Lost And Found At Angkor Wat

The bus ride to Siem Reap was pleasant enough, as bus rides go. The scenery was green the whole way. We passed through small towns, bigger towns, past villages with stilt houses, and lots of farm land. The roads were good, apart from the one roundabout in a town with a pot hole almost big enough to park the bus in.

Our hotel had sent a tuk tuk to meet us at the bus station, which was handy. The hotel was fine, and after checking in and a quick shower we had a swim in the pool. Unfortunately the water was a bit too warm to be refreshing. Later on we wandered into town to get dinner, which, believe it or not, turned out to be in a Mexican restaurant. We also saw Italian, Greek, and Belgian restaurants.

The same tuk tuk driver was waiting for us at 0430 the next morning to take us to Angkor Wat in time for the sunrise. Kiwi was at Angkor Wat 10 years ago and quite a lot has changed, including the big ticket complex they have built. Inside, it was like queuing at immigration at an airport. Having paid for our tickets (one day US$37, three day US$62, that has also changed since 2009) and had our photo taken to be printed onto our tickets, we rejoined our tuk tuk and continued along the road.

We had to go through a checkpoint where they checked our tickets. Once on the site we found a place to watch the sunrise, but after a few minutes Kraut wandered into the temple grounds to see what was going on in there. Kiwi stayed outside and enjoyed the sunrise and ate some of the boxed breakfast the hotel gave us.

After reuniting inside we wandered around the large park-like surroundings, watched the monkeys, and poked around inside the large stone building and soaked up the feeling of being in an old place. It is only about 1,000 years old, but still much older than anything in New Zealand. Angkor Wat is the main temple, and first one you see on the approach.

From there we wandered out to the tuk tuk, where Kraut realised she had lost her ticket. That meant she would need another one. But we spoke to the security guy, who talked into his walkie-talkie. A few minutes later another guy showed up with Kraut’s ticket which had been found, phew! However, Kiwi had lost his hat somewhere along the way. We guess a lucky monkey has it now.

The whole site, 400km² is officially called Angkor, with Ankor Wat being the most famous of the many temples. The construction dates of the various temples and other buildings, not to mention the sophisticated water delivery systems, vary from the 9th to the 15th centuries.

Our next stop was Bayon Temple, famous for the large faces on its towers. It was also here that Kiwi noticed another change, Chinese tourists (43% of visitors in 2017). This lot were being typical of large Chinese tour groups; loud, disrespectful, pushy, and generally obnoxious. That might sound racist, but we have the seen the same behaviour from Chinese groups since Taiwan.

There was a woman posing for photos, with a friend either side holding her scarf out and releasing it as the shutter was pressed. This meant no-one else could move past them, but worse was the way in which this woman was flashing her leg almost up to her lady bits. The rules state that women must have clothing to below the knees and over the shoulders (men can wear pretty much anything). Kiwi stood between the phone (not a camera) and the woman and told them off for such disrespect. The leg flashing stopped after that. A small, but satisfying victory. A little further on there were more Chinese posing, and showing shoulders. A similar scene ensued, but this time with support from another tourist. Kiwi can be that guy, but seriously, people need to show respect. They should also not be so bloody loud. Not far away a security guy was seen trying to enforce the rules with another group of Chinese.

Our driver dropped us at one entrance, and we walked through to the other side where we found him relaxing in the shade (as you do). From there we went to the Ta Prohm temple, where they shot some scenes for a movie some years ago. Here we followed the same procedure, dropped at one side, walk through to be picked up. Ta Prohm is the temple being held together by trees, though there was work going on, we guessed of a restoration nature. It is quite a sight, the trees are tall and beautiful, and reminded us of what will happen to all our cities once humans have died out. At one point there was a queue to take selfies by one of the trees. A security guy showed up and hurried things along, now we could take photos of the tree, not of ourselves, or others, in front of said tree. We thanked the security guy on the way past.

When Kiwi was here last, he had a tuk tuk driver who took him wherever. This time we booked the tuk tuk through the hotel, unaware it involved a set route and stops. But it was fine, we had close to eight hours in baking heat wandering around the remains of old temples, and their Hindu and Buddhist iconography. It was fun, but tiring. And expensive, with the tuk tuk included the day cost us almost US$100.

We were in Cambodia in the low season, and there were a lot of people wandering around the temples. We hate to think what it is like in high season. In 2017 over 2,000,000 people visited Angkor Wat. Like so many other places, a large number of visitors seem more interested in finding the perfect place to take the perfect selfie than in the place itself. Kraut noticed one woman meditating, but then noticed the boyfriend taking photos. It was just another pose.

Apparently tourism is doing little damage, with boardwalks and wooden stairs to protect the original structures. Most of the damage to the temples was done by art thieves coming over the border from Thailand in the ’80s and ’90s . Even the fighting between the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese only left a few bullet holes. Disappointingly, there was no sign of Lara Croft. We guess she would be in breach of the dress code.

Once back at the hotel the pool was put to use once again. It was nice after such exertion to relax by the pool with a book.

Sunday was a day off. We did manage to make it into town to have lunch and do a few administrative tasks. We booked our bus tickets for the next day, bought a new hat for Kiwi, Kiwi tried to convince Kraut to buy one too but apparently it didn’t fit with her “style”. At least it fit her, she keeps complaining about having a big head and the hats not fitting. Later on in the day Kiwi saw Kraut wearing it. We had lunch on a long standing Siem Reap landmark; the so-called “Pub Street”, which is exactly what it sounds like. Here a glass of draught beer can be bought for US$0.50. We ate bad pizza. How they could get pizza so wrong is a mystery, but we wouldn’t go back.

So all in all Siem Reap is worth a visit. 2,000,000 other tourists can’t be wrong, can they? The city itself isn’t very exciting, but the locals certainly know how to take advantage of their local tourist attraction, whether it be the persistent tuk tuk drivers who don’t understand why anyone would walk, or the owners of the many bars, restaurants and hotels catering to the foreign invaders (and over charging them in the process). Our hotel was a 15 to 20 minute walk from the city centre and so we easily avoided the hustle and bustle.

Thanks to everyone who is looking at our website. You can follow us on Instagram too.

If anyone has any questions about travelling in Taiwan, Vietnam, or Cambodia, feel free to contact us at thekiwiandthekraut@gmail.com