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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