Once upon a time in Siem Reap

Siem Reap was the last destination I went to on my trip over Southeast Asia. It is located near Angkor Wat, the main tourist draw in Cambodia and a must-see place for me.

I arrived in Siem Reap early in the morning, an hour or two earlier than I had expected after having travelled by a night bus from Sihanoukville. I got in touch with my local host Chantha and took a ride to a hotel where he would pick me up. Only when we came to his place did i notice that I had lost my sandals in the bus. Not the first time it had happened.

Chantha lived in a spacious room which he rented in a house with perhaps fifteen or twenty such rooms some of them occupied by entire families. He didn’t live far from the centre, it might have been a twenty-minute walk.

We had breakfast together and chatted for a bit. He then suggested that I joined him on a field trip. At the time he worked for a Korean travel agency and was sent to take some pictures of a few places of interest, supposedly for promotion. Even though I was tired after the night journey I decided to go with him without hesitation. We hopped on a motorbike and rode off.

The first place we went to was the Beng Mealea Temple, one of the many temples at Angkor. This one was located some 60 kilometres away from the city. I wasn’t planning on actually visiting it as I thought it could only be visited using a day pass costing 20 dollars which I wouldn’t have managed to use anywhere else that day. But I wanted to see the countryside and spend some time with my host.

The first unexpected situation we faced was being stopped by the police. Yes, again! I must be a police magnet or something. I wasn’t wearing a helmet this time, which is required even if you are a passenger, that was the reason. Luckily, the fine was much lower than in Vietnam.

Another surprise was that the entrance fee was only 5 dollars which I only found out while waiting for Chantha while he was taking pictures of the temple. I was disappointed, as I could have gone inside, too. I was thinking what to do. I was supposed to wait for him but at the same time I was tempted to buy a ticket and go inside. The problem was that the ticket booth was a few kilometres away. So I waited. When Chantha came back he suggested that I bought a ticket and saw the temple. I was excited. Even though I only had one hour to see it, it was really worth it.

What is special about Beng Mealea is that the nature is left to take its course. Trees are left to grow over the ruins, nothing is removed and this gives the place a very natural character and you feel a bit like an explorer who has just discovered the ruins. You feel like lost in time. If you know the famous Ta Prohm temple (if you know the Tomb Raider movie, then, you do know the temple, too) with the trees growing over the doors, Beng Mealea is so much better. Another great thing was there were fewer tourists unlike around the main monument complex.

Our next stop was a floating village on Tonle Sap lake.  We had to drive all the way back to the main road running between Siem Reap and the capital and take a road in the opposite direction. So it took us around an hour. The weather was great that day. It was sunny and hot and the sky was blue. I could see vast flat landscapes comprising mainly green rice fields, houses built above the ground on massive wooden poles and people engaged in daily activities. I was amazed by the village! The houses where even higher there perhaps to be protected in the event of floods as they were built  at the very shore of the lake. And they were very colourful. I had never seen such a village and houses before.

After seeing the village from the shore we decided to go on a boat trip. The price was rather steep as we were not on an organized tour but we went for it. There were virtually no tourists in the area so it felt great. We sailed along a canal towards the lake passing the colourful houses on the shore. We reached the actual floating village in a few minutes. Floating houses are in fact on the surface of the water and they didn’t seem to be fixed to any poles. At one point I even saw a floating house being pulled by a boat. Moving house took a different dimension. Some people even had dogs living with them. And I also saw a satellite dish on one of the houses. Simple living, but a tv not missing.

Once we reached the lake which resembled a sea we turned around and sailed back to the village. Then we rode around sixty kilometres back to Siem Reap. The funny thing about our journey back was that we stopped at the bus station where I had got off in the morning to ask about my sandals. We didn’t know where exacty it was and I doubted the bus would be there. But it was and I found my sandals. I certainly hadn’t expected that but wanted to give it a try.

We also stopped along the way to buy some delicious food for dinner, but this will be covered in a separate article.

I spent the following day on my own. I had rented a bicycle the night before which only cost a dollar. Originally I wanted to get up early and see the sunrise at Angkor Wat but after the day trip on the motorbike and a sleepless night on the bus I decided to sleep late. There aren’t many sights in Siem Reap, but the ones the city boasts are quite nice and more or less without tourists. I went to the Wat Preah Prom Rath. After that I continued to one of the oldest temples in the city called Wat Bo where I could see some monks hard at work.

And I also went to the local market which has a life of its own. In the evening I bought a day pass for Angkor Wat and other monuments to go there on Saturday. I could also use the ticket in the evening and see Angor Wat at sunset. So I cycled there in the evening, too. Why not? The atmosphere, the lighting, the experience is different at different times of the day. And I finally wanted to take a glance at the one and only stunning Angkor Wat which I had already wanted to see for ages.

A new guest came to Chantha’s in the evening. His name was James and he came from Britain. He had been travelling for a few months and had a few months ahead. So all three of us were going to share a double bed. That’s what couchsurfing is sometimes about. James unexpectedly decided to join me to explore Angkor the following day. So he also went to rent a bike.

We got up at 4 am. It was really early but the temples were around 9 kilometres away and we had to buy a ticket for James. It was fun to cycle that early in the morning. At one point a dog started to bark and chase us but we managed to get rid of him. Stray dogs at night are no fun. When we reached Angkor Wat there were already hordes of tourist pouring in the temple complex. It wasn’t quite like the experince the guide book talked about. ‘If you are visiting Angkor Wat during the rainy season, you will literally be on your own there.’ Forget it. Those days are long gone.

Still it was an amazing experience. To watch the sunrise. To explore the temples, galleries and hallways of the complex. The galleries were lined with intricate stonework depicting various events. One could spend hours there studying the artwork. After seeing Angkor Wat we moved on to explore the famous Bayon Temple. It’s the one with the many faces of Lokesvara (around 200) on the roofs. It was one of the most amazing temples we saw that day. We spent all day cycling going from one temple to another. The weather was great again so it was one of the best days of my trip. We returned to Siem Reap at around six o’clock, so after about fourteen hours of relaxed cycling and exploring the breathtaking monuments.

I spent my last day in Siem Reap relaxing and walking around a bit. It felt different to see the city on foot than from a bicycle. People notice you more and offer you a ride, food or souvenirs.

I couldn’t have wished for a better time to end my journey through Southeast Asia.