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The quote: When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable. (Clifton Paul Fadiman)
Angkor. The Khmer Empire
The distinct figure of Angkor Wat.
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In Cambodian, Angkor stands for Sacred City, and it was the capital of the Khmer Empire between the 9th and the 13th century.
One million people used to live in the area. All sorts of infrastructure accommodated them, like enormous water deposits in order to distribute water to the rice paddies, and roads that connected the various temples, plus impressive defensive bastions, featuring several levels of perimeter walls.
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Bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat.
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The temples are scattered around Siem Rep, and the maximum distance among them is 50 kilometres.
The reason is that the capital changed location several times in the course of the centuries, depending on the political ups and downs and the caprices of the kings.
The Khmer empire comprised a big part of the Indochina peninsula, what is today Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Children playing music, Angkor Wat
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The first monarch of the era was Jayavarman II, who in 802 AD situated the capital in Roluo, 15 km south of Siem Rep.
His successor, Indravarman III ordered the construction of the water deposits that abound in the region, and his son Yasavarman I shifted the capital to Angkor, which –with the exception of 20 years- remained the capital for half a millennium.
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Buddhist monk, Angkor Wat
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Different dynasties, rebellions, invasions, rivalry between the Khmers and the Cham, and among the Hindus, the official religion during 400 years, and the Mahayana Buddhists, who prospered during the most prolific times of temple construction, caused the destruction of thousands of statues, mostly Buddhist ones; it was the revenge of the Hindus that deprived us of many of Angkor’s works of art.
In 1431, the continuous invasions of the Thais and the fact that Angkor was not situated close to a major river caused the transfer of the capital to Phnom Penh which, due to its location on Mekong River, was much more suitable for trade.
Angkor fell in ostracism, until it was rediscovered in 1860 by French explorer Henry Mohuot, who described it in his book “Journeys in Siam, Cambodia, Laos and Anman”.
The faces of Bayon
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Since then, millions of foreigners have visited Angkor, staying at Siem Rep, which literally means “defeat of Siam”, in allusion of the expulsion of the Thais from Cambodia.
This remains a cause of conflict between the two countries; last year a Thai actress declared that Angkor was part of Thailand, and the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh was attacked.
Siem Rep is an interesting culture pot, as next to a pub that plays Chill Out music and ambient techno, one finds a Khmer restaurant, with its kitchen and tables on the street.
Accommodation varies from 1$ for a bed in a dorm to hundreds of dollars for a room in of the several luxurious hotels, in case you want to spoil yourself and feel like a Khmer king.
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Bas-reliefs in Bayon
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One also has several transport options while visiting Angkor, as it can be done by bicycle, moto-taxi, tuk-tuk, taxi, as part of an organized tour and even in a luxurious limousine or by helicopter.
In order to see the temples from the air, there is a balloon tied to a fixed rope that goes up to an altitude of 200 meters.
Another important decision is the type of pass one can buy, as there are passes for one, three and seven days, which cost twenty, forty and sixty dollars respectively.
Elephant Terrace
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One sole day is totally insufficient, unless you visit few temples, you run an ultra marathon until you simply can’t stand any more stones or you get burned under the sun.
This is what nearly happened to me on the first day.
The best is to have three days, because there are temples that deserve more than one visit, as the light conditions change a lot, which is important for taking pictures, and due to the heat.
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Figures, Terrace of the Leper King
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Angkor Wat, for example, deserves a visit at dawn and another in the evening, given that during the day the sun is behind the temple, making it difficult to take pictures.
The first day I went on a bike, I did the short circuit, approximately 30 km, plus the hiking implied by the climbing up and down staircases in the temples and the interminable corridors of places like Angkor Wat and Preah Khan.
I visited five temples, the most significant ones in Angkor.
I started with Angkor Wat, although I arrived too late for the dawn; there are two roads and I discovered later that the one I took was not the one with the ticket booth where one can buy the pass, so when I arrived at Angkor Wat and the police asked for the ticket, I had to go back for another 3km, buy the pass and return.
Angkor Wat is the best known image of Angkor, but not the best temple in my opinion.
Victory Gate
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It’s surrounded by a water moat; it features three temple levels and 65 meter-high towers, the highest in Angkor. Perhaps this is why it has been converted into a symbol, not only of Angkor, but of the whole country.
Its image features the flag, the best known beer –called Angkor, naturally-, all books on Angkor, and in general it’s omnipresent.
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Ta Keo
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The wall surrounding the temple is 6km long, and the temple itself, another kilometre.
The external walls bas-reliefs are like an encyclopaedia of the history of the Khmer Empire, as they include scenes of battles, legends and mythological figures.
There are more than 2.000 apsaras, mythological nymphs, and the Buddhist ceremonies celebrated in its interior, with children playing various instruments, monks dressed in their saffron coloured long dresses, the offers, the incense smell and the women dressed in pure white, give Angkor Wat a mystical and magical touch.
Ta Prohm. Tree among ruins
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Alter Angkor Wat, I headed to Angkor Tom, the biggest temple complex, which features a 12km-long wall and five gates, one for each cardinal point plus a fifth called Victory Gate, at the eastern side.
I entered from the southern door and the first temple I visited was Bayon, a marvel with amazingly detailed bas-reliefs that cover all sorts of activities, from royal ones to everyday life.
One can see battle and hunting scenes, fishing boats, markets, children playing, etc. All this is depicted with a sharpness that has survived the course of time, more than eight centuries.
But what really makes Bayon special are the 37 towers, almost all of which feature four different carved faces, some with open eyes, others with eyes closed, some with one eye open and another closed. Archaeologists still haven’t reached a consensus concerning the significance of this.
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Figures in Ta Prohm
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While walking in the temple you have the feeling you are being watched, and in fact, wherever you look, there is always a face looking towards you; perhaps the Khmers were the precursors of Big Brother (I’m referring to the book, not the one on television).
Close to Bayon, are The Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King, on a flat piece of land, where ceremonies used to take place. Today one can have a dinner on a full moon, watching a show, and it was indeed full moon when I was around, but the price of the dinner (90$) was beyond my backpacker’s budget.
Ta Prohm. Tree
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The Elephant Terrace features natural-sized elephant figures and bas-reliefs. The Terrace of the Leper King boasts hundreds of figures crowded together at various levels, not only in terms of height; behind a false façade there is another wall with more figures.
The name of the leper king has nothing to do with the disease, but with the discovery of a deteriorated statue that looked as if it suffered from leprecy.
I exited from the Victory Gate, heading to Ta Prohm temple, making a short stop at Ta Keo for a photo, to rest after climbing its steep stairs and to refill my water bottle. Water is very important in Angkor; I drank 6 litres and I still felt dehydrated that night.
Every time you approach a refreshment stall, women Stara shouting “Hello, shop at my stand” and children attack you with wooden flutes, bracelets, books on Angkor and all sorts of souvenirs.
You are always asked where you come from, and they invariably answer “Madrid capital”, so I decided to make it a bit more difficult, changing nationality; I became Polish, Australian, German, Russian, Greek and they knew all capitals. I even said “Catalunya” and they replied “Barcelona”.
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Pre Rup
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Ta Prom is undoubtedly my favourite temple.
It has served as a set for films like Tomb Raider and Two Brothers, the story of two tigers that grew up in a temple, written by Jean Jacques Anaud.
It’s a perfect example of how nature and human works have disputed during centuries on earth, as the gigantic transformation undertaken by human intervention is opposed to nature, which has regained the lost ground and starts growing again around the temples, forming a unique symbiosis.
Lion in Pre Rup
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Trees have grown their roots over the temples, within them, making way and in some cases destroying walls and façades, while others are embraced by tree roots.
The dense jungle around the temple, filled with noisy parrots, monkeys and other animals, which you cannot see but only hear, makes you think that you could suddenly face a tiger, unfortunately, or Angelina Jolie/Lara Croft, if you are a bit luckier.
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Stone elephant in East Mebon
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None of the two happened, but this didn’t make my visit to Ta Prohm any less enjoyable.
The last temple I visited on my first day was Pre Rup, situated on a hill, offering a good view of the surroundings; hence people go there to watch the sunset.
I still had several kilometres to cycle for the way back to Siem Rep, and there was a black cloud that foreboded rain, so I decided to return to Siem Reap and leave the sunset for the day after.
Lions in Phnom Bakheng
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The second day I did the long circuit, this time on a moto-taxi, as it’s 40km, and this time I made it on time for the dawn at Angkor Wat, but the one who wasn’t punctual was the sun, as it was cloudy, and the tens of Japanese carrying heavy cameras and tripods were disappointed as they, coming from the country of the rising sun, were left without sun this time.
I climbed up 50 meters on the temple, until the third level, because there was virtually nobody there, except for the Buddhist monks, singing their canticles.
We left Angkor Wat, crossed Angkor Tom northwards, exiting and entering via its precious gates, and the next temple I visited was Preah Khan, a monastic complex that hosted up to more than 1.000 monks, and served as the royal residence, too.
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Elephant, Phnom Bakheng
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Buddha images were destroyed when Hinduism regained dominance towards the end of the Angkor times, and were substituted by images of Shiva, by lingas or were simply left headless.
Ta Som is a small temple, without any special features, except for the eastern gate, which has literally been gobbled by a humongous tree, which has embraced it completely. In the beginning it was on the verge of demolishing it, but now it’s still standing precisely thanks to the tree.
Access to Preah Khan
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The second last temple of the second day was East Mebon.
I had hardly arrived when it started raining cats and dogs for about fifteen minutes.
The temple features some stone elephants at the four corners, of almost natural dimensions, and some false gates, elaborately carved on stone.
All temples have a Buddhist altar with offerings and burning incense.
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Figure, Preah Khan
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When the rain stopped, I told the motorist to bring me to Angkor Wat, as the gleaming wet stone must have given the place a special beauty, but when we got there I realised it hadn’t rained there.
We went to Phnom Bakheng, a temple that is packed for the sunset, but as it was early, there was nobody there.
It was constructed on the top of the hill with two access paths, one for elephants and another for people, and the direct track that leads there from the old stair, which is now almost destroyed, is quite steep.
The view from the top is fantastic; at least in this part of Cambodia nature has been preserved rather well, because during the rest of my journey southwards I saw a lot of deforestation and dirty villages, roads and rivers.
Never-ending corridors, Preah Khan
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I spent a while up there, enjoying the solitude and peace of the place, before coming down and returning to Siem Rep, having seen countless apsaras, garudas (mythological birds), buddhas, Shivas (one of the three gods of Hindu trinity), lingas (phallic symbol), the intricate tree roots of the Ta Prohm and the enigmatic faces of Bayon.
I left Angkor and Siam Rep with a feeling of admiration for this extraordinary civilization and with my soul in peace with the universe and full of positive energy.
If you want to learn more about Angkor, check wikipedia.
Click to see the pictures from Angkor Wat, Angkor Tom, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Pre Rup, Preah Khan, Ta Som, East Mebon, and Phnom Bakheng.
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Gobbled gate, Ta Som
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Other interesting links about Cambodia include Khmer 440, cambodiaonline.net, cambodian scene, and Canby Publications.
An extraordinary photographer who has spent a lot of time working in Asia, John McDermott, displays spectacular pictures at his website, Asia Photos.
If you want to comment on this log entry, you can send it privately to Carlos, or do so in public –as instructed below- or in the forum.
Till later!
Carlos
From Surin, Thailand, March 28th 2005
Translated by Yorgos Axarlis (axarlis@hotmail.com) on May 3rd, 2005
Published: 03/01/2008 00:00 (CET)
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