Rida met us bright and early in a double wide tuk-tuk and we headed off to the Angkor Wat temple, a World Heritage Site and Cambodia’s most famous tourist destination. A morning visit is preferred while temperatures are still cool and refreshing in the low 100s.
Riding in the tuk-tuk with Rida we drove through the streets of Siem Reap towards the Angkor Wat area, about 5 miles north of the city. First stop, ticket sales. We headed down a wide straight highway for a couple of miles and pulled left into the parking lot of what appeared to be another Cambodian airport. Entering the building, the airport look and feel continued as we approached one of several check-in counters. After paying our admission fees, we had our photos taken and were issued Angkor Wat passports. Or what seemed to be passports. They are serious about their tourism and security here.
Tickets in hand and photo passports available for security checks (which there are a few), we continued on, heading north towards the center of Angkor Wat, “the city of temples”. We pulled into a dirt parking lot and exited the tuk-tuk. We were starting our exploration from the back entrance of the main and best known temples, the one that everyone recognizes from photos.
The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka Parama Viṣṇuloka Angkor Wat or “What???” as I prefer. Built about 1,000 years ago as a Hindu Temple for its ruler of the day, it eventually was captured by a bunch of angry Buddhists and today it is still called a Buddhist temple. The site was “rediscovered” by the French in the mid-1800s during the colonization of southeast Asia.
The interior of the temple is decorated extensively with hand-carved bas-relief walls depicting a wide variety of scenes, much like Egyptian hieroglyphics, showing troops, worshippers, wailers, cows, battles, harems and one pissed-off ruler apparently stuck in traffic in his two-wheeled chariot, whip in action lashing out. There are, of course, the requisite and still in use Buddhist shrines offering visitors contemplative areas to step aside from the maddening crowds of gawkers. Offerings are much appreciated.
At one bas-relief wall, Rida pointed out a particular detail and said that the floral pattern from the original Angkor Wat builders served as inspiration for (or was out-right copied by) famous French fashion house Louis Vuitton in their well known monogram design seen on handbags and all sorts of products.
With the exploration of one temple down (more to go), we exited the main western facade and crossed over the Rainbow Bridge spanning the lagoon that surrounds most of the temple. Along the way we passed several models and wedding couples getting their photos taken with the very famous background.
After lunch, we returned to explore another (recently) famous site, Ta Prohm temple, which was used as a location in the film, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, starring Angelina Jolie and released in 2001. It stands in (and under) the jungle as a real Temple of Doom.
Before leaving the temple area, we stopped by the souvenir shop and checked out the wide variety of gods and demigods available for purchase. My favorite, of course, being my-once-again-BFF elephant-headed god, Ganesha. Thank you “Neesh” for that stock market tip about bitcoin. Glad our two decade misunderstanding was settled at Batu Caves in KL.
Fighting in the Angkor Wat area has taken place off and on since its creation with the last being battles between the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Army into the 1990s. In 1975, the population of Siem Reap was driven into the countryside by the communist Khmer Rouge. Since the war’s end in 1998, however, relative stability and a rejuvenated tourist industry have revived the area. However, the surrounding jungles are still filled with landmines so please remember to stay on the marked trail.
Speaking of landmines, on the way out after our tour we passed by a “Rat Museum”. “Wat is that?”, I asked Rida. He said it is a museum for their land mine clearing operation, still ongoing.
The Cambodians are using rats under 3 kilograms (more than that causes “big boom-boom problem”) to roam thru fields and jungles sniffing out land mines. When they smell explosives they start digging. After two years, the surviving rats are retired and given “a full pension for life” and are highly prized by locals.
Nice. That just made my third eye hurt.