Cambodia 1 - Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat

Vietnam is close to Cambodia.  

Cambodia is home to one of the world’s wonders – Angkor Wat. 

No big decision here…..

We made the decision to head to Siem Reap in Cambodia for a few days of temples and sunshine (it was still raining in Hoi An).  It would be crazy to be so close and not see this.  And – it turns out – there are direct flights between Da Nang (our nearest airport) and Siem Reap.  The stars aligned and we were off.

Once here there are many ways to see the temples, organized group tours, organized private tours, on your own using some sort of transport or use your own transport but hire a guide at the sites.  Like we usually do we opted to go it alone.  This suits us best and we have fairly successfully followed this non-model model in various parts of the world.  

Of course we did not totally wing it.  We decided that beyond internet research ahead of time we would visit the National Museum in Siem Reap before heading to any temples.  This turned out to be an excellent decision as it put much of what we were about to see in some perspective.  If anyone is heading to Siem Reap, and has control over their schedule, we highly recommend it.  Post museum we headed to a designed cultural village.  This turned out to be a comically bad decision as it was a giant white elephant with the only redeeming feature being the dance shows that went on through the day.  So we were batting 50%. 

The museum also resulted in us finding our transport for the rest of the trip.  Waiting in the pool of tuktuks was Mr. Bros and his jaunty wheels.  We got on quite well with this gentleman and sorted out his services for the next couple of days.

Tuktuks are great fun to ride around in.  There appeared to be 2 types – one a closed in 3 wheeled vehicle, and the other a motor scooter pulling a small trailer set up with a roof and seats.  This is the type we took and we were totally delighted with the choice.  Following that laughable cultural village we headed to the tourist office to purchase our 3 day pass for the temples.  This serious business with photos being taken to print on the individual passes.  Funds from this help support the Angkor world Heritage area.

Next morning, pass in hand we headed first to Angkor Thom.  Angkor Thom includes a number of temples in the general area and you can walk between some of them.  We were trying to avoid the crowds reported to congregate on Angkor Wat first thing in the morning.

Initially one enters Angkor Thom by walking over a bridge lined with statues

Amazing right!

My favorite temple in Angkor Thom was Bayon.  This is a temple full of mysterious faces, all exuding a sense of wisdom, serenity and peace. 

It is said to date from about the late 12^th century to the late 13^th century.  Beyond the faces there are also bas-reliefs on many walls, the detail of which is quite fantastic.

As one moves from temple to temple the signage shows that various other Asian countries are assisting Cambodia with the rehabilitation of the sites.    I expect it would be quite beyond the means of a developing nation like Cambodia without assistance.

Japan is helping with this one

Beyond Bayon and before Angkor Wat we saw the Elephant Terrace which is a long 300 m terrace  also from the Bayon period of late 12^th century to late 13^th century.  Again wonderful carvings of elephants along the walls, which of course give it its name.

Randomly through the drive we would stop here and there to view the less well known, and less preserved temples.  Some of these I found extremely interesting – driving along in the tuktuk – a look to the side, and there would be something else – a tomb perhaps, a small temple?  Ruins of another temple?

Finally we did head to the famous Angkor Wat.  In popular discussion the entire area is known as Angkor Wat but in fact this name is specifically for the largest and best known of the temples.  This place was amazing primarily because of its immense size.

Angkor Wat preceeded Bayon with the build thought to be in the early 12^th century with additions afterwards.  This complex was actually a city as well and remains the worlds largest religious monument.

To get in first one needs to cross the moat.  The walkway itself is being renovated currently and for a piece of Canadian trivia, the temporary walkway is a floating structure by CanDock a company out of Quebec.

https://www.candock.com/

The visuals are as iconic as you might imagine, with the magnificence and splendor that religious architecture can bring combined with the scale of a city.  It was the capital and the state temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.

Interior spaces were of a limited size, due to building techniques.  That said however all I can base this on is the size and structure left behind of stone.  It is entirely possible that some larger areas were roofed in organic materials which have since disappeared over the centuries.

Within the temple itself there are carvings on the walls celebrating Asparas or celestial dancers.  The imagery is quite detailed and it draws one in.

Of course beyond being fascinating, the temples of the Angor Wat park provide much needed funds for Cambodia.  A quick check on the internet showed that for 2017 Cambodia's GDP was only 22 billion USD while nearby Vietnam was 224 billion USD.  Of course there is also a big population difference approx 96 million in Vietnam vs 14 million in Cambodia (these figures are a bit older) but that does not explain everything.  Tourism as a percentage of GDP shows Cambodia heavily reliant at 32.4% vs Vietnam at 9.4% (again 2017 figures).  As this is the main tourist draw it appears that the country as a whole is heavily dependent on this site.