We took a bus on the six and a half hour journey North to Siem Reap, a small city of around 120,000 people mainly established to access the nearby wonders of ancient Angkor. The bus was very comfortable, being one of a new fleet operated by Giant Ibis, with full air-con and a series of movies.
The route followed Highway 6, through country that becomes drier as we travelled North. With the wet season still a month away, the country is starting to gasp for rain and many of the trees looked stressed. The fields were parched areas of rice stubble with scrawny Cambodian cattle scratching out a poor existence. In places, the landscape reminded me of Australia’s Top End at the end of the dry, with the occasional river red gum tree adding to the effect. The weather was similar too, with 38-39 degrees and 50% humidity.
Once in Siem Reap, we booked into the Ta Som Guesthouse to a warm welcome by the friendly staff but a disappointing room, with lots of things not working too well. We drew the line at no hot water system and moved rooms, to find a different set of things that didn’t work too well. Settled in as best we could, we headed out to find “Pub Street”. The name says it all and the fierce competition keeps beer down to 50c a glass. The hundreds of eateries sport everything from Western, through fast food, Indian and traditional Khmer cuisine. We probably tried all at some point.
The name says it all!
The next morning, we hired a tuk-tuk to tour the Angkor ruins. Most places offer one to three day tours with either just a driver or with an actual guide. We opted for just a driver, Sal, who proved very friendly and helpful. He quickly understood our need to make quick cursory visits to temples or gain an overall feel for the scenery rather than spend hours inspecting intricate stone carvings or comparing 10th Century entrance portals with those of the 12th Century. We saw some people who had opted for the full guided tour and invariably, their eyes were glazed over as the guide prattled on about some Angkorian dynasty.
Angkor video link –> http://youtu.be/v44-zxPis24
The ruins were spectacular. Every ruined temple is an absolute wonder and each is different enough to make a series of visits well worthwhile. Most impressive of all is the sheer scope of the collected sites. Stretching over some 400 square kilometres, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries. The most famous are the Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. Angkor Thom is the city itself that supported Angkor Wat and, at its hieight, had a population in excess of 1 million people. Little can be seen of the life of the people because the only stone building allowed was for temples. All housing and other buildings were wooden and have long since ceased to exist. We learned later that the water storage and irrigation methods this civilization employed were the most advanced in the World at that time.
We climbed countless steps, passed through numerous portals and explored endless corridors and causeways. Some protected stone crypts were wonderfully cool and we would stop for a breather or to watch the passing parade of tourists. As the day wore on, the crowds became unmanageable, and this is the low season. The heat too became unbearable and by 11:30 it was time to call it quits. Our $12 tuk-tuk fee gave us access for the whole day but Sal seemed happy to take us back to Siem Reap for lunch and even happier when we gave him $15.
Day Two in Siem Reap was a much needed rest day but on Day Three we hired Sal again and headed off early to explore some of the more far flung sites before the heat got too much. Many of these temples were quite isolated, some only re-discovered during the 20th Century. Restoration or preservation work is underway on many, but most are open to the public to walk all over. Much of the damage to the structures has been caused by the encroaching jungle. Huge strangler figs are capable of splitting whole stone blocks in half and prising otherwise solid spires from the top of a temple. The power of the jungle as it reclaims what it once owned adds to the appeal of the sites.
The river in Siem Reap
Siem Reap itself offers little for the tourist beyond access to Angkor. Its collection if markets and restaurants is good but easily found in Phnom Penh. Unfortunately, Siem Reap does sport a profusion of Foreign Aide Organisations and Orphanages. Indeed, some sources claim that visits to compassion based organisations form one of the major tourism activities in Cambodia. Given that 75% of the children in Cambodian orphanages have one or more living parent, there is a strong move afoot to try to stop tourists visiting these places and encouraging the exploitation of children. In the past, Siem Reap served as a focal point for refugees coming through the numerous camps along the Thai and Lao borders and many organisations set up aid facilities to help with orphans, land mine victims and people suffering through the hard ships of the Khmer Rouge years. There is a need to move on now, and organisations such as UNESCO and Ausaid promote assistance measures which encourage sustainable growth rather than foster dependency.
In our own travels, we have adopted a policy of never giving or buying from children. As hard as this is, logic says that the right thing is to buy from an adult who is working to support children. Often, it is the other way around. Our observations in Cambodia have made us examine our thinking in terms of travelling and helping. As part of our reflection, we came across a wonderful article that helped crystallise our thinking.
http://www.goinganyway.net/2012/05/24/on-not-visiting-an-orphanage-in-cambodia/
From it, we distilled the following;
- 1. We will seek out agencies working ethically with families and communities and support them with donations but not visits. This will not result in lovely photos. Our work with PVI will continue to be through building and renovation programs.
- 2. We will spend as much of our travel budget on local business, and direct to the producer, rather than on foreign owned goods and middle men. This is pretty tricky, but we’ll try. We also particularly like to buy things from people with disabilities wherever possible.
- 3. We will not buy from or give to children. Instead, we will try to support adults who are earning money to support their children.