Angkor Wat

The town of Siem Reap in Cambodia is famous the world over, for it is here that the magnificent ruins of Angkor Wat are situated. Like Machu Pichu in Peru, Angkor Wat features of many people’s once in a lifetime type holidays. Not everybody knows about their history, but the majority know these were the temples that Lara Croft fell into in the beginning of Tomb Raider. Unlike Angelina Jolie I am not staying at the $300+per night Raffles hotel, but I do have a bunk bed in a hostel on the road to the temples.

Angkor Wat is the name of one of the temples here, but there are many more and they are spread over vast distances. Unlike Machu Pichu or the Taj Mahal, or the Pyramids it is not possible to walk between the temples. That was a major surprise and setback for me. The main temples are on two overlapping routes, the mini circuit which is 15km long and the grand circuit which is around 35km long. Plus the temple complexes are huge, once you arrive at the entrance you have at least 1 hours exploring / scrambling / climbing to the top before you reach the other side. Factor in the heat and humidity and you can see why walking is not an option. Most people hire tuk tuks, but at a cost of $15 for the mini circuit only, it is not for the budget conscious. I went for the eco / charity / budget option. My hostel rented out White Bicycles, these are charity bikes costing $2 per day, $1.5 goes directly to the charity. They are not in the greatest of shape. No gears or suspension and not much in the way of brakes. This was my vehicle of choice. I decided to do the grand circuit first – then if it nearly killed me I could hire a tuk-tuk for the smaller circuit. I cycled the 5km to the ticket office the evening before. The tickets are embossed with your photo, so there can be no passing on of tickets and were good value at $40 for three days (especially when you hear about how much everything else costs in Cambodia). You get take rest days too, so long as you complete your three visits within a week. Because I got my ticket at 5pm they left me in for a free couple of hours. I cycled another 4 km to get to the temple of Angkor Wat. This is supposed to be the amazing one, the wow factor personified and .... I was disappointed.

To be fair, there was scaffolding and green netting blocking the view. Once I had walked the gateway into the main complex, the wonder of the structure struck me and I spent the last remaining light exploring. The next morning I got up at 4.45am (yes) and cycled in the dark to get to the temples before sunrise. Everyone goes to Angkor Wat for sunrise, whilst I went in the opposite direction. It was a wise decision. At the first three temples I visited, there was only one other family there. I stopped for a well earned breakfast at 7am and then continued by cycling and exploring. By midday I had completed the grand circuit. I was feeling a little templed out so I called it quits for the day and went to eat the largest pizza ever in town. The next day , I took as a rest day but surprisingly, I did not ache. Then it was up at 5am again to get on my bike. I decided to follow the crowds and headed to Angkor Wat for sunrise. There was no sunrise, just the sky getting lighter and I hated being surrounded by hundreds of people so I dashed off as quick as my little legs could peddle to try and outrun the crowds. It was an exhausting day but so rewarding. I took a couple of hours off in the afternoon to rest and shower before heading back in for the afternoon.The temples were part of royal city states and were built between 900 and 1300 and were all originally hindu temples. The Khmer civilization was advance and in the 13th century there were over 1 million people living in the City of Angkor, whilst at the same time London housed 50,000 people. Angkor continued to be the capital until 1500 when the royal court moved to Phnom Penh. The buildings started to fall into disrepair and be reclaimed by the jungle. The country had by this time converted to Buddhism but they did not destroy the temples, the simply sat a statue of Buddha and the top of each tower. A modern day monastery is situated next door to Angkor Wat and monks can always be spotted in and around Angkor.

When I went back in the afternoon, I was on one of the less used paths when a monk crossed my path. He started speaking to me and was obviously enjoying saying “lovely jubbly” to me alot. He then asked if I would like to see the monastery! I had to walk in front of him on the public path so no one would think he was chatting to me but when we got into the monastery grounds, then he became very talkative. He explained that the monastery take as many children in as they can and educate them in English and Khmer. He showed me the classroom and the temple where the Buddha was. He explained some of the history of Buddhism and how it was nearly destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and how the war affected the local population. He was so informative, spoke really good English and not once did he ask for, or hint at, a donation, which here is practically unheard of. I can’t believe I got a tour of the monastery by a monk! These things do not happen if you are travelling with other people. (I did put some money in the donation box, in front of Buddha. Every Buddha has one, no matter how remote he may be). My afternoon was made complete by being able to climb to the top of Angkor Wat’s central tower. I was one of the last up before they closed and I was able to linger longer waiting for them to check nobody was hiding in the corners. By the time I made it home (in the dark again) I was shattered and ready for an ice-cold beer, but what a fantastic couple of days it had been.