Angor Wat, Cambodia

DJ Camera and the manager of the Noura Motel were kind enough to set me up with transport to and lodging at Siem Riep, a few hours north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. So, early the next morning I was picked up in an overcrowded van and made my way to one of the most beautiful places I had ever been to.

The way to Siem Riep is gorgeous and at times difficult. There are valleys of deep green with scattered bodies of water that are no deeper than a glorified puddle. Water buffalo and other manner of livestock graze, drink, or block the road. Then there is the ever present presence of extreme poverty; worn bare feet walking in the dust on the side of the road, shanty towns made largely of tin and blue tarps. Emaciated dogs darted into the road every so often.

Still, I was thankful that the trip did not take so many hours as the bus trips I had made in recent weeks as I had been jammed into seat that would not have enough leg room for a small child and the air vent was apparently just for show.

The van arrived at a dirty but quiet bus station in Siem Riep sometime around noon. The town seemed a good deal smaller than Phnom Penh, but still it was overwhelming to be hit by the barrage of hawkers and tuk-tuk drivers.

This time, it had all been planned in advance. A squat man, similar in features to DJ Camera but a good deal younger and less enthusiastic, approached me from the shade of his cart.

“Thomas?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Ok, I take you to the hotel.”

We drove through the streets and it became apparent that I was a long way from Phnom Penh economically, if not distance-wise. It looked -how do I say this without coming of as insulting or belittling- bland. To be honest, I appreciated bland. The level of poverty was nowhere near as apparent. The landscape was not as impressive and rough as Phnom Penh, but it maintained the sort of charm that comes with a small town in New Hampshire, or Vermont. It had that feel that true, it wasn’t polished, but nor was it rough by any means. It was worn but comfortable.

The hotel I stayed at was the nicest place I stayed throughout the entire trip in that it was a characterless, uniform hotel that I have stayed in dozens of times before. There was no dirt, no grime, no prostitutes and no beggars meandering around. There was a little restaurant that served mediocre food, a small in-ground pool that I meant to use but never got around to it, and an actual reception desk. My room was large and unassuming. Further, the manager at Noura had gotten me a good deal and I was paying only $25.

Truth is I didn’t know very much about Angkor Wat. It was not the purpose of my going to Siem Riep. I went to Siem Riep because a lady in Vietnam told me that I didn’t want to spend too much time in Phnom Penh and that I might become bored or dead. So, when DJ Camera suggested it and mentioned Angkor Wat, I figured I should go.

Sometimes in travel, everything just works out.

My tuk-tuk driver drove me a handful of kilometers outside of the city. We passed what seemed to be a university and came to forested land. At a kind of toll booth I spent a good $30 on an entrance ticket to Angkor Wat. We then followed the narrow roads that wound around the edge of a forest. It was here, at the edge of the jungle that I saw what might rank as one of the highlights of the entire trip: wild monkeys!!

I saw wild monkeys!

I almost flipped the tuk-tuk whipping around to see them sitting there. I was hoping they might do something funny like steal somebody’s glasses, hell, I would probably laugh if they stole my camera, but they just sat there eating. Still, totally awesome.

The complex of Angkor Wat is massive. It sits behind a moat and is surrounded by jungle. Outside are throngs of people: vendors, beggars, scammers, tourists. My driver parked his tuk-tuk amongst hundreds of others, warned me not to buy anything and soon I was off.

I didn’t know much about Angkor Wat and still, this remains the same. I could include some facts here but that would all come from Wikipedia, and what is the sense in that? The important things:

-It is the largest religious building in the world.

-Its grounds are expansive.

-It is still a place held sacred by monks who make regular pilgrimage.

This is what I saw:

I sat for a while on a stone wall overlooking the structures across the moat taking photos. Aesthetically, if Angkor Wat has a theme it is contrast. Ancient stones sit atop deep green grass with patches of burnt dirt. All of this is reflected in the greenish waters of the moat.

I spoke for a time with a Khmer man. He asked if I spoke Khmer and I told him that I didn’t. He asked if I spoke French and for a time we spoke in broken French. The man was this warm, timid, meek character. He asked why I was here, where I had been, and then if I could give him any money. I gave him what I could, which was admittedly not very much, but he let me take his photo.

Across the moat is a photographer’s haven. The very stone these massive buildings were made from puts focus on their age. The darkness adds to shadow and gives everything this almost mystical quality. On the foot path, green grass pokes out.

There is a pond some ways into the complex. On one side is a kind of bazar populated by over-aggressive vendors vending overpriced merchandise. If you refuse to buy a painting they will try to sell you a Pepsi.

A canoe sat on the shore, tied to a kind of palm. About the pond nude children ran about as their parents begged the hundreds of visitors for change. A horse in elegant and festive dressings stood tied to a post. An Indian woman crossed in front of all of this and the crumbling buildings in the distance. She was dressed in a flowing gown of bright colors that contrasted with her skin, and for a minute I forgot what country I was supposed to be in.

Inside the main building are both empty, forsaken corridors that are empty and dark save echoes from afar and light from some stone cut window, and courtyards filled beyond capacity. Across, a group of children dressed in shiny soccer uniforms of every color of the rainbow pose for photos against the dark stone and shadows. The flow stops as people photograph them. The occasional lone child, dressed in red or blue darts around a corner or is stopped for a photograph. Then, a man asks for a donation for the orphans- smartest scam ever.

In the main courtyard, a line stretches almost full-circle around a great tower. Visitors climb to the top and then crawl down a set of metal and wooden stairs that make for better chances of survival than the crumbled steps beneath them; still, some are going down on their ass.

I do nothing but wander and sweat and click the shutter of my camera and dread the day I have to go through all of these images. I wander to every corner of the obvious compound and marvel at the age of the place. It is that nice sort of attraction that does its job by making you feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Every now and again obvious bullet holes dimple the stone, a product Cambodia’s past and present conflicts with Thailand.

The last photo I make is of a young monk in bright orange robes standing against stone carvings. I count my blessings and leave.

In the hotel I watch, of all things, the Red Sox because NESN is playing on Cambodian TV. I also become aware that I forgot to close my window and that there were now hundreds of bugs flying around.

The next day I went to Thailand.


**For more photos go here