Wahey The Angkor
During our stay in Chiang Mai we had some more time to do some thinking about other volunteer work - we found a very interesting opportunity here. This seemed a better way of meeting and interacting with the people of the hill villages (and to be honest I was put off some of the organized tours by the glib descriptions that yelp "See Longnecks !" and the like). However, there were practicalities to consider, namely the impending expiration of our Thai visas during the projected stay. So, another backpacker favourite presented itself in the form of a visa-run to a neighbouring country, taking in the 'standard itinerary' of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.
Kampuchea is a place where interior travel takes time. It's not somewhere you can rush about if you need to be somewhere quickly (or comfortably) - for reasons that might become clear later, it's a country that is very based in agriculture - most of the land is used for farming and there are very few roads that have any sort of constructed surface. Many buildings are of the shack variety, held up on stilts over rice fields with occasional brick buildings painted in the red and blue of the national flag. Most people adopt a 'Jazz' style of driving - swerving around potholes and dips, suggestions of a side of the road to keep largely being academic / impossible. The bus journey itself to the border town of Poipet and on to Siem Reap was a travel experience in itself - changing buses 5 or 6 times (about 15 hours in total), running the gamut from modern air-con cruisers to ex-army surplus. We hopped and rocked as on a cross-chanel ferry along undulating mud tracks and rusty bridges, pausing at the border to take on some essential cement bags (though if the weight helped us stick to the road, I was all for it). Packed along any spare floor space, this tended to draw alarmed glances from some of the girls - obviously they've never experienced the joys of riding around in the cab of a truck loaded with such materials (a staple of both my childhood and early twenties). I did wonder at one point if they were going to load a mixer and a couple of tons of ballast in as well - meal stops involved jumping out of the window.
The next morning we set off at five for a trip out to Anghor Wat on the back of some 'motos' (somewhere between a moped and a motorbike - they standard mode of travel in Cambodia) to see the sun rise over the temples. It's a fantastic way of getting around - you feel much more 'in the environment', though that environment inevitably includes lurking dips and wending around other motos. The silhouetted peaks of Angkor Wat clawed the sky as we slid to a halt - the air cool and tense with a shimmering potential, washing away the bleary indolence of very early morning.
The sunrise itself lasted only a few seconds, with a fractional burst blazing through the overcast sky. We had a look inside while some horses moseyed round on their morning trudge. Accounts of Cambodian history usually start around the 9th century as the Chenla kingdoms united under the rule of King Jayavarman II, starting the Khmer Empire and introducing the concept of Devaraja god-king for himself and his 39 successors. The temples of Ankhor are the remains of the cities formed during the period up until it's decline in the 15th century under raids from Siam forces. Most of the temples were lost to the jungle until re-discovery in the 1860s under French colonialism. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century during the reign of King Suryavarman II and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, later being converted to a Theravada Buddhist temple (around the 14/15th century). It's likeness can be seen on the current flag of Cambodia (and every since 1863 - the only building to appear on a national flag). Unlike other Khmer temples it is oriented to the west, rather than the east, leading to speculation that it is a funerary temple. Others say that this is more to do with it's association with Vishnu. The temple itself consists of three storeys, the uppermost being of a very steep gradient. I waited at the bottom for Dan to climb it, kept company by some numbnut who insisted on using his spanking new phone to play his own compilation of "Tha Shittest Choons In Da Wurld". Thanks for that, it really added to the mystery and awe of the place.
Over the course of the day, the motos took us to a number of different temples - I am told Ta Prohm provided the setting for the film Tomb Raider. It seems to grow down from the sky, the roots flowing onto the rocks and cradling them in it's grip.
Bayon temple at the centre of Angkor Thom ("Great City"), showing an example of the imposing four sided Deva faces in the Bayon style. It has been described in places as having "poor workmanship and haphazard sculpting" or alternatively an example of the change to "quantity over quality". I found it to be one of the most interesting temples - it's strange and complex pyramid structure inviting you in and providing a wealth of Hindu and Buddhist influenced detail. Construction was still continuing up to the late 13th century, though the majority was under Jayavarman VII - it was the last of the great Khmer temples. Jayavarman VII's reign is regarded as the zenith of the empire's cultural and political power - thereafter it went quickly into decline.
It was not (as I had originally assumed) built in 1997 as a tribute to the Cypress Hill album "Temples Of Boom".
Detail of Bayon relief.
We sped along over sloshing mud tracks and smooth main roads, having learned that the trick to riding on the back is to relax and just hold on with the tip of the fingers - instead of tensing up and not letting your weight shift naturally. We went for miles only occasionally seeing another vehicle (a number of which were trucks piled with about 20-odd people on the roof), occasional bouts of rain stinging the face. At Banteay Srei the palette of the stones shuffled to include earthy reds and browns among the usual mossy greens and greys.
The ruins of Preah Khan - partially reclaimed from the jungle.
Kampuchea is a place where interior travel takes time. It's not somewhere you can rush about if you need to be somewhere quickly (or comfortably) - for reasons that might become clear later, it's a country that is very based in agriculture - most of the land is used for farming and there are very few roads that have any sort of constructed surface. Many buildings are of the shack variety, held up on stilts over rice fields with occasional brick buildings painted in the red and blue of the national flag. Most people adopt a 'Jazz' style of driving - swerving around potholes and dips, suggestions of a side of the road to keep largely being academic / impossible. The bus journey itself to the border town of Poipet and on to Siem Reap was a travel experience in itself - changing buses 5 or 6 times (about 15 hours in total), running the gamut from modern air-con cruisers to ex-army surplus. We hopped and rocked as on a cross-chanel ferry along undulating mud tracks and rusty bridges, pausing at the border to take on some essential cement bags (though if the weight helped us stick to the road, I was all for it). Packed along any spare floor space, this tended to draw alarmed glances from some of the girls - obviously they've never experienced the joys of riding around in the cab of a truck loaded with such materials (a staple of both my childhood and early twenties). I did wonder at one point if they were going to load a mixer and a couple of tons of ballast in as well - meal stops involved jumping out of the window.
The next morning we set off at five for a trip out to Anghor Wat on the back of some 'motos' (somewhere between a moped and a motorbike - they standard mode of travel in Cambodia) to see the sun rise over the temples. It's a fantastic way of getting around - you feel much more 'in the environment', though that environment inevitably includes lurking dips and wending around other motos. The silhouetted peaks of Angkor Wat clawed the sky as we slid to a halt - the air cool and tense with a shimmering potential, washing away the bleary indolence of very early morning.
The sunrise itself lasted only a few seconds, with a fractional burst blazing through the overcast sky. We had a look inside while some horses moseyed round on their morning trudge. Accounts of Cambodian history usually start around the 9th century as the Chenla kingdoms united under the rule of King Jayavarman II, starting the Khmer Empire and introducing the concept of Devaraja god-king for himself and his 39 successors. The temples of Ankhor are the remains of the cities formed during the period up until it's decline in the 15th century under raids from Siam forces. Most of the temples were lost to the jungle until re-discovery in the 1860s under French colonialism. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century during the reign of King Suryavarman II and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, later being converted to a Theravada Buddhist temple (around the 14/15th century). It's likeness can be seen on the current flag of Cambodia (and every since 1863 - the only building to appear on a national flag). Unlike other Khmer temples it is oriented to the west, rather than the east, leading to speculation that it is a funerary temple. Others say that this is more to do with it's association with Vishnu. The temple itself consists of three storeys, the uppermost being of a very steep gradient. I waited at the bottom for Dan to climb it, kept company by some numbnut who insisted on using his spanking new phone to play his own compilation of "Tha Shittest Choons In Da Wurld". Thanks for that, it really added to the mystery and awe of the place.
Over the course of the day, the motos took us to a number of different temples - I am told Ta Prohm provided the setting for the film Tomb Raider. It seems to grow down from the sky, the roots flowing onto the rocks and cradling them in it's grip.
Bayon temple at the centre of Angkor Thom ("Great City"), showing an example of the imposing four sided Deva faces in the Bayon style. It has been described in places as having "poor workmanship and haphazard sculpting" or alternatively an example of the change to "quantity over quality". I found it to be one of the most interesting temples - it's strange and complex pyramid structure inviting you in and providing a wealth of Hindu and Buddhist influenced detail. Construction was still continuing up to the late 13th century, though the majority was under Jayavarman VII - it was the last of the great Khmer temples. Jayavarman VII's reign is regarded as the zenith of the empire's cultural and political power - thereafter it went quickly into decline.It was not (as I had originally assumed) built in 1997 as a tribute to the Cypress Hill album "Temples Of Boom".
Detail of Bayon relief.
We sped along over sloshing mud tracks and smooth main roads, having learned that the trick to riding on the back is to relax and just hold on with the tip of the fingers - instead of tensing up and not letting your weight shift naturally. We went for miles only occasionally seeing another vehicle (a number of which were trucks piled with about 20-odd people on the roof), occasional bouts of rain stinging the face. At Banteay Srei the palette of the stones shuffled to include earthy reds and browns among the usual mossy greens and greys.
The ruins of Preah Khan - partially reclaimed from the jungle.
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