Bringing in 2006 in Siem Reap
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2005
1
35
45
Trip End
Mar 30, 2006
Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Sunday, January 1, 2006
It turned out that the only touristy thing to do in Battambang was to take a moto ride out to sites in the surrounding countryside, and the moto drivers of Battambang had strict turf rules for recruiting riders (thus the incentive to get travelers into specific hotels)
01 - Khmer Rouge Killing Site
. Though we usually prefer to just observe normal life than visit tourist attractions, in the end, as the cost of trips fell lower and lower, we agreed to do a short trip to one site - a hill with old Buddhist temples and some gruesome Khmer Rouge history (story in the photos...). It was a nice enough afternoon, the best part being weaving through narrow countryside roads, passing by rice paddies in harvest and ox-carts filled with hay and smiling kids. The everyday Khmers are very welcoming and their countryside is beautiful. Other than that, we just generally spent our time in Battambang by the lazy riverside, walking along its basic promenade and eating with locals at a fun night market. From Battambang we traveled by bus to the tourist mecca of Siem Reap, home base for visits to the temples of Angkor. The area around Siem Reap was the capital of the 9th to the 12th century Khmer Empire and represents the pinnacle of the civilization's architecture and art. During this golden age, the area contained more than a million people, at a time when the population of Dark Age European cities numbered in the thousands. The temples of Angkor (often just referred to as "Angkor Wat," the most famous of the group) are to Southeast Asia what Machhu Piccu is to South America and the pyramids are to Egypt. So, we joined the masses for a look.
We arrived in Siem Reap the afternoon of December 30th, checked into a guesthouse and tackled the issue of how long to spend at the Angkor sites. The temples are spread out over a huge area and thus tourists are given the option of buying one-, three- or seven-day passes. Unfortunately, to take advantage of the multi-day rates, you have to purchase those passes at the outset (not add on later, etc.)
02 - Cute Kids
. We had been told by many travelers that one day did absolutely no justice to the area, but we decided to go that route anyway due to the combination of high cost, a desire to move on to Laos soon and the recognition that we probably didn't have the stamina or interest for more than one day of temple ruins anyway. In addition, the one-day pass actually allowed us to start at 4:45pm the "previous" day, so, that afternoon, we decided to join the masses for a steep climb up to some hill-top ruins. Though the place was a mob scene, we enjoyed the view of the sun setting behind the Cambodian countryside and a nearby lake. The next day we were up and ready to go well before dawn. The sites are so spread out that walking is almost totally impractical and biking is a good option only if the sightseeing is spread out over a few days. Given we had only one day and wanted to do it right, we found a nice old guy with a rickshaw to take us around, and he was waiting for us at 5 a.m. sharp. Rather than write about the sites here, we'll include some stories in our photos. But, basically, other than a few stops to eat food we had brought along, we were exploring the temples/ruins from sunrise to sunset. It was tiring, but the site lived up to its reputation for being among the most fascinating ruins in the world. However, we found we had absolutely made the right choice in only spending one day there; we'll leave the three-day and week-long passes for those who have a special passion for architecture or history
03 - Jeff at Bayon
.Though we were exhausted by the time we got back to our room at about 6:30pm, the day wasn't over yet. It was New Year's Eve after all, and we were going to make it to midnight one way or another... We headed down to the center of Siem Reap where most of the Western restaurants and bars are located. We settled in at a street-side restaurant for dinner and a few Angkor Beers (what else would the national beer be called?) and spent a few hours watching the crowds grow. Once it got closer to midnight, some of the bigger bars on the street started trying to outdo each other with the power of their sound systems, which resulted in a pretty big street party forming between them all. It was a funny group - travelers of all types, from hippies, to teens with their parents to honeymooners, all dancing to music that was mainly from the early 90s (House of Pain, anyone?). And then there were the street kids. Cambodia is less poor than we expected it to be, but the poor and/or opportunistic are still pretty visible in touristy areas, Siem Reap having the most pronounced presence. Its more touristed areas are always filled with kids sent out to beg, and they were out late on New Year's Eve. But being kids, they gave up begging for fun pretty fast. All sorts of them joined in the street party - one memorable kid wearing a Mardi Gras-esque mask spent most of the night on a big English guy's shoulders
04 - The Faces of Bayon
. Others were getting swung around in circles or just dancing where they could find room. It was fun, though sad to consider how little fun the kids usually have... We made it till about 12:30 and then fell into bed.After spending a day recuperating, we started a two-day round-about journey to Laos. First leg was a bus trip southeast to the town of Kampong Cham, a nice little place that gets few tourists. We rented bikes for the afternoon and ended up in a friendly, predominantly Muslim area (unexpected, in this predominantly Buddhist country) along the riverside (yet another town on the Mekong River). We moved on the next day, and spent all day following the river north up to the town of Stung Treng, the nearest town to an obscure border post between Cambodia and Laos. From there we arranged a boat up to the border for a next day, but we'll save that story for another entry.
