Yesterday will have to go down as one of the most memorable days of our trip so far, every part of the day was utterly amazing and quite a few were utterly bizarre!
For once, the day started supper early with a 4:45 alarm, to get us into a hot air balloon to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately a cloud decided to drift right in front of the sun just as we got up but it was still amazing to see the temples shrouded in early morning mist and once again appreciate the scale of it and how it is surrounded by forest.
After a pretty dreadful breakfast we clambered into our air conditioned car – a novel experience after doing all other visits by bike – and set off to Banteay Srei … on the way we passed Pre Rup, another temple, and because there was no one there decided to have a look around there first. Having visited all other temples with at least a few other people milling around, wandering around this one all on our own was a fantastic experience. The temple is built of bricks which were covered with carved sandstone most of which has now fallen off. It is set up in a pyramid-like structure which means you can climb all the way up to the top and have this amazing view over the surrounding area. Without the sandstone I found its stark appearance really appealing.
Banteay Srei however was a totally different story – tiny in comparison to other temples, it makes up what it lacks in size with its ornate carvings. The bas-reliefs here are extremely deep, going 10cm into the stone in exquisite detail … reading over this I do sound a bit like a guide book, I do apologize but it really was rather special :-) The carved scenes are the usual Buddhist and Hindu myths featured in most of the temples but here, because they are so deep and the sandstone is pink (!!!! made for me clearly), they do look very different and come to life even more. Greg took some great detail pictures of things like individual toes, which you can also see below. What was upsetting was the amount of looting that had gone on, some even done by a French government officer, and how destructive it is. We saw one really detailed pediment in which the central figures head had been chopped of and is now no doubt gracing the mantle piece of some head honcho somewhere … all of a sudden I found myself supporting the Iranian approach of hacking off thieves hands.
From Banteay Srei we moved on to Kabal Spean, another 20 minute drive away in the mountains. This site is not a temple but a river with lingas (regular readers will remember that a linga is the male symbol of fertility … eager beavers might want to know that the female symbol of fertility is a box shape called a yoni) and bas-reliefs of Shiva and Vishnu and crocodiles and other mythological symbols carved into the river bed. Because it is still only the start of the rainy season, the river bed was quite dry but the hike up to the river – some of the hardest 1500m I have had to hike – was spectacular, leading us on a path through dense jungle, over boulders and giant tree routs, and we had been warned NOT to veer off the beaten path because of the continued risk of land mines.
Hot and sweaty, armed with our 4th 1.5litre bottle of water (and it was only 11am) we got back into the car (air con seemed like the best thing since sliced bread at this stage, although … after weeks of eating only somewhat soggy baguette (the French would be outraged), sliced bread sounds pretty nice) …er … anyway, where was I? Ahh yes, we got back into the car and drove off to Beng Melea, which one Cambodian guide had said was his favorite …and how right he was!!!! Totally off the beaten track, a good 1.5hours away from Siem Reap and expensive to get to, only few people make it out here but to me it was the highlight of our trip. The temple is in total disrepair because no restoration or jungle clearing has ever been undertaken, huge stone boulders are scattered everywhere and trees are growing out of the walls. There is no “visiting trail” through the temple like there are at the others so to explore it you hire a local guide and start climbing over stones and trees and crawling through caved in galleries … which was really fantastic and gave you totally new angles to explore things at. In some areas there are wooden gangways which were erected by a film team a few years ago when part of “Two Brothers” was filmed here (Raisig clan, this movie was made by the same director as “The Bear”, maybe we should have another crying session and watch this one when I am home in the summer?) Overall, this temple was by far the most amazing of the temples that we have visited.
A 1.5 hour car ride back threw us straight into our next adventure … the opening party of the Golden Banana’s Boutique Resort. Granted, the name is somewhat questionable but they do know how to party. The party started off quite sedately with some pretty amazing traditional Khmer dancing (our favorite Apsaras were out in full force), heated up with free booze, bar snacks and an Ibiza-style rave with a scientist-cum-DJ (weird right???) from Bangkok and culminating in a drag show, courtesy of the Siem Reapean lady-boys of the night. Seeing a Cambodia drag queen in a basque and bejeweled thong perform high kicks on a balcony to the sound of “And all that jazz” from Chicago has to be one of the more surreal memories of this trip …… oh and there was also a “lady” in a floor length gold lame dress giving her rendition of Beyonce’s “Listen” ….. bizarre does not even begin to describe the spectacle!
The day ended with far too many drinks in ZoneOne, a Siem Reap nightclub full of locals knocking back vodka and dancing to music that makes Eurotrash seem cultured … as some of you will know, I have never been one to turn my nose up to bad music (Aqua “Barbie Girl” anyone?) but this was BAD BAD BAD by even my standards …. so bad it was good again. We danced away for a few hours, including a few slow dance turns around the dancefloor to some Khmer power ballads but had to call it a night just before our tuc tuc turned into a pumpkin and got to bed at around midnight, very drunk and utterly exhausted by this day.
Anyway, I have gone on for ages and editor Greg will tell me off for forgetting all the rules of good journalism (not fair! – ed), but you have to admit … a day like this deserve a detailed blog, no??
Take care all of you
Love
C
For once, the day started supper early with a 4:45 alarm, to get us into a hot air balloon to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately a cloud decided to drift right in front of the sun just as we got up but it was still amazing to see the temples shrouded in early morning mist and once again appreciate the scale of it and how it is surrounded by forest.
After a pretty dreadful breakfast we clambered into our air conditioned car – a novel experience after doing all other visits by bike – and set off to Banteay Srei … on the way we passed Pre Rup, another temple, and because there was no one there decided to have a look around there first. Having visited all other temples with at least a few other people milling around, wandering around this one all on our own was a fantastic experience. The temple is built of bricks which were covered with carved sandstone most of which has now fallen off. It is set up in a pyramid-like structure which means you can climb all the way up to the top and have this amazing view over the surrounding area. Without the sandstone I found its stark appearance really appealing.
Banteay Srei however was a totally different story – tiny in comparison to other temples, it makes up what it lacks in size with its ornate carvings. The bas-reliefs here are extremely deep, going 10cm into the stone in exquisite detail … reading over this I do sound a bit like a guide book, I do apologize but it really was rather special :-) The carved scenes are the usual Buddhist and Hindu myths featured in most of the temples but here, because they are so deep and the sandstone is pink (!!!! made for me clearly), they do look very different and come to life even more. Greg took some great detail pictures of things like individual toes, which you can also see below. What was upsetting was the amount of looting that had gone on, some even done by a French government officer, and how destructive it is. We saw one really detailed pediment in which the central figures head had been chopped of and is now no doubt gracing the mantle piece of some head honcho somewhere … all of a sudden I found myself supporting the Iranian approach of hacking off thieves hands.
From Banteay Srei we moved on to Kabal Spean, another 20 minute drive away in the mountains. This site is not a temple but a river with lingas (regular readers will remember that a linga is the male symbol of fertility … eager beavers might want to know that the female symbol of fertility is a box shape called a yoni) and bas-reliefs of Shiva and Vishnu and crocodiles and other mythological symbols carved into the river bed. Because it is still only the start of the rainy season, the river bed was quite dry but the hike up to the river – some of the hardest 1500m I have had to hike – was spectacular, leading us on a path through dense jungle, over boulders and giant tree routs, and we had been warned NOT to veer off the beaten path because of the continued risk of land mines.
Hot and sweaty, armed with our 4th 1.5litre bottle of water (and it was only 11am) we got back into the car (air con seemed like the best thing since sliced bread at this stage, although … after weeks of eating only somewhat soggy baguette (the French would be outraged), sliced bread sounds pretty nice) …er … anyway, where was I? Ahh yes, we got back into the car and drove off to Beng Melea, which one Cambodian guide had said was his favorite …and how right he was!!!! Totally off the beaten track, a good 1.5hours away from Siem Reap and expensive to get to, only few people make it out here but to me it was the highlight of our trip. The temple is in total disrepair because no restoration or jungle clearing has ever been undertaken, huge stone boulders are scattered everywhere and trees are growing out of the walls. There is no “visiting trail” through the temple like there are at the others so to explore it you hire a local guide and start climbing over stones and trees and crawling through caved in galleries … which was really fantastic and gave you totally new angles to explore things at. In some areas there are wooden gangways which were erected by a film team a few years ago when part of “Two Brothers” was filmed here (Raisig clan, this movie was made by the same director as “The Bear”, maybe we should have another crying session and watch this one when I am home in the summer?) Overall, this temple was by far the most amazing of the temples that we have visited.
A 1.5 hour car ride back threw us straight into our next adventure … the opening party of the Golden Banana’s Boutique Resort. Granted, the name is somewhat questionable but they do know how to party. The party started off quite sedately with some pretty amazing traditional Khmer dancing (our favorite Apsaras were out in full force), heated up with free booze, bar snacks and an Ibiza-style rave with a scientist-cum-DJ (weird right???) from Bangkok and culminating in a drag show, courtesy of the Siem Reapean lady-boys of the night. Seeing a Cambodia drag queen in a basque and bejeweled thong perform high kicks on a balcony to the sound of “And all that jazz” from Chicago has to be one of the more surreal memories of this trip …… oh and there was also a “lady” in a floor length gold lame dress giving her rendition of Beyonce’s “Listen” ….. bizarre does not even begin to describe the spectacle!
The day ended with far too many drinks in ZoneOne, a Siem Reap nightclub full of locals knocking back vodka and dancing to music that makes Eurotrash seem cultured … as some of you will know, I have never been one to turn my nose up to bad music (Aqua “Barbie Girl” anyone?) but this was BAD BAD BAD by even my standards …. so bad it was good again. We danced away for a few hours, including a few slow dance turns around the dancefloor to some Khmer power ballads but had to call it a night just before our tuc tuc turned into a pumpkin and got to bed at around midnight, very drunk and utterly exhausted by this day.
Anyway, I have gone on for ages and editor Greg will tell me off for forgetting all the rules of good journalism (not fair! – ed), but you have to admit … a day like this deserve a detailed blog, no??
Take care all of you
Love
C
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