Siem Reap Final

It's over...: ( Home tomorrow. Been running around the thoroughly underrated city of Taipei having a blast. They really do eat ALL of that over here. You name it, they seem to eat it here. More later.

The final two days in Siem Reap were about temples, temples and more temples. Day 2, I spent focusing on the the other inner temples of Angkor including the walled City of Angkor Thom, the magnificent Bayan and the jungle ruin at Ta Prohm. I wish I could provide some amount of history on these temples but I just didn't have the time or energy to study up on it in detail. I was more focused on photographing them. In a nutshell the various temples remained undiscovered to the West until the 19th century when some French guy claimed discovery of the Temples. Locals will tell you that Angkor Wat was never undiscovered. It was just unknown to us in the West. Nevertheless the French claimed it, as they did the rest of Southeast Asia for nearly a hundred years. The complex has both Buddhist and Hindu influence as the Khmer empire had heavy influence from both China and India and these cultures are reflected in the architecture and the art.

My last day in Siem Reap I spent exploring some of the outer, less visited temples which was far less hectic. Though these outer temples are in a greater state of disrepair, there were far few tourist hordes here. The older Roulous group consists of three separate temples, the most impressive of which is Bakong. Another lesser visited complex is the pink and orange smaller complex at Bantay Srei. A 30 minute Tuk Tuk ride there is not for the feint of heart.

No visit to Angkor Wat would be complete without watching sunset from the hilltop complex of Phnom Bekang. A steep climb that some do by Elephant, this complex provides a 360 degree view of the jungle and the temples. Once hiking the hill the physical climb of the building is harrowing as the stairs are steep and very narrow. Some of the steps were maybe a couple of inches wide making concentration a must. A misstep could actually prove fatal if you are high enough up the temple.

I arrived early, at the recommendation of my tuk tuk driver, at 4pm and made the climb to find a small group of maybe 30 people camped out at the top. The sun was still beating down pretty hard at this hour. I was pleased to see that the hordes had not seemed to find this place. One of the most serene moments at Angkor is quietly watching the sun disappear into the jungle, shining its warm red light on the face of Angkor Wat in the distance. Now a balloon operation has also set up to view sunset which can be seen from the mountain as well.

By 5 pm my moment of peace was over. The hordes arrived by the boatload. Group after group of mostly Chinese tourists, who paid zero attention to the signs that asked people to remain quiet, invaded the peace of Phnom Bekang. These were some of the worst behaved tourists I have ever come across. Yelling and screaming, singing and bantering, these Chinese tourists killed a moment of utter peace and beauty for hundreds of us quietly waiting for the sun's departure. I personally got so angry that I almost got physical with more than one of them who parked themselves and their tripods in front of several of us who were sitting quietly waiting.

And then there was their need to be photographed in front of everything! These folks made us ugly Americans look like saints. One of these arm waiving, shouting tourists who stepped on another traveller so he could be photographed in front of the sun directly blocking my view almost got the heave ho from yours truly. Fed up, I thumped this bafoon in the chest and ordered him to sit down and be quiet. To the delight of my neighbors he shrinked away and we got a few moments of peace as the glowing red sun vanished below the jungle to the delight of the hooting and hollering Chinese.

WIth that I scrambled down the hill with the thousand or so other tourists to my Tuk Tuk where I wrapped up my 2nd and probably last visit to Angkor Wat. No longer is this the prisitine, serene place of 99. It's the Disneyland of the Southeast Asia. I'd still tell people to go. But be forewarned about the mobs.

Off to Phnom Phen the next day.