In which we survive another modern city and explore an ancient one.
At the hostel, we learned that the owner was having a nap and couldn’t be disturbed. Unfortunately, no one else knew where our hotel was, so we just had to wait. A good sized mug of tea made this easier.
Before long, the owner of the hostel, Martin, came to meet us and show us to our hotel, which was one street over and another down. On the way, he gave us a heads up on street safety after dark (no bags with shoulder straps) and where to change money (don’t bother: everywhere takes US Dollars and gives change in Riels). At the hotel, we were given the choice of a room with hot water but no window or one with a window but no hot water. We asked to see both and settled on a nice room with a large window to the front. The fact is that the cold water in our hotels in this part of the world has never really been cold, and actually quite refreshing after a day in the heat. Also, we found when we had the inside room in Saigon that waking up in the dark is a bit disorientating.
Anyway, after showering and changing clothes, the first thing we had to do was contact the mobile phone co, stop the old SIM card and organise a replacement (and a replacement phone, of course.) This done, we went looking for somewhere to eat.
The streets round our hotel were crowded and chaotic. We found it impossible to walk on the pavements, which were blocked by parked cars and the overspill from shops and restaurants. We more or less had no choice but to take our chances against the motorbikes and cars on the road, trying to look in all directions at once, including where and in what we were walking. Add to this the heat and the noise and confusion of the weekend market we had to walk through, by the time we’d made it back down to the river, where the restaurants are, I for one was all for taking all my future meals at the hotel and not setting foot outside their door again until it was time to move on to Siem Reap.
I hate cities; my hart sinks every time we arrive at another one. Juli, on the other hand, traffic chaos aside, seems to relish the hubbub and ‘colour’ of city life. I was more than happy to get back to the peace, quite and safety of our room after dinner. While Juli sorted through her photos of the boat trip, I switched on the telly and found a programme on the National Geographic channel about a man walking El Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James) a pilgrimage route, or rather several routes, that end at the cathedral of Saint James in Galicia, northern Spain. He began his journey in the Netherlands, but most people start in France just over the Pyrenees from Spain. It’s something Juli and I have talked about doing as a sponsored walk in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support (starting point TBA) when we get back from this trip to mark the fifth anniversary of Juli’s diagnosis.
Day 133 cont’d to 135 (Phnom Penh)
On arriving at Phnom Penh and stepping off the boat, the sound of it’s engine still ringing in our ears, we were immediately assailed by offers of taxis and tuk tuks from drivers eager for our business. One of them, though no less persistent then the rest, allowed us just enough time and space to recover from the boat for us to give him our business. He knew exactly where our hostel was, but was surprised, saying that it was really only for backpackers. Obviously we didn’t look the type. Not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but it didn’t matter as we were upgrading to a nearby hotel room, which the hostel owner had already arranged. (By the way, does anyone have a really good way to remember which spelling of compliment/complement to use for the two meanings? I always have to look it up.)At the hostel, we learned that the owner was having a nap and couldn’t be disturbed. Unfortunately, no one else knew where our hotel was, so we just had to wait. A good sized mug of tea made this easier.
Before long, the owner of the hostel, Martin, came to meet us and show us to our hotel, which was one street over and another down. On the way, he gave us a heads up on street safety after dark (no bags with shoulder straps) and where to change money (don’t bother: everywhere takes US Dollars and gives change in Riels). At the hotel, we were given the choice of a room with hot water but no window or one with a window but no hot water. We asked to see both and settled on a nice room with a large window to the front. The fact is that the cold water in our hotels in this part of the world has never really been cold, and actually quite refreshing after a day in the heat. Also, we found when we had the inside room in Saigon that waking up in the dark is a bit disorientating.
Anyway, after showering and changing clothes, the first thing we had to do was contact the mobile phone co, stop the old SIM card and organise a replacement (and a replacement phone, of course.) This done, we went looking for somewhere to eat.
The streets round our hotel were crowded and chaotic. We found it impossible to walk on the pavements, which were blocked by parked cars and the overspill from shops and restaurants. We more or less had no choice but to take our chances against the motorbikes and cars on the road, trying to look in all directions at once, including where and in what we were walking. Add to this the heat and the noise and confusion of the weekend market we had to walk through, by the time we’d made it back down to the river, where the restaurants are, I for one was all for taking all my future meals at the hotel and not setting foot outside their door again until it was time to move on to Siem Reap.
I hate cities; my hart sinks every time we arrive at another one. Juli, on the other hand, traffic chaos aside, seems to relish the hubbub and ‘colour’ of city life. I was more than happy to get back to the peace, quite and safety of our room after dinner. While Juli sorted through her photos of the boat trip, I switched on the telly and found a programme on the National Geographic channel about a man walking El Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James) a pilgrimage route, or rather several routes, that end at the cathedral of Saint James in Galicia, northern Spain. He began his journey in the Netherlands, but most people start in France just over the Pyrenees from Spain. It’s something Juli and I have talked about doing as a sponsored walk in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support (starting point TBA) when we get back from this trip to mark the fifth anniversary of Juli’s diagnosis.
***
We had a bit of a lie-in the next morning, then battled our way back to the restaurant where we had dinner the previous evening, ordered breakfast and considered our itinerary for the day. Top of the list was the Royal Palace, however, when we got there we discovered that it was closed all day due to the lying in state of the old king (he’d stepped down in favour of his son a few years back) who had died a few days earlier. The roads around the palace had been cordoned off to make space for the hundreds of mourners arriving there by the bus and lorry load to pay their respects, sign the memorial books and leave offerings.
As we couldn’t get in, we visited the national museum, which has relics from all ages of Cambodia’s history; the independence monument, nice enough; and the temple of Buddhist relics. On the way across town to Wat Phnom by tuk tuk, we spotted a Canon Camera exhibition or conference or something going on. Whatever it was, there were a great many people in identical event T-shirts entering and leaving a large building draped in Canon logoed banners. We couldn’t resist finding out more, so paid the tuk tuk driver the fee we’d negotiated up front to take us to the temple and, Canon in hand, Juli marched in to enquire further. Turns out it was an annual enthusiasts’ convention with workshops. Participants were given a subject and a deadline then sent out to bring back their best shots for later display and adjudication.
I’d like to finish the story by telling you Juli went on to win first prize and two thousand pounds worth of Canon camera equipment, but she didn’t. Instead we continued on our way to the temple via a cup of Cambodian coffee and a cake at a German bar in front of a big screen Korean TV showing the Indian Grand Prix on a American satellite channel. How international is that.
***
The next morning, there was an e-mail from Juli’s best friend, Marion (hello, Marion) who is coming out to meet us on Koh Samui, Thailand. The e-mail gave details of when and how she’s arriving, which gave us all the encouragement we needed to arrange yet another ‘off truck’ mini adventure to the island direct from Bangkok, missing out a bit of truck trip itinerary, but maximising our time with Marion and her partner, John (hello, John.) So, while Juli visited the so called ‘Russian’ market and made a return visit to the palace, I researched, planned and began to make the necessary arrangements, plus wrote the last of the Vietnam blog posts. Anything to get out of sightseeing.
When Juli returned (exhausted) in the afternoon, it was with very little shopping and no pictures of the inside of the palace. Apparently that was still closed and the only thing open was the Silver Pagoda, which is actually golden and full of golden things. Go figure.
[According to Wikipedia: “The Silver Pagoda was inlaid with more than 5,000 silver tiles and some of its outer facade was remodelled with Italian marble. However only a small area of these tiles are available to be viewed by the public on entering the pagoda.”]
While Juli was recovering and telling me about her day, Adam came up to our room to tell us that he and Corinne were in an English bar round the corner working their way through the cocktails menu and would we like to join them. Cue a very jolly evening and end to our stay in Cambodia’s capital city.
Day 136 to 138 (bus to Siem Reap for Angkor Wat, etc.)
After a very early start (and a rude awakening for the girl who made us breakfast) we (me and Juli plus Corinna, who had also been staying in our hotel) plus all our luggage piled into a tuk tuk and were driven to the hostel where the others were waiting for more tuk tuks to take our group to the bus station for the seven hour journey to Siem Reap.
Seeing Cambodia from the road as opposed to the river, you really get to see just how flat the country is. Barely a hill in sight all the way, with one exception: Santuk Mountain, which rises Uluru-like from the surrounding countryside. Crowned by a colourful pagoda, it is, according one guide book I read, the most important holy mountain in the region. We didn’t go there, but you can’t miss it as you speed through the province of Kampong Thom along National Highway 6 towards Siem Reap. Keep ‘em pealed if you’re ever out that way.
We arrived at our guest house around 2.30 in the afternoon and, after showering etc., met back up with the others to discuss the plan action for our limited time (two days) at the temple complex of Angkor. There was quite a detailed discussion and consulting of guide books around which temples to see on which day, how to incorporate sunrise and sunset photo opportunities into the schedule, how many tuk tuks we would need, whether to hire a guide between us, who wanted to do both days and who only one, etc.
After listening to this for a bit, Juli simply went out to the reception desk, where she was directed towards a tuk tuk captain (organises other tuk tuk drivers) who came up with a simple itinerary and timetable based on his local knowledge of when the main sites got busy with big tourist groups and how long was needed at each group of temples all for the modest price of $5 each per day. The Juli Tours plan was put to the group and adopted. Sorted.
Diner was Fish Amok, a Cambodian speciality apparently, washed down with Cambodian beer. Very nice to.
***
The alarm went off at 4.00 am this morning to ensure we were showered, dressed, breakfasted and ready to be whisked off to the main temple of the complex, Angkor Wat, in time to see the sun rise. Despite the hour, we were far from being the only ones there, but Gayle, who’s been before, took us directly to an excellent vantage point that gave us a good view over the heads of the other tourists there.
Angkor Wat is, of course, the best known of the temple ruins at Angkor. However, a survey in 2007 estimated that the whole Angkor site covers more than 1,000 square kilometres and contains at least 1,000 temple ruins, which range from piles of rubble in rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest single religious monument. Certainly we spent the longest time there (about 3 hours) and took the most photos.
As we were coming out of Angkor Wat, the large tour groups were going in, and our tuk tuk drivers took us on to the second big draw, The Bayon, which features dozens of massive stone faces carved into the many towers that rise up there. Unfortunately, several of the large groups arrived shortly after we did and it soon became impossible to view the site without having to jostle for position with the crowds.
I decided to cut my losses and wandered off away from the throng, following arrows labelled ‘Way of the Visit’, which most other tourists were ignoring. Before very long, I found myself on my own on a sort of woodland walk, still following the arrows, but with no real clue about where I was or which way was going to take me back towards where we’d arranged to meet up with the tuk tuks. The path wound it’s way through the trees, across small streams and passed unvisited ruined temples. Half enjoying but half worrying about my semi-lost status, I was relieved to climb a bank and emerge on the other side of yet another tower fighting (but losing) it’s battle with the jungle to find Gayle and Feng sitting by a small refreshments stall, as it turned out, not far from the main car park, towards which they showed me the way. Shortly after that I met up with Juli and, after a bit of a rest and a sugary drink, we re-joined the group and moved on to the next site and so on.
Our drivers knew exactly where to take us and after a few more temples, including one that had been abandoned part way through its construction when the king decided that unusually heavy rains and a lightning strike were ill omens and decreed that it should be left as it was, almost complete but entirely unadorned.
After lunch at an excellent and reasonably priced restaurant the drivers took us to, we visited Ta Prohm, a smaller temple deeper into the jungle, made famous as the temple with the huge tree growing out of it featured in the film Tomb Raider. While we were there, I had cause to be very glad I’d chosen to bring my faithful Rohan Waterproof Poncho, as the heavens opened and torrential rain fell for about half an hour, which gave the place an even more magical feel.
That was about it for our first day, but at the very back of the very last temple we visited, the name of which I haven’t noted, Corinne discovered a man selling carved Buddha heads. She knew that Juli had been looking for a particular design of head and thought Juli might do well to investigate. She was right, and Juli and the stallholder, who’s father it was was the actual carver, began negotiations over price, quantity and size. Eventually, after some minutes of haggling, they shook hands and the transaction was complete and two stone heads roughly the size of large coconuts where exchanged for an undisclosed number of small green pieces of paper with the heads of American presidents on them. Consequently our wallets are somewhat lighter and our bags somewhat heavier.
Back at the hotel, tired but happy, we ate dinner and retired to review that day’s photos, in Juli’s case, over 700 of them.
***
As I write this post at a quarter to six in the evening our time, Juli has yet to return from her second day at Angkor, so I can’t tell you what she’s been up to. The plan was to visit some of the more far flung and less frequently visited temples, and they may have stayed to take photographs of the sun setting over the complex. Apparently, there’s a hill the drivers know about which affords a good view and is the best spot for sunset photos. If our first day was anything of a guide to the drivers’ skill and local knowledge, I’m sure she’ll come back with a cracking shot for me to include below.
 |
| Sunset at Angkor |
That’s more or less it for Cambodia. Tomorrow we move on to Thailand. We’ve a 14 hour bus ride (actually two buses: one either side of the border) to endure between here and Bangkok. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it – neither the journey nor the destination – but I’m sure we’ll see and do something to write about, before we get to Koh Samui.
TTFN - N
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks