Travel

Exploring Angkor. A Day Among Ruins

The demons and gods bridge leading to Angkor Thom

The Angkor region was on my bucket list ever since I can remember. I'm a big fan of ruins; I simply find them irresistible. I can't really explain why, maybe they make me feel a strange connection with a long gone past, maybe I'm hoping for a broader understanding of human nature, or maybe it's just my melancholic soul longing for reassurance that there's more to life than what meets the eye.

Anyways, the day my husband and I finally made it to Angkor, was a big day. We met Vantha, our guide, in the lobby of Victoria Angkor Hotel from Siem Reap and he showed us to the air-conditioned minivan where we met our tour group. We were all first time visitors, excited to have a once in a lifetime experience.

It was incredibly hot outside, but our enthusiasm could not be diminished by trivial things. At the entrance of the UNESCO Heritage Site of Angkor we got out of the car to have our picture taken. I didn't entirely get it why the Angkor administration needed a photo of every single person who visited the old Khmer city. However, it would be so cool if they did a huge Angkor Wat reproduction out of the small images of the visitor's face, don't you think?

Our first stop was at Angkor Wat. Vantha started explaining the history and quirky details of the place in a perfect English. But what really stuck with me was the statement that Angkor Wat was NOT lost in the jungles as it is often referred to in the Western world. Granted, the outsiders didn't know much about it, but the locals always knew it was there. It's just that they either had other priorities or it didn't present much interest.

Angkor Wat is fantastic. And huge! After all it is the largest religious monument in the world. We marveled at it for a few hours and then we followed to Angkor Thom.

The entrance gate to Angkor Thom is like out of this world. As we made a short stop for refreshments in front of it, Vantha called our attention to the beautiful elephants coming though. And next to the spectacular demons and gods bridge there were a few astonishing Cambodian boats, beautifully garnished and colorful.

The whole Angkor region is surrounded by luxuriant jungles and the monkeys are happy to call this their home. We met them everywhere, at Angkor Wat, in front of Bayon's entrance... And it was refreshing to see them minding their business instead of aggressively wanting to steal my glasses and my camera like their counterparts from Uluwatu Temple in Bali.

At this point we were really happy we decided to explore Angkor with Siem Reap Urban Adventures. Taking an air-conditioned car between the temples was great and we could cool down a bit. Plus the distances are not as small to walk around and see everything in one day. Probably that's why 3-day entrance tickets are also available.

Bayon is an equally amazing place, though considerably smaller than Angkor Wat. We found a group of monks here, and seeing their silhouettes strolling among the dark stone towers was surreal. The over 200 enigmatic faces decorating Bayon were just as surprising.

By now it was already lunch time, and we headed back to the Khmer restaurant in front of Angkor Wat. The lunch, as well as the entrance fee to Angkor region were included in the guided tour, which really made formalities a breeze. It was a cheerful meal with our group, a time for bounding and for sharing stories. It was also our first Khmer meal, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We actually had such a great time that we forgot to take pictures of the food. Bummer!

The last stop of our Angkor day tour was at Ta Prohm, the incredible jungle temple made famous by the Tomb Rider movie. To be honest, I think the first image I ever saw from the Angkor region was one of these huge trees growing on top of buildings. So for me, finally making it here had a deeply emotional meaning.

I can't really make up my mind which of the three temples we visited impressed me most. I just know I felt sad when Vantha told us they were slowly cutting one by one the trees to protect the buildings that were crumbling to pieces under their weight. There already are considerably less trees now than they were a few years back. In the near future there might be none left.

I personally believe these trees are adding to the charms of Ta Prohm more than anything else. The apsaras decorating the still standing walls are beautiful indeed, but apsaras can be seen decorating the other two temples too. What makes Ta Prohm unique and special are precisely these gigantic trees, and by cutting them down, a little bit of the soul of the temple will die with them. We are really glad we got to see them while they were still there.

Apart from the nature taking over the ruins, Ta Prohm remained engraved in my heart for one more reason - the kids selling cheap bracelets to the tourists. They broke my hear into a million pieces. And I felt really frustrated as I didn't really know what was best for me to do, buy their products and encourage this lifestyle that kept them away from schools or ignore their cry for help. But ignoring was something I couldn't do, and I almost ended up taking back home with me one sweet, barefoot little girl, barely four. As that was impossible to do, I did the next best thing I could - I lost a piece of my heart to her, to accompany her life in ruins.

Our time exploring Angkor was courtesy of Siem Reap Urban Adventures.

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