Amazing Angkor
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Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
I'm not going to bore you by going on and on about how amazing the temples at Angkor are - we spent the past four days going there for sunrise by bike or sunset by tuk-tuk and we still didn't see everything. We did get to see our favourite stuff a few times though, Angkor Wat itself and the Bayom with its massive carved faces staring serenely in all directions.
I suspect that we are still seeing some of the worst of Cambodia. Obviously the border crossing was pretty bad, but they're just touts and so you hope that getting out of the touristy areas will lead to meeting the more 'real' Cambodians (man) whom you might even be able to chat to and let your guard down a bit. Here in Siem Reap though it's all tourism, tuktuk drivers everywhere, people selling books, young children selling postcards and begging, amputees and land mine victims trying to get by on tourist sympathy or some by selling books to the tourists, restaurant touts at every corner - it can get a bit exhausting. Also, the heat is unbelievable. Cycling in the dark to Angkor at 4.15am is great fun, and the sunrise of course a great reward for dragging our arses out of bed, but come 6.30am it's already starting to heat up, and by 11am it's unbearable, especially on the bike. Siem Reap's not that big a place, but tourism is booming and there's loads of construction of new hotels. There's lots of high end tourism here, with huge air-con tour buses ferrying big groups about the place, high-end carvings and souvenirs for sale, posh restaurants and spas and the ubiquitous massage parlours everywhere. We haven't been able to sample the nightlife yet with our early starts, but the bars are still open when we're heading to the temples. We've had some bizarre early morning meetings with a couple of pissed lads just coming home as we're leaving! So it's all a bit artificial and I'm looking forward to getting to somewhere a bit less touristy. Phnom Penh is the next stop, probably tomorrow morning, and I'm sure that'll be no different - it's tough but we'll soldier on!
Oh, on a more positive note, there is a lot of NGO activity here in a variety of areas and today we visited Handicap International's rehab centre for amputees, mostly landmine victims, where they could come for free and get a full cycle of treatment, including social and economic evaluations, new prostheses, physio, training, accommodation and food, with full after-care provided in their community. Quite similar to what goes on in the Southern General in Glasgow where Jenny has had one of her psychology placements. We'll probably go and check out one or two places in Phnom Penh as well when we get there...
