Siem Reap, Cambodia / The Temples of Angkor
Trip Start
Oct 12, 2006
1
16
22
Trip End
Oct 31, 2006
Where I stayed
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Siem Reap, Cambodia / The Temples of Angkor
Dear Readers:
Departure this morning from Saigon is at the civilized hour of 9:00am. The flight is treated as a domestic flight, even though it is to Cambodia, and we are strictly limited to 20 kilos of luggage per person. Each of us checks in individually, and those who are over limit are required to pay $3 per kilo. One client gets dinged $75 and is most unhappy. To make matters worse, most everyone else is allowed to waltz through the security clearance process with two carry-on's, and he alone is singled out and required to check his second piece.
I can understand his feelings of persecution, but there is really nothing to be done except to urge compliance
01 Vietnam Protesters
. I remind him it is still a Communist country, and they don't deal well with people getting mad at them. Having harsh words is certainly not an effective conflict resolution technique here - as I learned during my first tour several years ago when I thought I could demand something be done the way I wanted it to be done with a general manager of our Saigon hotel. Nothing doing!The flight goes quickly (about an hour in a prop plane). We meet our very sweet local guide at the airport, and he turns out to be a real comedian - frequently referring to us as "gentle ladies." The first few times get uproarious laughter, but after a while it starts to grate, and soon after lunch we tell him to stop it!
We check in at the historic Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, and everyone is in 7th Heaven. There are photographs in the "Celebrity Bar" of Jackie O and Sommerset Maugham, who also have stayed here. The pool is absolutely delightful. We wrench ourselves away from the hotel in order to have our first visit to one of these amazing artifacts of the Khmer Civilization.
We drive past Angkor Wat because it is the most famous and we will save it for tomorrow
02 Angkor Wat Moat
. The focus of our sightseeing today is on Angkor Thom, a very large temple complex that we enter by the South Gate over a causeway lined by colossal statues of 108 mythical beings, 54 on each side. The causeway symbolizes a "rainbow bridge," a link between the mundane world of humans and the sacred world of the gods.It is beastly hot, as it has been everywhere, but the thermostat has been cranked up a degree or two here in Cambodia. Because of the narrow gates, our transportation for this portion of the tour is aboard small open-air trolleys powered by batteries, so we're really feeling the heat. We soldier on, however, excited to be amidst some of the world's most astonishing architectural treasures. Amazing details remain carved in stones that were erected one thousand years ago!
We retreat to our air-conditioned coach at the end of this tour, and drive to Bahkeng Mountain, hiking up at 5:00pm to watch the sunset over Angkor Wat (along with thousands of other tourists and monks). I spend more time photographing the diversity of faces staring into the beautiful sunset light than I do anything else.
Dinner tonight is a forgettable buffet at a restaurant that also features a performance of classic Cambodian dancing. We are in an air-conditioned room quite far from the performance space, and it is obvious that we are eager to eat and run back to our fabulous hotel.
After a dip in the pool several clients visit the one small gay bar in Siem Reap, the Linga Bar. I stay in my room and write out the awards for tomorrow night's farewell festivities.
Big hugs,
Dan
