New Adventures In Backpacking

Siem Reap is the man made town built to support the mass flow of tourists who come to Cambodia to visit the world famous Angkor Wat. It is safe to assume for the majority of tourists Siem Reap is their introduction to Cambodia, which really is a shame because it is by no means a fair reflection of this wonderful country.

The town flows with up-market hotels, a casino, and shopping malls. I’d liken it to the Costa Del Sol of Asia. In the heart of the tourist hub is the awful named Pub Street. As the name suggests it is full of bars, all blasting out loud music over the top of each other and, like most places I have been to in Asia this year, full of pubs with barely anyone in them. I wonder how these bars make any money and suspect they don’t. You have to wait until very late at night when bars start closing and everyone piles into the remaining few open pubs before anything remotely resembling an atmosphere starts, although I suspect like most, watching ugly western men plying Cambodian hookers with drink is not my first choice of night time entertainment.

Unlike my two nights in Siem Reap, my day at Angkor Wat will remain firmly entrenched in my memory. My second wonder of the world on this trip, it really had a lot to live up to after my amazing few days at the Taj Mahal. I’m pleased to report it really delivered. Angkor is the heart and soul of Cambodia and quite rightly a great source of pride for all Khmers.

I won’t bore you with all the facts and figures about the temples. I’ll let my pictures do the talking. It really was like being in my own version of an Indiana Jones movie. It is just jaw droppingly amazing and beyond my comprehension how something so incredibly complex yet inspirational could have been constructed as far back as reportedly the 13th century.

I should stress how big the actual site of Angkor is and it should not be attempted to be viewed by foot. Most people rely on tourist bus tours and tuk tuk drivers to ferry them around the massive site. Vince and I decided to hire bicycles from Siem Reap, a mere 15km away, which turned out to be an inspired choice as it really was the perfect way to see Angkor—our only problem being the hordes of children selling food, water and terrible souvenirs. It’s hard to get annoyed with them as they are only doing what their parents feel they need to do to help their families survive. Their grasp of English is very impressive and they are aggressive little sales people. One girl, after me informing her that I had no girlfriend to give her incredibly ugly $1 bracelets to, told me ‘You know why you have no girlfriend? Because you are cheap man.’ An excellent judge of character as well so it seems!

Believe it or not even the stunning temples may not be my overriding memory of my day at Angkor Wat. We stopped of for a bit of lunch and a place to hide from the unforgiving sun and got talking to one of the local waitresses who I estimated as being anything from sixteen to eighteen. After a tasty lunch we took to lying in the hammocks provided to allow our food to digest before getting back on the road, when the waitress approached us with an English textbook and asked could we help her learn. Of course we were happy to oblige even though it was the most basic of stuff like ‘Hello’ and ‘what is your name.’ After about 30 minutes of this which was actually good fun and something I have done before, the girl informs me that she has to go home now and opens up the back of her text book and leaves it in front of me for me to see. Turns out her English was better than she let on.

I didn’t. Honest.

We stayed on the site right until closing time, keen to take pictures of the sun going down over this magnificent landmark. It led to us cycling home through the forest in the complete dark. Peddling as fast as we could, unsure of what direction we were heading in, we caught up with a tuk tuk. If we were greyhounds, then this was our hare. After a few months of inactivity it was extremely hard work peddling as fast as I could to keep up. Especially as he was more than keen to earn his money from his passengers and went home via a route that took us 30 minutes more than our journey there.

As we approached the city and light returned we ditched our guiding light and peddled as hard as we could to arrive back at the bike shop ensuring we reached it before closing time. More important still was getting Vince’s passport, which was left as a deposit, to ensure we could leave the next day. Whizzing past tuk tuks, cars, cutting in and out of the traffic like we were in some sort of invisible force field, and reaching the shop three minutes before closing time was a wonderful way to end a memorable visit to one of the world’s greatest wonders.