Siem Reap, really hot now!

21 - 22 March

Now for some really warm weather! 

We flew into Siem Reap on Angkor Air, which is just a short 45 minute hop from Phnom Penh by air but a 6 hour journey by road. Siem Reap is Cambodia's second city, and the "gateway" to Angkor Wat. Angor Wat is one of about 800 temple sites in this area, out of 1,000 or more in Cambodia as a whole. We visited 4, which was enough for a couple of days touristing. Each was quite amazing in it's own right, but as we know, "temple overload" is a thing.

The sites date from the time of the Khmer empire (about 9th to 15th centuries). When the empire fell the sites were abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle, remaining largely unknown (at least to Europeans) until the 20th century. Everyone left the area due to (as well as the fall of the empire), the area becoming too dry to support the large population, and the increasing importance of trade (which led to Phnom Penh, with its access to the Mekong river and easy water transport, being established).

Access to the temple sites for the likes of us soft tourists has only been available for about 20 years. The area was an active civil war zone after the Khmer Rouge were removed from power in 1979 and all the way through to the late 1990's. Some of the sites have bullet holes as evidence of the fighting.

The ancient Khmers felt the need for each new ruler to build a new temple larger than the previous one, which led to the proliferation of sites and the enormous scale of some.

Our first temple visit was during the hottest part of the day with the temperature reaching 41 degrees. Extremely hot and humid by our standards! Some of us suffered a bit from the heat and had to take the easy option of travelling by tuk tuk around the Angkor Wat perimeter while others climbed through the innards. Janet was pretty woozy and couldn't think or walk straight due to the heat, so had to take the easy option.

On the day of our second temple visit the temperature was a relatively mild 38. As it was relatively "cool", after seeing the temples we hired a tuk tuk and took a tour around the city. We stopped off at a few shops that Janet had identified in advance and saw a great selection of Cambodian inspired crafts, all locally made. It wasn't just window shopping either, the suitcases got heavier as a result! The best shopping spot we found was Kandal Village in Hup Guan Street, and we'd definitely go back there for a better look next time (if there is one!)

Ever wondered how to make rice noodles the traditional way? They can show you how at Pradak village. We got a demonstration from a local noodle making family, and then a tasting (accompanied by a green curry). Yum! The noodle making process needs lots of family members - primarily Mum who knows all about it, plus ideally lots of daughters to help.

First soak your rice till slightly fermented and then pound into a paste. 

Use 2 or 3 daughters to work the pounding machine while Mum supervises the business end.

Press the paste through a sieve to form noodles which then drop into boiling water. 

Use 1 or more daughters to apply pressure to the press (one daughter shown here).

Take the cooked noodles out to drain. Use plastic gloves for hygiene when demonstrating to tourists.

Demonstration tourist sampling noodles with green curry.

The last event of the trip was a traditional Aspara dance performance over dinner. The dancers were incredibly skilled, the costumes spectacular, and the dancing very elaborate and graceful. We learned a little beforehand about how the dancers train and the meanings of the hand and finger positions used in the dances, which made the performance more interesting. Dancers need to start young so they can develop the incredible flexibility in their fingers by stretching every day. Also they apparently need to have double jointed elbows - sounds very uncomfortable!. So I think we've left our Cambodian dance careers a bit late.  Don't be fooled by the photo of us with the dancers, it's just a photo, we didn't have a go and absolutely would have zero talent for it!

Siem Reap was sadly our last stop so bringing the trip to an end. Now have to face the packing up chore followed by the long, long plane ride home...



Temple briefing follows:

Angkor Wat is the largest and most famous temple, dating from the 12th century. Large means truly huge - the site is over 160 hectares. The stone was brought from far away using slave and animal labour, and carved on site. Originally it was surrounded by a water filled moat, but today the area is much drier and only some ponds remain. The temple started off as a Hindu one, and then transformed later to a Buddhist one.

(Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer empire. Wat means temple in the Khmer language. Hence Angkor Wat.)

The 5 towers of Angkor Wat, reflected in the pool.

Bayon is a much smaller temple and sometimes known as the "temple of faces" for its magnificent carved Buddha faces. While visiting Bayon we came across a bold monkey who has learned to drink from water bottles so when thirsty just approaches a tourist for a drink.

Bayon temple.

Buddha face, smiling?

Cheeky monkey!

Banteay Srey temple is built from pink sandstone and known as the Citadel of Women. It has some of the most beautiful carvings in Angkor. The pink stone has survived the passage of time well and it's remarkable to see the carving details still clear today after 1,000 years or more.

Pink sandstone at Banteay Srey.

Civil war bullet holes.

 

Last was Ta Phrom, aka the "Tomb Raider Temple", made famous by the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider movies filmed there. The trees growing through and around the stones were as shown on screen and are amazing. This temple has been left on purpose in its jungle ravaged state with no restorations and only removal of enough trees and scrub to allow for access. 

Stayed at Park Hyatt Siem Reap, 2 nights.