June 13 to 16. Temples, temples and temples
June 13. Bangkok to Siem Reap
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Shopping was the order of the morning, both in the crowded stalls lining the streets - otherwise known as Pratunam Market - and in the Platinum Centre, 5 floors of clothes and similar shops. Cameras were banned from the building so I was unable to record the mad dash from floor to floor. |
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We had started the morning with a visit to the tailor’s to check progress on our suits, jackets etc. My trousers were there and seem to be heading in the right direction, although they needed some minor adjustment. The jacket man didn't arrive at work until 11 am so we had to arrange a return visit to see the results of his handiwork. When we returned, we were given a fitting. All seemed well so I ordered some shirts to complete my outfit.
We then waited for our transport to the airport to arrive, which was nearly half an hour late having been stuck in traffic. There's a surprise. We got there in time, however, checked-in and found the gate without any problems. A bus took us across the tarmac to a propeller driven ATR 72, similar to the ones flown by Air NZ but much smarter. It left early, gave us a very nice snack and landed in Cambodia early as well.
As we landed at Siem Reap, it was similar to what I envisage a pacific island to look like. Lots of small houses surrounded by green fields and palm trees. We entered the visa section of the airport building and were faced with a wall of uniformed officials. We pushed Valerie to the front so that she could admit to having lost the photos which she required for her visa. The first official in the line smiled happily at her and fined her the huge sum of US $2. Her passport, visa application form and money were taken from her and ceremoniously handed down the line of officials. She was told to go to the other end of the row to collect her passport complete with Cambodian visa. We then all followed the same process. In many respects, this was straight out of the Soviet era, with the maximum number of officials required to complete the simplest of tasks.
Passing through Immigration with our newly acquired visas was easy enough but required detailed reference to a large red book - presumably containing the names of undesirables. Our luggage was waiting, Customs was non-existent and we emerged into the baking heat of the car park to be greeted by Heng, our guide for the duration.
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The roads came as a bit of a shock. Cambodia has inherited the French habit of driving on the right (some of the time) but also the laissez-faire attitude towards giving way to other vehicles. With cars, motorbikes and bikes intermingling with people and the occasional cow, chaos reigned. I attempted lots of photos through the windows of the van with varying degrees of success. Both serious shaking caused by the rough roads and the tinting of the windows made this a complex process. |
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Many new hotels |
We drove for a quarter of an hour, passing several new and smart hotels, before arriving at our own hotel, also smart and new.
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We had a short time to change and then we were away again to visit the temples. We were issued with smart photo passes, the images for which were taken by airport style web cams, giving us access to the temple complex for three days. Once inside, we drove for about five minutes and disembarked from the van to be surrounded by dozens of children trying to sell us souvenirs of one sort or another. Whilst they were obviously poor, it has to be said that they all looked well fed, well clothed and tolerably clean. |
The aim of the exercise was to climb Bakheng Mountain, one of the few hills in the area, in order to see the sunset over the temple.
The crowds were large, the hill was steep and Heng set a cracking pace. About 30 minutes walking got us to the top of the hill, after which five sets of terrifyingly steep steps got us onto the upper level of an ancient structure. Each step had a rise of about 15 inches and a tread depth of only 3. Without the aid of handrails, it was a difficult task.
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Up there, we joined hundreds of others, all watching the sun vanish behind the clouds, leaving a minimal amount of sunset. We could have gone most of the way by elephant but that would have been cheating. Alternatively, we could have risen to great heights in a tethered balloon and watched from there.
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The elephants looked great fun - there were even three of them arriving at once - just like London buses. Unfortunately, my photo of them was too poor to use. We all staggered back down the hill - easier going down than up because the gradient was in our favour and the temperature had dropped considerably.
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The van then drove us straight to a restaurant, not necessarily a good idea as we were somewhat grubby after our exertions. The set menu was excellent and was washed down with gallons of bottled water and a few bottles of the local, Angkor, beer. We then went home for an early night. |
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