Siem Reap, Cambodia

January 31, 2007
Siem Reap, Cambodia

Val here. We leave Siem Reap tomorrow morning. How I will miss it.

Siem Reap is a town that is known by the outside world mostly because of its 20 kilometre distance from the famous Angkor Wat - the gorgeous Hindu and Buddhist sandstone temples built from the 11th to the 14th Centuries and known for their magnificent architecture and intricate carvings. The temples are scattered over 77 kilometres in what was apparently a large city of one million people. (At that time London only had about 50.000 inhabitants). It is exquisite and arguably the most magnificent place to photograph in the world. Hundreds of tourists come to see the sunrise and sunset over Angkor Wat and to see its reflection in the pool and moat in front of it. But the other, smaller temples are just as astounding.

A few have huge trees growing right out of the sandstone - a magnificent symbiosis of man and nature. Most have intricate carvings of Vishnu and Shiva and garudas and monkeys - all important figures in the Ramayana. If not characters from the Ramayana there are intricate floral carvings. The Terrace of the Elephants has carvings of lifesize elephants along its major wall which you see as you drive along the road- dramatic!


So - what did Arieh and I discuss on the Tuc-Tuc (a motorized rickshaw) going to and from the temples? The history, the majesty? No - we discussed whether one would get more seriously injured on the left side or the right side of the tuc-tuc should we have a collision. On the left is often ditches and sand which I imagine tipping into - on the right - the oncoming traffic, which Arieh pointed out, is more likely to cause a fatality. No-one seems to look - trucks, buses, tuc-tucs and bicycles and pedestrians all share the road and move this way and that with very little room between them. But we have travelled to Angkor Wat twice - and are still alive and well. Though we are finally in a country where they drive on the right side it takes some getting used to - especially crossing a busy street - after 3 months of lefthand driving.

If you want to get an idea of Angkor Wat - go to Indigo or Chapters. They have large coffee table books with gorgeous photographs of the place. We took some of our own photographs, of course. and they are beautiful as is the place.

Siem Reap is a lovely smallish town with colonial architecture. Though poverty is everywhere there are a lot of foreign NGOs and donations coming in to help the people after years of devastating civil war and the Pol Pot regime. We have a lovely hotel (See picture of Val and our tuk-tuk) in the centre of town near the market and although it's noisey at times, it's also lively and great to be in the thick of things. We overlook the river and are a block away from the old market. We are constantly approached by hawkers selling photocopied travel books, bracelets, pipes, and tuc-tuc drivers offering their services. They are making a living and we try to smile and say no. Arieh is especially good at getting the child sellers to lighten up for a while and chat and giggle and smile - before they go back to their primary purpose - selling their wares to the rich tourists.

Today Arieh and I went for a walk. First, we stopped at the Children's Hospital so that Arieh could give blood - a highly valued commodity. My hero walked away with a wonderful teeshirt stating he's a friend without borders. Several Cambodians recognized his wonderful donation and commented on it. We then saw a wonderful photography exhibit at a hotel. Yes, gorgeous Angkor Wat again! We went into the Cambodian Raffles Hotel (I should mention that there are at least thirty new, large, upscale hotels built in the last five years - Raffles is the renovated Grand Hotel). We chatted with the Hotel public relations fellow for a while and found out lots of gossip from him about hospitals, conferences, donations given and by whom, etc. We were then invited to visit the hotel and we admired the pool and restaurant, Buddha exhibit, and shops - and then left for our $6.00 (for both of us) lunch at a local restaurant.

Arieh and I also went to a buffet and traditional dance presentation the other night. The dance was beautiful - both folk dancing on a fishing theme, and classical dance. South-east Asian dance is similar but as you get to understand it, each country has its own special style and the accompanying musical instruments are different. The dance was charming and enchanting, the buffet good. Another lovely evening in Siem Reap.

We also spent Saturday night attending a concert given by a Swiss Doctor Beata. He does a cello concert with films and lecture in the hopes of promoting four state of the art Children's hospitals he has set up in Cambodia. Another interesting perspective on the situation. He finished with the Kol Nidre - at Holy Blossom in Toronto we hear it every Yom Kippur played by a marvellous cellist. It brought tears to my eyes! It is difficult not to ask for forgiveness when we have so much whereas so many places in the world have so little.

Off to Phnom Penh - more soon.

Arieh here. Val mentioned everyone selling something. Well, indeed they do! The picture below is a group of Cambodian musicians who are victims of the landmines or other aspects of the history of war in Cambodia. They (and many other groups) dot the countryside or towns where tourists roam, play as a group and sell their CD. They are not begging, simply trying to make a living. The other picutre is a poster near one of the Angkor Wat sites. It's title is "We No Longer Need Weapons" and depicts how Cambodia has been transformed after the war finished. It might be hard to see but right at the "tear" of the photo is a boy crossing over the line (near the bottom). His pants on one side are ripped and torn and he is shoeless; on the other side one can see the pants are good and he has shoes. Quite the poster, I thought.