Cruise Planners - On the Road - The Temples of Angkor

Ever since seeing the movie, "Lord Jim" in the mid-60's, Angkor Wat has been on my list of mysterious places to see.  Of course, seeing Angelina Jolie cavort around the self same temples as Lara Croft didn't diminish my interest either.

So when we decided to take Ama Waterways Ama Dara's inaugural Mekong River cruise last November, we knew we'd have to put seeing the temples on our list of Pre-cruise activities.

Now, to be honest, we didn't do a lot of pre-planning or reading to figure out how we were going to see them - we figured that once we got there, we'd ask a local.  Our local in this case was the General Manager of our hotel, the Shinta Mani Club, Christian DeBoer.  Christian immediately put us in contact with Mr. Chin Reaksmey (+855 12 704 985; sunshinelok2003@yahoo.ca ; facebook [ soriye malen)  Mr Chin was definitely the key to unlocking the doors of Angkor for us.

Our Guide Mr. Chin

Our second day in Siem Reap (pronounced “C-M” “Rip”) was an all day tour of the glory of the 9th-15th Khmer capital known as Angkor Wat.  Angkor Wat was the center of an empire that once encompassed what we know today as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.  The Angkor era was also a time of religious ebb and flow - between Hinduism and Buddhism.  This religious dichotomy is reflected in the temples of the ancient capital being excavated by a multi-national UNESCO led effort to restore the Angkor Wat area.  

At 7:30am, we met our guide, Mr. Chin, at the Shinta Mani and headed to the Angkor Wat area.  We chose to take a car vice “Tuk Tuk” (open air motorcycle towed cart) and are so glad we did.  We are officially in the “rainy” season although we weren’t rained on at all - but the temperature is still in the low to mid-90’s with humidity raising the “Feels Like” temperature to 102 or so. Perfect golf weather for southwest Florida transplants, but after spending an hour or two at each of three temple areas baking in the overhead sun, having an air-conditioned car to move from site to site was well worth the additional cost (Total was $81 USD per person).  Having a nice cold bottle of water each time we got back into the car after each temple was so appreciated.

Mr Chin is very knowledgeable about Khmer history and a talented photographer who helped us record our day at the Temples of Angkor...

So, when is Discovery not Discovery? When what is “discovered" was previously known by mankind, does this really constitute discovery?  Or perhaps might we call it, Recovery, Re-discovery, Renewal, or Re-embracing the past?  This was the dilemma posed by realizing that Western (French) explorers who stumbled onto Angkor and "discovered it" in 1860 didn't find something that locals had forgotten about. In fact, locals had villages all over the grounds of the greater Angkor but the temples themselves were no longer used for shelter or worship.  Perhaps it is less about discovery and more about adding to the wider knowledge of mankind's shared history.

Of note is that while what we were seeing at Angkor were temples, this area was actually an area hosting a population of as many as 1 million people back in the day (9th to 14th centuries).  But homes, businesses, and palaces were built of wood, long since burned, decayed, or buried by time  and wars.  So Angkor was first and foremost a city although the artifacts most obvious today are all centered on religion.

First up, the Temple of Angkor Wat... We enjoyed picture perfect weather and skies.  Temperature was probably around 90F - hot but not too sticky - no a blood sucking insect to be seen.

We approached from the South - Opposite side from where most visitors enter

Iconic Picture

The walls tell the stories of the Khmer legends

The Super Monkey helping the Good King - later we would see this legend depicted in dance by a Cambodian Dance Troupe aboard Ama Dara 

Many locals leave offerings for Buddha's blessing

Exact center of the Temple looking up

Explaining how offerings are left for Buddha

Next up was Angkor Thom - approaching again from the South Gate whose entrance is flanked by 54 guardian statues....

Entrance to Angkor Thom

Part of the moat guarding the city walls

By now the sun was high and we were hungry and thirsty so Mr. Chin and our driver took us to a restaurant so we could rehydrate -- with Angkor beer and enjoy a delicious curry lunch.

Colorful restaurant at village near the Temples

Ahh, Cold Beer...

So after our lunch, it was on to our next temple, Ta Prohm -- made famous by Angelina Jolie -- we're going to have to get this one on Netflix to see how you turn an ancient temple into a movie set.

 

It is the trees that make Ta Phrom so iconic

As Hinduism and Buddhism struggled for supremacy, carvings like this one were recarved or edited to reflect the ascendant deities. 

So after 8 hours of touring three of the "5 Star" temples of Angkor, we headed back to the Shinta Mani.  Here we were greeted on arrival with scented, cold towels, and a cool drink.  Then it was off to the pool to chill out before getting ready for dinner and heading out to Phare which we'll cover in our next installment.