Cambodia Day 2: The Majesty of Angkor Wat

I awoke at 4am. I had made arrangements the previous day with a tuk tuk driver to pick me up in the early morning and drive me to Angkor Wat before the sun rose, so I had no time to shower or eat breakfast. I just threw on some clothes, grabbed my bag and dashed out the front door of my hostel to find my driver waiting for me.

We drove down the dusty road from Siem Reap in silence, zipping past tuk tuks and tour buses loaded with tourists going to the same destination as me. After a quick stop at the main entrance of Angkor Archaeological Park to pick up my three-day visitor's pass, we continued onwards. By the time we arrived at the bridge leading to Angkor Wat a sizable crowd had already formed. It was still dark out, and most people were walking across the bridge to see the sun rise from inside Angkor Wat's outer wall. I decided to take a seat on the opposite side of the moat and watch from there.

Angkor Wat, which translates to Temple City, is the biggest religious monument in the world. It was constructed in the 12th century and was originally a Hindu temple before being converted for Buddhist use. It has survived centuries of aging, looting, vandalism and warfare. Despite invasions by neighboring countries, civil wars, and Cambodia's descent into madness under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, Angkor Wat remains, a testament to its construction, its importance to the local people, and the combined conservation efforts of the global community. I reflected on all of this while watching the morning sun peek through the clouds and shine its radiance down on Angkor Wat, and as I caught my first glimpse of the sunlit temple spires I could scarcely believe where I was.

Only after the sun was fully in the sky did I walk across the bridge to Angkor Wat. Along the way I was approached by an old lady selling guide books. There would be countless such encounters throughout the day, with Cambodians of all ages attempting to sell me everything from post cards to mangoes to tour services to magnets. To most of these people I would say "No thank you", but I did buy that guide book. It was one of the wisest purchases I could have made; written by Claude Jacques, a distinguished scholar on all things Angkor, I found myself flipping through Ancient Angkor near constantly during my trip. It was absolutely essential to my understanding and navigation of the practically labyrinthine Angkor Wat, and without it I would have appreciated the temple half as much.

I don't want to turn this post into a discourse on Angkor Wat and ancient Khmer civilization; you would be much better off reading a book by an expert. Instead I'll lay out the basics, in order to foster an appreciation for the pictures I'm about to share. Inside the moat surrounding Angkor Wat is the large outer wall containing the city and temple. The city is gone now, erased by time and replaced by jungle, but in its place reside Khmer people who have the right to live inside the park and set up small shops and restaurants. From what I could tell, there is also a school and monastery. In the middle of the jungle is the Angkor Wat temple, three levels high, each level stacked on top of the last, with the uppermost level peaking in a series of five spires. This "temple-mountain" configuration is meant to evoke the image of Mount Meru, the absolute center of Hindu cosmology. I've never quoted a book before on this blog, but I want to share a short passage from Ancient Angkor that helped me begin to understand how truly magnificent Angkor Wat really is:

The scale of Angkor Wat enabled the Khmer to give full expression to religious symbolism. It is, above all else, a microcosm of the Hindu universe. The moat represents the mythical oceans surrounding the earth and the succession of concentric galleries represent the mountain ranges that surround Mount Meru, the home of the gods. The towers represent the mountain's peaks, and the experience of the ascent to the central shrine is, maybe intentionally, a fairly convincing imitation of climbing a real mountain. (Jacques 48)

My exploration of Angkor Wat was a journey through history, theology, and architectural theory all at once. I had come alone that day, and was grateful for that, as it allowed me the leisure of discovering Angkor Wat at my own pace. I would look around, reference my book, look around some more, pause for a snack, etc. By mid-morning I was starving though, and I retreated to one of the lunch stands outside the temple for some fried rice. When I returned to Angkor Wat I began touring the outer galleries, which are covered in intricately hand carved bas-relief friezes. The friezes are impressive beyond words: stretching out dozens of meters, they recite the stories of kings and gods, of ancient battles and hallowed mythology. To go into specific details here would require this post to be the length of an essay, so I will have to leave you with my photos.

I wandered around Angkor Wat for close to six hours. Afterwards I got a light lunch, then located my tuk tuk driver. He had been napping in a hammock all morning, patiently waiting for me. In Siem Reap, you hire a driver to taxi you around all day. When you make a stop to go into one of Angkor Archaeological Park's numerous temples, the driver waits outside for you until you're ready to move on. You can repeat this process as many times as you want, and at the end of the day you pay the driver a sum total of $20. I wasn't ready to return to my hostel just yet, so when the driver asked where I wanted to go next, I replied Phnom Bakheng.

Phnom Bakheng is a small temple built on top of a good sized hill to the northwest of Angkor Wat. Due to its elevation it's a famous spot for catching the sunrise over the spires of Angkor Wat, but when I arrived I found the view to be partially obscured by construction equipment. Regardless, it was pleasant on Phnom Bakheng. While Angkor Wat was utterly congested with crowds, Phnom Bakheng was practically deserted. I didn't see any other people besides the construction crews working to preserve the temple and a Khmer father playing with his daughter. I took a few minutes to enjoy the tranquility, then began heading back to my tuk tuk. It was only 2pm, but I felt I had seen enough for one day. I didn't want to burn myself out on temples this early into my trip, so I decided I'd go back to my hostel, shower, eat and take a nap before meeting my French friend for dinner.

While walking down the hill from Phnom Bakheng, I heard something peculiar: It sounded like the trickling of a stream. Looking around, I saw no water. That was when I realized the noise was coming from the trees to my right. I looked closer and saw movement, but it wasn't what I expected: That "trickling" sound was actually the clicking of thousands of giant Cambodian ants.

Cambodia Day 1: Border Crossing

Originally, my summer plan was to fly straight to Cambodia and spend a week there. However, when I saw that the price of round-trip plane tickets from Seoul to Cambodia averaged around $800, I decided to get a little creative and see if I couldn't shave that cost down. A one-way ticket from Seoul to a major travel hub like Hong Kong was ridiculously cheaper, and flying from Hong Kong to Bangkok was also incredibly inexpensive. Since Thailand borders Cambodia, I figured there must be a land route between the two, and after doing a little research I found a website to purchase bus tickets online. For the flight home, I got a special deal on a one-way plane ticket out of Cambodia, taking me back to Seoul just in time for summer classes. All in all, when the dust settled and my ticket invoices were tallied I had spent barely $700, and as a bonus my travel itinerary had just tripled in size. Not too shabby!

That was how I came to be in Bangkok's northern Mochit bus station early on a Sunday morning. I had arrived by taxi from my hostel, and I would be traveling by bus across Thailand's eastern half and Cambodia's western tip for the next eight hours. Before getting on the bus I stopped by a 7-11 to stock up on snacks: a couple of sandwiches, some bananas, a bag of chips and a pack of cookies, all of which cost me under $5. The bus itself was comfortable enough, and the ride was pleasantly uneventful. On board, all of the passengers were backpackers and travelers like myself, all headed to Cambodia or parts further east. Most were from America or Europe, and the fellow I sat next to was French. He had spent his summer working on a farm in Australia saving money, and was now enjoying an odyssey through Asia on his way back home. We had a lot of time on our hands, so we chatted quite a bit. The bus stopped once, at a small station in the Thai countryside, and didn't stop again until we reached the border crossing.

I had done a lot of research about the Thai-Cambodia crossing at Poipet in the weeks leading up to my trip. Namely, I had read to be wary of scammers who try to double charge you for an entry visa into the country. To prepare for that I purchased a visa online before my arrival. I thought I was ready, but when I got off my bus I didn't expect the scene I found. If you've watched Star Wars, maybe you're familiar with the space port Mos Eisley: old, beat up and run-down, full of colorful characters in transit from one place to another, everybody doing what they want with security added as an afterthought. Now I'm not saying there weren't any military or police present in Poipet, but they seemed awfully laid-back in comparison to other borders I've been to. The police I did see just idly watched as throngs of people, many piled onto scooters, others packed into massive tour buses, came and went.

Getting into Cambodia was a tricky thing, not because of security, but because I had no idea where to go. The bus staff gave us no instructions; they just kicked us off with barely a word spoken. I had purchased a ticket for a direct ride from Bangkok to my final destination, but I would have to get my passport stamped before I'd be allowed back on the bus. Unsure of what to do next, I followed the crowds. Eventually I arrived at the customs office on the Thai side, and after showing my passport and my plane ticket stubs, I was allowed to move on. Upon exiting the office I was in front of the gate to Cambodia, wide open and waiting for me to step through. The novelty of it all was wonderful to me; without having to undergo a thorough pat-down, with no Ramboesque super guards scrutinizing my every move, I was able to just casually walk into another country. The same went for everyone around me. Backpackers, Thais and Cambodians were constantly shuffling by in a constant stream, all going about their own business without any kind of anxiety.

Once on the Cambodian side, I wandered around a bit before I found where I could have my passport stamped and my visa verified. I had to wait in line for about an hour, but I was fine with that. It was interesting to watch the variety of people who scooted through the border. In front of me was a young Japanese man traveling with his mother. I know enough Japanese to engage in small conversation, and of course seeing their reaction to finding a non-Japanese person speaking their language, in Poipet of all places, was the most amusing thing to me.

With my newly stamped passport in hand I went looking for my bus. A different bus driver mistook me for one of his passengers and almost whisked me away to parts unknown, but after the misunderstanding was cleared up he told me my bus was waiting on the Thai side of the crossing. So, I simply walked across the border and back into Thailand, and after everyone had boarded the bus we drove for a few more hours until we reached the Cambodian city of Siem Reap.

The bus arrived in the early evening. I had dinner with my new French friend and a German, and then took a scooter taxi, or tuk tuk, to my hostel. That night was spent just trying to gradually acclimate myself to my new surroundings so that I could be ready for the next morning. I had come a long way for a very specific reason, and finally I was within reach of my goal: the ancient temple city of Angkor Wat.

Bangkok: Then and Now

Bangkok had been through some changes since my last visit in the summer of 2013. Namely, the country was under new management after a military coup d'état deposed the previous government. As my taxi silently glided through the night from the airport to my hostel, it wasn't hard to notice how eerily quiet the streets were. People were scarce, and in their place were military garrisons outfitted with sturdy vehicles and serious weaponry. It was a starkly different scene from the vibrant and lively city I had come to a year prior.

To be fair, my hostel was located in a much more sedate part of town. When I ventured out onto the streets after a peaceful night's slumber, I found the city I remembered. While other Asian mega cities I've been to tend to operate at a nonstop blistering speed, I always feel like life moves at a slower pace when I'm in Bangkok. The scenery isn't as intensely overwhelming as Hong Kong, the crowds aren't constantly shoving you along at their speed like in Tokyo or Seoul, and the Thai people will take a moment to smile and greet you.

I only planned to stay in Bangkok for a day before departing by bus the next morning. I love being in Thailand, however I had already spent one vacation there, and I was in the mood to see more of Asia this summer. I just figured that since I was in the neighborhood, a quick stopover couldn't hurt. The main objectives of my little detour were simple: to catch up with my Thai friend from my university days, and to eat as much Thai food as possible

In my last few posts I wrote very highly of the food in Hong Kong, and as much as I enjoyed it what I was truly looking forward to was being able to have Thai food once again. Most people already know Thai food to be incredibly hot, but it's so much more than that. It's spicy of course, and also sweet, often minty, always fresh. The food is filling yet light, and pops with more intense flavors than I'm capable of describing with words alone. Simply put, Thai food in Thailand is sublime, and it's something anyone with a taste for exotic cuisine should try at least once.

I had already seen most of Bangkok's historical attractions the last time I visited, so following lunch my friend took me to the impressive Chatuchak market, the largest of its kind in Thailand. Whereas the markets I had explored in Hong Kong were stocked with cheap Chinese factory goods, Chatuchak Market is unique for selling a wide variety of handmade artisan crafts. We wandered the stalls for hours, and I eventually caved in and bought something when I found a store selling super sweet designer anime robot shirts. My wallet complained, but I didn't listen.

At some point during the day, the conversations with my friend drifted towards the current political situation in her country. I told her that in the west, most news articles and political leaders condemned Thailand and its military junta. "Let democracy happen," was the common sentiment I heard from my hemisphere. But listening to my friend, she saw things differently. Before the coup, she always had to be cautious when going outside and had to plan to avoid any violent rallies or protests. Now, she said Bangkok was calm again, and the locals were beginning to feel less tense with a stable body of power finally in control. Some people smarter than I speculate that Thailand isn't ready to embrace a democracy, and though I do feel democracy is the best for a country like my own, I can understand that for people with different cultural backgrounds and histories, another form of government may be more suitable. I don't know what Thailand needs, I hardly qualify to discuss the politics of other countries, but I find it fascinating to be able to observe the process of a shifting government firsthand. Last year Thailand was a democracy, this year it's controlled by a military junta, next year who knows? Maybe it will convert back to a monarchy.

We finished our Saturday with a trip to Asiatique, a riverfront outdoor shopping mall notable for being high-end and a little expensive but also a great place to unwind after a busy day. We feasted, and when we were satisfied we said our goodbyes, and I told my friend I'd try to visit again the following summer.