and it wasn’t yet 2:00! From there, I kind of had to prod him to carry on, and we ended up at Phnom Bakhang, the oldest structure in the Angkor complex, built in the 9th century. It was a long climb to the temple ruins, but one could take an elephant ride for $15. (Once you got up, you had to pay another $10 to come back down!). This area afforded a nice view of the surrounding area, but didn’t have a whole lot of shade (and I forgot my water), so we didn’t stay too long.

I had really wanted to stay for sunset, but our guide let it be known that our tour was over. I was tired and hot, but I still wanted to keep going, but it seemed to not be an option. We were driven back to the hotel, where we relaxed by “our” pool and I researched ongoing travel. In the evening we went into town and had an OK dinner at Original Khmer Food Restaurant. Once the sun went down the temperature was more bearable, so we wandered around a bit, but found there really isn’t that much to do in Siem Reap.

Tomorrow we will go to the Land Mine Museum, then we are off to our next destination, which has recently changed: we are going back to Thailand, to spend a couple of days in Bangkok. Then, on to India and the Himalayas!