losing myself in the Lost City of the Khmer empire
January 1-5, 2007. I am not an Angelina Jolie fan but eversince i saw her Tomb Raider movie i never stopped dreaming about going to Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, said to be the "lost city of the Khmer empire." So when Fil opened the idea of us vacationing outside the Philippines, i gave him no chance to think about going anywhere else but Siem Reap.
Now where do i begin to talk about this once-in-a-lifetime must-have experience, a realization of my long-time dream... recommended to be in everyone's bucket list? Let me try.
Siem Reap via Kuala Lumpur
No direct flight from Manila to Siem Reap so we had to go there via Bangkok, Singapore, Vietnam or Kuala Lumpur. We planned the trip late so Bangkok was fully-booked, NO to singapore 'coz i was there last year, NO to Vietnam 'coz Fil's been there before and so our choice was Kuala Lumpur. Fortunately, Air Asia has synchronized flights from Manila to KL to Siem Reap and back so we flew Air Asia all the way. The KL stopover was a bonus 'coz we got to see the Petronas twin towers. But of course, we saved our energy for our main destination: CAMBODIA!
While Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, tourists flock to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the other temples. They do not have malls and tall buildings but they do have Caltex gasoline station with StarMart and the main street is lined with so many five-star hotels left and right. Currency used is the US dollar and major mode of transportation is the tuk-tuk although we missed riding that 'coz we took the car pre-arranged by the hotel.
Downtown Siem Reap is only about five kilometers away from Angkor Wat and all it takes, really, is 10-15 minutes to cross over from the modern comfort of a luxurious 21st-century hotel to the mysterious splendor of the earliest centuries, as far back as the 9th century.
Angkor Wat
It is the most famous of all the temples in Siem Reap. The whole complex covers 81 hectares and the temple has 5 towers. As you enter the gate, you only see 3 towers. You see 4 if you turn left halfway towards the direction of the lake...a few more steps and you see 5. When you look at the temple's clear reflection on the lake, you see 10 towers. Magic!!!
Downtown Siem Reap is only about five kilometers away from Angkor Wat and all it takes, really, is 10-15 minutes to cross over from the modern comfort of a luxurious 21st-century hotel to the mysterious splendor of the earliest centuries, as far back as the 9th century.
Angkor Wat
It is the most famous of all the temples in Siem Reap. The whole complex covers 81 hectares and the temple has 5 towers. As you enter the gate, you only see 3 towers. You see 4 if you turn left halfway towards the direction of the lake...a few more steps and you see 5. When you look at the temple's clear reflection on the lake, you see 10 towers. Magic!!!
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| Angkor Wat on a beautiful day (January 2, 2007) |
Angkor Wat was said to be built by King Surayavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. About 1,500 apsaras (celestial dancers) decorate its walls, each apsara unlike the others. Its 5 main towers can be reached by steep stairways with a 70-degree angle and a visit here is not complete without ascending the steps. When i saw the stairway and our guide told me that part of the tour is to climb the tower, i shook my head then he said, "if you don't go up, you will not see anything..." (ipa-guilty ba 'ko!) so after resting for 10 minutes and looking at the ascending tourists, up i go.
It was a dizzying, scary, uncomfortable experience. Maybe because i wasn't comfortable in my new pair of shoes and white capri (bakit ka kasi nagputi??!!) or could be because my bag was heavy. Actually, I was more conscious that all tourists resting below were looking at me and waiting for me to miss a step and fall. I was literally crawling and sweating; the steps were eroded and dusty...i looked down i saw my thighs, i looked up and i saw more steps and the butt of the european tourist. Behind me was Fil, my one-man cheering team and photographer (he knew i'd do anything for a picture...) Shucks! wala ng atrasan ito...I reached the tower safely and was rewarded with a great view of the complex and the sight of those tourists who decided not to climb. Come up here, you cowards!!! hehehe...I felt proud and triumphant and stayed there savoring the view while waiting for Fil to join me.
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| descending the tower is as tough as climbing it |
Up there we saw more statues (with missing heads), chambers and courtyards lined with apsara dancers. Going down was another problem...our lives depended on a slippery one-inch thick stainless railing. Whew! one good thing about being single and childless is you can do death-defying stunts without worrying about your kids hehehe...anyway, i strained my leg muscles after the climb and i was limping and aching for my every step for the next 5 days...tumatanda na talaga ako! Those who have more time in Angkor can do a closer scrutiny of the interesting bas-reliefs. On one wall, the Indian epic Ramayana was etched in stone! If archaelogists/ historians/stone carvers (and their relatives) have a Disneyland, this would definitely be it!
Sunset at Bakheng Hill
Sunset at Bakheng Hill
We were told that anyone visiting Siem Reap should not miss climbing the hill overlooking the Angkor wat area to catch sunset...and obviously everyone knew that because by 5:00pm, the temple on that hill was filled with tourists getting snapshots of Angkor Wat on one side and the sunset on the other side. I myself was confused because the location of the setting sun was too far from the Angkor wat complex but Fil told me "schooled" photographers have their way of playing with light. Anyway, sunset wasn't really spectacular or romantic because it was hazy and there were too many noisy tourists. The fact that it was a tough climb to get there made it even more unworthy. But it wasn't as if we were not warned! I'm sure everybody knew that this sunset would be "so-so" but tourists went anyway for experience.
Bayon Temple
Built in the 13th century as the state temple of King Jayavarman II, it is unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces. Here, you could go in and out of its many nooks and crannies, appreciate the creative bas-reliefs and have your picture taken with the smiling face of your choice. A few steps from Bayon are Ba Phoun and the Elephants Terrace.
Ta Phrom
Tonle Sap Lake
We were supposed to do more temple-viewing in the afternoon of our 2nd day but our tour guide suggested we go to Tonle Sap Lake so we can see something of Cambodian life. The road to the lake was dusty and from where we took the boat, the water was dirty and muddy. Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater fishery in mainland Southeast Asia. Known as the Great Lake, it is said to measure 2,700 sq. km in the dry season to approximately 16,000 sq. km. in the wet season when water is pushed from the Mekong river to the lake. WOW! It supplies the basis of life to the local people and is an ecological hotspot designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.
It was like a show. We were cruising quietly and the water village people were doing their usual everyday thing: selling and transporting goods, rowing, sleeping on a hammock inside their boat houses, washing clothes, bathing. We also passed by a floating catholic church, school, office. I felt bad seeing how simple & difficult life is for these people. It was a humbling experience...made me appreciate the good things I have back home. We stopped by a tourist village which has a platform where we saw an impressive view of the entire lake...it's so wide i didn't see the end of it.
After the lake cruise, we checked out Artisans d'Angkor where we watched skilled artisans at work and purchased some souvenir items.
for our finale: Sunrise in Angkor Wat
The thing is you have to leave your hotel at 5:30 am and position yourself anywhere in the Angkor Wat complex to wait for sunrise. So did everybody else because by 6:00am, the whole complex was already full of tourists, positioning themselves and pointing their digicams to the temple's towers. When the sun finally came up, Fil and i went closer for more pictures. For a few seconds i did nothing but stare at the temple, admiring its quiet grandeur. It was an edifying experience, felt like being honored by the presence of God (or Buddha?). It was our last day in Siem Reap and I didn't regret at all that i woke up early to see sunrise. It is, in my opinion, the best way to end a short visit to this side of the world.
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