Angkor Wat

The big draw, Cambodias jewel in the crown, and number 1 tourist attraction are the Angkor temples. A source of immense national pride, even featuring on the flag, and representing a time when the Khmer people ruled the roost in a large swathe of SE Asia. Angkor Wat is actually just one temple of the many Angkor era temples, albeit the largest individual building and nowadays almost analogous with the area in the mind of the tourist.

We arrived after a 5 hour bus journey and more Cambodian karaoke pop at the bus companies terminal. Rather shamefully, in an effort to extract more money from the tourist, the big bus companies are in cahouts with tuk tuk cartels to make sure nobody slips through the net and all foreigners pay extortionate fees. Cheerfully suggesting we'll walk usually brings the price down considerably.

We stayed at the Mad Monkey hostel. Slightly overpriced really but clean, friendly and with a bar/restaurant offering tasty and generous portions. Sometimes it is nice to pay a little more to network a bit with other backpackers.

Day 1 we got our bearings and made plans for the coming days. Em also had the opportunity to visit the numerous shops and markets with me worriedly skulking in the background fretting about budgets. We also found ourselves a tuk tuk driver. We deliberately knocked back any pushy ones who harrassed us, very common in Siem Reap.

Wut, our driver, agreed to pick us up for a civilised 8.30am. After collecting our visitor passes, $40, and rumour has it most of this is whisked off to prop up the national coffers, we headed off to see the Ruolos group. The oldest of the main complexes dating back to the 8/9th centuries and built by king doo dah the 1st or some such (lost track of who built what) a good place to start according to the guide. Basically leaving the big guns until last avoids serious underwhelment of doing the reverse.

The older temples feature more prominent use of bricks for construction, the other two materials being xxxxx, a coarse bubbly and friable rock, and sandstone. The first two mediums requiring rendering for decoration with moldings etc. the latter much easier to sculpt into the many reliefs and forms Angkor is famous for.

After the roulos group we whisked over to explore the Eastern temples. What was quite impressive was the variety, from jungle face towers, to Mayan esque pyramids, a good introduction to the place.

Day 2 saw us rise at 5am and a wacky races style journey for Sunrise at Angkor Wat. Wut expertly whisked us past slower tuk tuks and tour buses, an endless column of blinking lights on the road to Angkor. Our foolish expectations of a serene and moving experience were dashed as we joined the thousands jostling for positions in front of the muddy pool to Angkor Wats west. A damp squib of a sunrise followed, the sun not visible for 15 mins or so after sunrise time, a light disk in a grey cloudy sky. We wandered off quickly to explore the temple itself before the hoards had finished their coffees.

I've been mildly underwhelmed by some of the worlds great archeological sites from Pompeii to Delphi to Stone Henge and can now place Angkor Wat to that list. It's not that they aren't fantastic places, they are and should be on every traveller with a vague interest in histories list. It's just that the efforts to preserve them, present them to tourists a certain way, and of course endless busloads of Chinese and Russian tourists, have dampened the magic.

Unless you get your timing just right it's really hard to enjoy the best areas in peace, sit and contemplate the ruins, and things that happened there. You are continously buffeted by waves of snap happy punters, dodgy touts trying to sell you guided tours or impoverished urchins keen to sell you yet another set of postcards.

The management of sites is sometimes heavily to blame IMO. Ta Prohm, the famous Tomb Raider temple a key example, yes the juxtaposition of immense strangler figs and temples slowly being torn apart is spectacular but with wooden walkways, handrails, litter bins, scaffolds (to prevent further destruction) and sign posts having sprung up even in front of the most photogenic spots you don't find yourself saying 'wow that's amazing', more 'sod, why's that blasted handrail just there'.

Sometimes, slightly selfishly I like it when they accept something won't be there forever and allow you to enjoy something. Accepting that your presence will perhaps contribute to its slow destruction. Petra was perhaps the best example where it is possible to just wander off up random ancient staircases and have areas to yourself, for contemplation or even just a different viewpoint to the postcard norm.

An obvious choice but perhaps my favourite was the Bayon. Central to Angkor Thom this maze like temple features huge smiling faces on every side of every tower, pretty much, in my mind this would be a better choice for sunrise, albeit you wouldn't see the sunrise itself, in the hope that the hordes would all be otherwise engaged at Angkor Wat. Whilst rammed to the gills with tourists this was still a jaw dropping piece of architecture.

Jumping off on another rant it's one other aspect that perhaps means once is enough for me for Cambodia, glad to have visited, both impressed and saddened by the people and their history and definitely recommended to visit. However the feeling of being a walking ATM gets wearing. Every man, women and child on the tourist trail expert at wheedling, or downright pleading for the extra dollar or five wherever possible. And yes whilst we are far wealthier than the average local, and bought our fair share of postcards and tat, if we gave a metaphorical dollar to everyone that asked the travel budget would soon be gone.

Where you wander slightly off the main tourist path, the friendly passing children in towns where tourism isn't the key breadwinner, the chance conversation with the filling lady at the petrol station as she fills the tuk tuk etc. all reveal a much friendlier less shark like Cambodian to whom friendliness isn't just a technique for wallet raiding.

Well after 5 days due to some issues with Khmer new year transport, although this meant I caught the 3rd F1 race, off to Laos. 15hrs of Cambodian pop and a 5am start await.