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A VISIT TO ANGKOR
And more besides

It was the end of the year. I was busy fussing around in order to finish work in time to prepare myself for my holidays. My destination, a city which has had a part of the name Siam but is not in Thailand - Siam Reap in Cambodia. When friends found out I would go to see the great Angkor, I had several warnings such as; "Beware of Khmer ghosts. They are everywhere!". Or "Be careful of Khmer black magic".

That was really funny because none of the guidebooks mentioned that. Maybe it was just Thai superstition. After all, if there are really ghosts or spells in Cambodia, that wouldn't be any reason to stop me to going, because the spirits don't really speak the same language as me, and they would be to shy to communicate with a foreigner…

I think.

According to my Angkor Wat-Angkor Thom guidebook, the name Siam Reap has two separate meanings. The first refers to a victory of the Khmer over the Siamese; the historians assure us it was in the middle of Ayudhaya Era (1488-1492).Wheras the second means a city that was created by the Siamese, because in the reign of Rama III of the Rattanakosin Era, it was in fact a Siamese colony. What came to my mind was that there would probably be many Thai people who had migrated and lived there in the past, so much so that some of the people would look just like Thais. I'm a perfect example, since I had a hard time saying that I was a Thai. They gave me real nasty looks because I was hanging out with foreigners, thinking "I had forgotten where I'd come from".

So, yes, I could pass for a real Khmer too!

But when it came to money, things changed immediately. No riel, no baht! Only dollars, thank you!

I've read lots of books about Angkor, so I was really excited to think I was actually going to see it, stone upon stone.

Oh dear! More haste less speed! You know what happened? Although I packed my rucksack and stormed out to go and see Angkor - I missed my train!

Fortunately, my friends took me to Lampang to catch the train there. I was thinking, "Oh my! What a way to begin a journey. Is it going to be all like this?"

Yes, pretty well, it was at first. The train I did manage to catch in Lampang arrived in Bangkok late, so that the tickets friends had bought me for Aranyaprathet were useless. But then after six hours in a bus and another three in a taxi from Poypet to Siam Reap (I missed the last bus …again), and listening to Khmer rock and hip hop during the transport, I began to relax, feel in holiday mood, partly because of the songs but also because I really was in Cambodia now, even if the road trip was like a journey on Mars instead of here on earth.

Once in Siam Riap, and squeezed into a local taxi, I forgot all the chaos of the trip, the cool breeze and the stunning colonial buildings mesmerizing me. The street was full of tuk tuk drivers, who were more than friendly enough to take us - me and my friend - to a bar, only a few steps from our guesthouse, when they spotted us wandering around lost. And by 9 pm, we were starving, many restaurants seeming to be fully booked, because of the New Year Eve Celebration. We decided to hop into a Mexican restaurant that provided a one dollar frozen margarita promotion and yummy burritos …. and then went to bed early, for we had a long day ahead. We planned to buy a three-day entry pass for Angkor. The first day was to be at Kbal Spean, which has a waterfall full of carved stones, far out of the Angkor area. Then we were going to see the sunset at Banteay Srei, the pink sandstone temple some way to the east of Angkor Thom.

And that's what we did, but the plans of mice and men - halfway to Kbal Spean both of us were covered with orange dirt…and looked ridiculously like walking sandstone sculptures. The waterfall though was quite amazing, the ancient Khmer putting a lot of effort into making these wonderful sculptures. Then, we hopped on a tuk-tuk and headed to Banteay Srei to see the sunset.

It was pretty late when we arrived there, the weather not clear enough to see the sunset. The brief history of Banteay Srei is that king Yajnavarah founded this temple for the Lord Shiva in 967. It was discovered in 1914 and restoration was finished in 1936 through the process of anastylosis. It was quite late, getting on for site-closing time, and anyone looking on would have seen two orange-colored people strolling past detailed pink sandstone bas-reliefs, among clean Chinese tourists that stopped in every spot to take photos… it was really outstanding for our tuk tuk driver to distinguish us in this way. Even though we missed the sunset at Banteay Srei, we didn't hesitate to compensate ourselves by having a sunset drink on the way back to the guesthouse.

Finally, we found a Khmer restaurant in town which was not so busy; it was in the Psar Char area where all the tourists hang out. We ordered Amock fish, Cambodian fish curry and stir-fried eggplants with rice, and with a taste not unlike that of Thai food - except that as a Thai, I can't do without chilies. But they're used to us Thais in Cambodia, so they made soy sauce with garlic, limejuice, and chilies for me, no extra charge. After dinner, we tried to find a bar called the FCC (Foreign Correspondent Club), but unfortunately, it was too busy, so we decided to try the Warehouse bar in the same area as the Khmer restaurant that we dined in.

Since we'd spent too much money on transport the previous day, on our second morning we hired bicycles and started off at 5.30 a.m. to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. I had to keep reminding myself that we drive on the right side here. It was only 20 minutes' ride to Angkor, the trail was really nice with big trees along both sides, not so many cars or tuk tuk, cool breezes and fresh air so that I started my day enthusiastically. At Angkor Wat, there were plenty of people setting their cameras to catch the sunrise but unfortunately - no visible sunrise: clouds! So we decided to come back the third day to see the bas-reliefs, the Gopuras along the terrace. By this time, nature always asserting itself, our stomachs were really empty. I found a baguette with grilled pork at the kiosk really interesting, but there were too many people queuing up, so we chose a restaurant near by which was not much good.

We rode back to the guesthouse since we had to draw money from the ATM. We wanted to do Angkor Thom in the afternoon, but since it was partially closed for restoration, we went instead to the Bayon, which is terrific. Everywhere we walked it seemed there were many eyes staring at us, not those of humans but huge sculptures of the Khmer kings' faces. Walking along the Gopuras was a great idea, the bas-relief illustrating Khmer history; the kings' processions with Thai and Chinese soldiers to fight against Chams, the everyday life of the common people, and most wonderful of all the Apsaras on the pillars or the walls. The best time of all for me was looking at the beauty contest of Apsaras along the Elephant Terrace. It looked like a labyrinthine gallery, full of characters. That was it then till sunset, when we headed back to the walking street for the count-down party at Psa Char. That's right - it was the evening of 31st December.

A word of advice, folks. Avoid Khmer drinks.

Things went pretty crazy the last evening of the year, and the following morning I had a hard time figuring out what had happened. There'd been a jug of Maekhong, hadn't there? - and some Red Bull? - and…

One thing I was sure of on New Year morning. My head was really heavy, and my body urgently needed rehydration. I also remembered that we'd planned to go back to a school I'd seen near Angkor Wat.

The teacher there was really happy to see us. All the kids were really poor, and the teacher not only had to teach them but also provide necessities like - well, food. We donated some books, notebooks and stationery to the school plus some money. Having said goodbye, we happily walked to look at Angkor Wat, hangovers forgotten, tagging along behind a group whose guide was explaining about Angkor Wat's history - how it was dedicated to Vishnu etc., and how each panel of the reliefs gave different mythological accounts, from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, mainly. But what most impressed me was the beauty of the Apsaras - about 1,600 to 1,700 them. One in particular, smiling widely, showing her teeth, attracted everyone's attention. But I couldn't help feeling that we women never change. There they were from almost a thousand years ago, with their magnificent clothes and hairstyles, as if on the catwalk - stunning is the only word suitable.

Such a colossal monument to Khmer greatness, we felt on leaving Angkor, and how painful the recent history has been for the people. The evidence of that brutal period only thirty years back is still in the people's eyes when they tell you about it.

Getting There? Daily buses and trains are available; Chiang Mai - Bangkok - Aranyaprathet District - Poypet - Siem Reap.

Or take the Chiang Mai - Siem Reap flight by Bangkok Airways, available on Thursday and Saturday.

Text & Images: Anne