Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Kingdom - Day 2

The first thought of the day was that it would be tough to match Day 1 in excitement. So, I was bracing myself for a less than spectacular day. Yesterday started with the awe and splendour of Angkor Wat and the rest of the day just flew by. Today, we started off with Tonle Sap lake, a good 45 mins drive in a car that was "flying" at 30kmph. And it was the fastest object on the roads by a long way!



The drive gave me a glimpse of a normal Cambodian lifestyle. Houses were raised on columns of wood to prevent flooding during monsoon (May-Oct). The high-rise roads had seafood restaurants along the way, with all having karoake, although none of the locals are interested. It is to please the tourists, many of whom are Koreans. I am glad to bee in a place where I could spot only 3 other Indians in a day apart from my family. All the houses have a small spirit house at the front, where people offer their morning prayers to bring good luck to people and businesses. Depending on the status, it could range from some form of house made out of flattened coke cans, or could be mini houses in themselves. Almost all the houses (whether fixed or floating) has a swing made of cloth, where people take a nap whenever they can. The average Cambodian travel in mopeds or a cheaper version of a tuk tuk, which can carry 10-12 pax to the markets once a week for about $1. They have their own wood houses, a small rice field, a fruit garden and possibly a cow. They earn just enough to lead a life and never have enough to even travel to the next province. They eat at home everyday and are mostly self-sufficient. Only the extremely rich get to travel abroad. The people say they are poor with a tinge of sadness but they never crib or cringe. There are hardly any beggars around. I think Cambodians are rich in their captivating smile, amazing service attitude and their positiveness radiates everywhere in this country. It was a humbling experience having interacted with about 20-30 people in these 2 days.



Coming back to the first attraction of the day, the Tonle Sap lake is the largest (man-made) lake in Cambodia and links to the capital Phnom Penh. The travel is about 5-6 hrs only during rainy season. A manmade river links the mainland to the lake. A trip in a boat costs $20 a head, but its well worth it. Its not a lake, but almost a village in the middle of a sea, complete with floating residents, school, hospital, church, mosque and environmental organisation. The last one was a misfit as there was more environment than men at this place. The fresh air hustling your face makes one forget everything else and immerse in the surroundings. The climate was hot, but the heat hardly mattered. Floating shop boats touted for business, but we bought our souvenirs from a floating restaurant-cum-fish/crocodile farm. It was awesome to see a Vietnamese christians and Cambodian muslims float alongside each other yet have distinctive features. The Vietnamese fishermen have funded a floating orphanage school when they scarcely manage to eek out a living themselves. Top that for social responsibility! When the rains come down, everyone moves inland to avoid the high waves. It was a great trip and an eye-opener, showcasing how people adapt to their harsh surroundings and co-exist.





After the lake, we had a trip to Ta Phrom temple. It was another wreck characterised by hugh trees encroaching the walls, which have buckled under the immense pressure. Big blocks of rock were everywhere, like in the other temples. I again wondered how these temples were torn apart, but it looks as if large boulders were thrown from the top to create this crazy mess! The temple itself was dedicated by King Jayavarman VII (hailed the greatest) to his mother, and was used in times of victory to celebrate. All these temples were in fact walled cities, with thousands occupying each. Cambodia was landmined heavily, and people who have been injured by the landmines have formed a musical troupe. You can see these groups in every temple. They play on whenever the visitors are in sight. They have their own CDs and their placards request you to buy the CDs, but their shoulders never droop, even if we ask them for a photo without dropping a single note. The people here have real character. I did get a musical instrument as a souvenir from a tout outside.





Next up was lunch at the roadside Khmer Family Restaurant. The food and the service were good. Then, we made a longish trip to Bantray Srei temple in the outskirts. It translates into temple for women, but there were sannadis for Garuda and Hanuman, apart from the many unknowns. The temple was remarkably intact, with only a few broken blocks. It has definitely stood the test of time. Our next stop was Preah Khan, which is the translation for Jayasri, the original Sanskrit name bestowed upon it. It was huge, second only to Angkor Wat, with 7 concentric squares (prahara). This was also a walled city and a palace dedicated to Jayavarman's father. It has a dedicated dancing hall and demarcated areas for Apsara dancers. The innermost square contains a Siva Linga and a stupa. We all felt like explorers, navigating our way through endless blocks of rock. It is for this reason that we declined tourist guides in a couple of temples. We took our time at each nook and corner which interested us, went our own way, even got lost and had to get help to get out, but it was immense fun this way.





After numerous temples, it was time to try something different. On the suggestion of our taxi driver, we skipped the National Museum containing 1000 Buddhas and relics for a trip to the Cambodian Cultural Village. This is a one-stop to see the evolution of the Khmer culture, the different sections of people and their traditions and get a closer look at their living style. We watched a couple of dance shows, which were simple and elegant. Coming from a place renouned for its complexity and diversity, I did get bored of them quickly. The park inside was huge and had replicas of the important landmarks around the country. It was worthwhile browsing through.



The final stop for the day was the market and souvenir shop. Our driver mistook our needs and took us to a posh Indian souvenir shop trading Indian items. These were the last thing we wanted from Cambodia, and after a quick cursory glance, we were off. Dinner was great as usual, I told them as much and they were pleased.

As the trip came to an end, I was really happy with the way everything went on this trip. Everyone was equally pleased, which was a bit strange, but was much better than I anticipated. The Kingdom, especially the ruins of Angkor, is definitely a must-see for anyone worth their USD. No Riels please :)



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The Kingdom - Day 1

There are 3 kingdoms that I really want to visit. Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal. I am happy that I have made it to 2 out of 3 so far. When I boarded my flight, I tried desperately not to think of my last visit to The Kingdom - Cambodia. It was a business trip that gave me the creeps. All 3 days I was there with my Singaporean boss, we were being escorted by Z-grade security! People say its cool until they hear that I was in a meeting trying to negotiate with a big Don who owns a corporate with 10 guys with guns standing around us. The meeting was a real win-win, the guy got what he wanted and we still were alive!

Back to the present, I couldnt help but admire the nature along the flight path en route Vietnam into Cambodia. The mountains, valleys and meandering rivers gave me a sense of inner peace, especially the last one. Its been so long since I saw one. It has a sense of nonchalance, where time almost stands still and senses are forced to admire its beauty. A sense of calm prevailed, a calm not found in bustling cities like Chennai, Singapore or Hong Kong. Right from landing in Siem Reap, two things has stood out. The first is a lack of crowd, which naturally took me a bit of time to get used to. The second was a distinctive architecture, where everything has to have a pointed end.



As soon as I landed, I committed a big blunder. I had changed from SGD to USD, but I wasnt quite sure how prevalent USD was. So, I changed 100 USD into Cambodian Riel, but had to stuff 380,000 in my purse. The next girl changed SGD 10 and immediately I realised my folly. Outside the airport, it was pretty obvious. Everything was sold in USD, and if you wanted to transact in Riel, you will be so royally screwed that you wouldnt think twice to go to your friendly neighbourhood robber aka money changer. I was shocked at first that a foreign currency is preferred to local currency. Then the taxi driver explained that the locals do use the Riel and get "real Riel" rates. Who would cry over getting paid in USD? So, the USD rulez in tourist spots.

As a true blue Chennai-ite,I got an instant aversion to the taxi driver when he started driving at 20 kmph and touting for a 2-day sightseeing trip. I tried to bargain just for the fun of it with no intention of hiring his services (just like we have fun with autos back home) but he seemed strangely earnest. Then he pointed to the standard day-trip rates and feedback telephone number for complaints. The pangs burst and turned into pity and I gave into his demands (by stopping the negotiation at standard rates - $5 :P). Not often do you get praised from your family for your bargaining skills, but I actually felt sad for those $5. Anyway, I hired him for our stay here, and he was all eager to start straightaway.

It was a hectic day with Angkor Wat, 3 temples in Angkor Thom and a trek on a mountain for sunset. Not withstanding the fact that everything was broken, the sheer enormity of the structures and that all this was achieved 1000 yrs ago was breathtaking. Angkor Wat was first, but it really is THE place to visit. What a glorious reminiscence of the past millenia! The 200m moat surrounding the temple, the huge grounds inside, broken structures said to be libraries and army commands were all awesome. A blend of south-indian and Khmer architecture and huge (I mean HUGE) walls depicting scenes of Ramayana and Mahabharata were strange to be found in a remote nation. Yeah yeah, I know history and all that, but in a place like this, heart rules over mind. And I dont mind it in a place like this one bit. For the uninitiated and non-wiki geeks, the long and short of the history is in Wiki!







The second stop was a bit further north in Angkor Thom, a region with a group of temples close together. It is here that I realised a trend. The temples were built out of 1m cubes of rock, assembled by hand or a not-so-accurate crane. But one thing baffled me. The steps were so damn small and steep that we can only place the foot sideways and need to reach the next step by hand in some places. You cant imagine it until you see it. Its tough for the oldies. But thoroughly enjoyable as its unique to this place. Bayon temple had faces as gopuras. But it is amazingly steep, with long dark corridors and stone-strewn outdoors. It was so surreal that I was thinking the temples were either bombarded by big boulders during a war or was deliberate sabotage of the highest magnitude or the workers were so frustrated that they left the job incomplete. Strangely, all but a very few heads of statues were missing in all temples. Whatever the actual reason, it does not seem to be nature's act. Its definitely a treat to watch though, in this war-torn country.





The last stop was a hill-top Phnom Bakheang, which has a spectacular sunset view on top of a, guess what, another temple. This has the steepest steps of the lot. The oldies missed out on the fun and sunset. It has a great view from the top of atleast a 100 miles. I could better appreciate the topology of the Angkor landscape from there. The legs became a bit weary after all the walking and trekking, so we came back to the hotel. The dinner was the best I have had outside India and Singapore. Every item was just perfect for everyone, a hard one for an Indian veggie family.



So, at the close of Day 1, it was just great and I am really looking forward to the stuff lined up tomorrow.

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