My first and most fierce opponent is the Internet - or more accurately my connection to it. It has caused me to be behind in terms of posting and writing stuff on more occasions than I'd like to remember, and I seem to be in an on-going war to make sure I keep current with what I am writing.
It could be writing every day that causes me a few problems, or the sheer volume of what I write. It may even be that I'm a little out of practice with my blogging skills, and perhaps this factors in to the equation a little. Whatever my struggles I feel like this is definitely the most difficult one post I have had to write.
Having said that, I really do enjoy writing. I like having a place to express my feelings, and reflect on my day - sometimes I don't feel as though I am able to do this very well, but blogging certainly isn't something I intend to stop doing any time soon.
Like any good author I just have to realise that it takes time for the finished product to take shape. I can alter my processes (just recently I have started writing things up in rough first so I didn't have to edit my posts on screen) knowing that it all plays into the bigger picture of creating unique content which adds together to become my story.
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Welcome to perhaps the most difficult blog I have ever had to publish.... in terms of composition anyway.
I genuinely thought about making today a blog featuring just pictures and captions as that might be a better way to help anyone reading visualise exactly what I have been doing today. I changed my mind about that eventually, but it feels like it might get a bit image heavy later on so I do apologise.
In a list of things I've been looking forward to doing, visiting Angkor Wat sits inside my top five. So far I have visited only one other place, The Petronas Towers; which ranked as highly anticipated - I'll let you know when the other three take place....
I don't really know much about Angkor Wat itself, but my minimal research before coming here told me that it holds significant historical value to the world, and was built by Khmer leader King Suryavarman II in the 12th century.
Usually referred to as Angkor Wat, the collection of temples are actually part of Angkor Archaeological Park which is a huge complex containing around twenty different temple sights.
To me, it is one of the most recognisable sights in Asia (it's even on the Cambodian flag), and I feel like it ranks up there alongside Machu Picchu and the Pyramids as one of the world's most famous pieces of archaeology.
With all that in mind then, I was pretty excited about eventually getting to visit such a spectacular location, and I made special plans last night to make sure the first of my two days there would be memorable.
Understandably there's quite a lot of information to take in about Angkor Wat when you look it up online, and my first consideration was how to get to, and then visit the whole park.
The most obvious option would be to sign up for a tour which are a dime a dozen round here, and provide hotel pick up and drop off for visitors. They usually run all day, and the advantage of that would be having a guide knowing the best route around that is a fairly confusing complex.
Continuing my research I saw that you could hire a tuk-tuk to take you there, and then pay for an official guide to come with you - or you could hire a driver with specific knowledge who would act as driver and tour guide giving you a more private experience than being part of a larger group.
Both of those options seemed viable, but the more I read, the more I felt like the purchase of a good book would be as valuable as any tour guide. I also discovered that one of the best ways to navigate between the temples is by hiring a bicycle and riding from point to point through the park. I've always been a bit of a cyclist so this massively appealed to me, and I thought it would be a financially economical decision with it setting me back $2 vs the $25 it would probably cost for a tuk-tuk.
One of the 'must do' things at Angkor is to see either sunrise or sunset over the top the main temple. Seeing as I was intending on visiting twice, my plan was to do one each day with some more exploring after sunrise and before sunset.
I made the decision to go for sunrise today so enquired last night about hiring a bike for my journey which I intended to start at 4.30 am this morning...
I set my alarm for 4.10am and woke up feeling surprisingly sprightly despite not what you would describe as a restful nights sleep. I took a quick shower and headed downstairs where I had to gently stir the hotel's night porter who was fast asleep. He went and grabbed the bike for me (not a piece of modern kit by any stretch of the imagination) and following some very unclear instructions from the map I set out on my way.
There were a few people out on the streets, no doubt making their own plans to get to Angkor. I saw a couple of tour buses waiting outside hotels, and a few tuk-tuk drivers preparing to pick up this morning's passengers. I saw maybe one of two locals on a bike, but definitely think I was the only westerner crazy enough to be setting off that early in the morning - especially when you can pay for the assistance to get where you are going.
It was absolutely pitch black out, and my bike had a non-existent dynamo light on the front which was doing absolutely nothing to help me. Thankfully along with the millions of other pieces of kit I'd tucked into my bag this morning, I'd also thrown my head torch in there and did my best to illuminate the road for myself, and also make sure that other people could actually see me. I started to see some signs to the temples which was promising and there appeared to be a bit more traffic on the road eventually - although admittedly this could have been going to the airport as it is in the same direction.
Cyclong along the main road for about twenty minutes, I followed a sign which had me turn off down a completely pitch black road which didn;t seem to have anyone on it but me. I cycled down here for a further five minutes before eventually I joined a road which was covered in tuk-tuks galore zooming down it headed in the direction of the temples.
I had to make a turn off to the right shortly after to stop off at the ticketing office and brought a three-day pass which cost me $40. I had to have my photo taken which is not something anyone really wants to have done at 5am in the morning, but I pressed on and was finally inside the grounds.
It was still really dark at this point and I didn't even know which direction I would be arriving at the temple from so I just hoped to take me queues from other people who would perhaps be able to guide me. On the right I could see what looked like a lake shimmering in the moonlight and everyone was stopping there so I presumed this must be the go-to spot.
I parked my bike on the left-hand side of the road and crossed a stone bridge still wearing my head torch to guide me over the bumpy terrain and through the main gates.
It as a bit surreal as I could see the shape of a few things but didn't really focus on that too much as I knew I needed to take my place by the much coveted lake in order to get the best view.
I'd seen picture of people crowded on the banks, and as I had been pre-warned it was already really busy with no spaces right at the edge of the water as people optimistically lined up cameras and pointed GoPros in the direction of what was starting to become visible:
Locals were doing their best to make a sale even this early in the morning with children hawking postcards and books as well as a nearby cafe selling coffee and breakfast. I took up a spot just to the left of the lake, a little back from the water bit still a good enough spot to get a good view, not only of the temple...
...but also of the hoards of people standing and waiting for sunrise:
I don't know if I have ever purposely seen sunrise before, and it's kind of a strange occurrence because it initially happens with no warning at all as the sun isn't actually in view.
As it began to get lighter I attempted to take some photos, but also remembered I was there to experience is as well as document it.
It probably took about an hour from when I arrived for the sun to rise, and eager to explore the temple some people began to wander off as I attempted to get a better view of the whole thing taking place by shuffling more to the centre of the lake as spaces opened up:
At about 6:30am (I'm guessing as I wasn't wearing a watch) I decided to head towards the temple itself.
I was following what is known as the 'Mini-Tour' and to better explain and illustrate the route I followed I am going to split this up into different sections for each one....
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is considered to be the main attraction with its notable 'honeycomb' looking towers, which are fairly imposing after walking along the gangway to the entrance. I read online that it can be pretty daunting to navigate your way around inside - I presume because there is so much to see. Not having a guide of any kind I was sceptical I could take it all in, but I decided to go fairly logically round in a clockwise direction as much as possible. The main central entry route appeared to be out of action, so I entered up some stairs to the right where I saw a few other people going. It was strange to be walking inside something I had wanted to see for so long, and it didn't disappoint with incredible detail along its stone walls, and plenty of things to take notice of.
The main structures you can see in my pictures....
..... are like the central chambers, and there is an area outside to walk around before you eventually get to them. I did almost a full circuit before walking up some large steps to get to the main area.
The sun was starting to make more of an appearance at this time, and as I walked around the stone structure in the centre it was clear to see why people consider this to be one of the modern wonders of the world:
And then another section which appeared to be the perimeter:
Once I'd seen everything there was to see in the central area, I walked around the perimeter, and there were some stone carvings on the wall which I overheard a guide telling some people were stories of Khmer society, and these ran along the length of the south and west walls:
I think part of the reason for Angkor Wat being so confusing is because of how there are a distinct lack of signs to guide you around. I guess there is no way to logiclly navigate around something so large though. It gives you more freedom also, but then you may go back on yourself - or wonder if you have missed large sections out.
When I eventually got back to my entry point, I climbed down and decided to do a lap of the outer perimeter on the ground to get a good look at the temple from a distance....
...before heading back to take a photo from the now empty bank of the waterfront:
It looks as impressive from a distance as it does close up, and it was great to get such a clear day to view it in all its glory.
As I walked back towards the entrance, it was interesting to see what I had missed due to it being so dark when I first entered, and when I walked out of the main access point I saw the scale of the ancient moat which runs around the outside of the temple itself:
It was starting to get quite busy inside the park now with many people obviously deciding to start their day at 8am or 9am, and make a full day of exploring. My day had got off to a good start and after seeing Angkor Wat, I was looking forward to what further exploring might be in store for me throughout the rest of the day.
I managed to find my way back to my bike which was sitting alongside some others, and next to a row of tuk-tuks. My next port of call was Angkor Thom which looked on the map to be an even larger complex, and promised to be an even more intriguing prospect to explore. If the map was to scale then it seemed as though it was quite a distance from Wat to Thom, but along the way there were some smaller temples which broke up the journey. Just before getting close to the south gate of Angkor Thom I came across Ta Prohm Kel, Thnom Bakeng, Bakse, Chamkrang and Pra Sat Bei:
All of these temples along the way were great preludes to the next major site.
Angkor Thom
There appeared to be another moat surrounding Angkor Thom - not quite as imposing as the one around Angkor Wat, but it still required crossing a fairly sizeable bridge to reach the entrance to the temple. The bridge was lined with statue figures, all of which had a similar look to to the Bayon faces which this temple is famous for:
They reminded me a little of the kind of faces you might see on Aztec structures, and they were a good guide on what to expect inside Angkor Thom itself.
The grounds of the temple are what makes it much larger on the map than Angkor Wat, and after taking a couple of pictures from the top of the temple walls....
....I started walking through the gate, and down the entrance path before realising that I was the only one doing so. This made me decide to go back and get my bike which I had parked close to Bakse Chamkrong, and it was a good decision as soon I came across a sign which said that it was around 2km to the temple itself.
En-route I encountered some monkeys who were accepting food from visitors, and just generally roaming around. I'm figuring they had positioned themselves here on purpose knowing that they would get some attention.
The temple looked to be another imposing structure, and from a distance it seemed as though it would be just as, if not more confusing, than Angkor Wat:
I went in through the main gate, and started following the outside path around clockwise again as I came across many different area, and walkways to navigate through.
There were so many small and twisting corridors I imagine it would be almost impossible to set foot in every part of this temple - I had a really good go though:
It's construction seemed very different to Angkor Wat, and climbing up stone steps I was able to walk around a second level before eventually getting up to the top. It was incredibly crowded up there with people at every turn. I think there were a couple of large tour groups who had entered at the same time as me, and this made it seem very busy. I tried to fight my way through to take as many pictures of the Bayon Heads as I possibly could before deciding to clamber down. They seem to enjoy making the steps extremely steep throughout these temples which makes them much easier to climb up than down:
The Eastern Area of the temple was largely out of bounds with construction taking place, but you were able to walk around almost the entire structure unhindered.
In some ways Angkor Thom was more impressive than Angkor Wat with its make-like corridors and complex feel. It's structure was very different to the previous temple I had visited and it was interesting to compare and contrast the two as I moved on to the next on the list.
On the way there, there were two smaller temples on either side of the road which could be explored. Nearby there were people taking tours on elephants which looked like a lot of fun:
Thom Manon, which was on the left as I rode along consisted of three main buildings, and Chau Say Thevoda was made up of the same amount. The main one here had a long gangway like Angkor Wat which you could walk along to get inside the main area which was reletively small but still impressive:
Ta Keo
I continued cycling along until I reached the next major temple on my route. Originally from Angkor Thom I had exited through the East Gate, but massively went the wrong way as I ended up going down a dirt track. I eventually navigated in the right direction, and joined up with the main road which led me to Ta Keo.
As I cycled around the corner with the temple on my left, it didn't look overly impressive with green netting over two sections, and lots of scaffolding appearing to be obstructing entry. I decided to stop off even if just to take a few pictures of the outside, and in doing so I saw that there were a couple of people at the top so figured it couldn't have been as closed as it seemed.
Only part of the temple turned out to be open as I got round to the entrance, but I went inside and climbed up three very large and steep sets of stairs to get to the summit platform where there appeared to be three or four main structures which you could go inside.
There wasn't a particularly spectacular view from any of them, and it wasn't like you could see anything but trees in the distance, but it was high enough up for there to be a little breeze, and for it to feel extremely relaxing being above ground:
Climbing down with my lack of enjoyment for heights was an interesting task as you looked over the edge it almost seemed as if there were no steps to go down, but I edged my way inch-by-inch along the top step to reveal some narrow places to put your feet where before it seemed as though there was a sheer drop. Myself, along with four other people took it very slowly holding onto the edge, and was pretty relieved when my feet eventually touched the floor at the bottom.
Ta Prohm
One of the striking images from the whole park, and all the pictures I have seen from inside it is the crumbling looking temple which has lots of corridors and pathways where trees have seemingly taken over. Considering I didn't realise exactly where this way, I was hoping I'd find the temple at some point though I presumed it was somewhere in Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom with them being the two major sites.
As I cycled round to Ta Prohm, the name stuck in my head as I had seen somewhere that this was one of the most popular temples and was the filming location of some scenes in the Tomb Raider movie franchise. It took about five minutes or so to get from Ta Keo and grabbed a drink from one of the many people selling things next to the temple.
Going through the front gate to the temple there was what looked to be a bit of a woodland walkway before you eventually came to the entrance itself:
Surrounded by trees I figured that may be the sight of the famous images I had seen, and taking the 'long walk' (that was actually what one of routes was described as) I was led around the outside of what looked to be some crumbling ruins which were only partly complete but largely looking in a state of disrepair. I eventually got around to the entrance which was impressive but almost hidden by the trees which had become intertwined with the brick work:
The route through Ta Prohm was much clearer than in Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom; after a section of small chambers there was a singular route for people to follow. There were certain sections where the tree roots had totally intertwined themselves or even overtaken the stones, and there were lots of people stopping to take photos where this was the case. I was equally impressed, however, by the ruins of the bricks themselves which had probably been caused by a combination of age and the undergrowth eventually overpowering the temple structure.
Banteray Kdei
I had one last temple to visit which was a smaller and much quieter structure at the end of the 'mini tour'. Banteray Kdei was opposite another temple which will be part of my visit tomorrow, and was somewhat smaller in height and size from the three major ones I had visited earlier.
It had the twisting corridors of Angkor Thom and a platform which led into it which I had seen at several of the other sights. Once again it was the artwork of the stones what made it so appealing, and it was hard not to admire this along with the significant amount of time that these had stayed in tact for. I wandered around sticking to the outside section before eventually taking a path through the middle. It didn't take quite as long to explore but was very impressive to walk around, and a good way to finish off the temples for today.
My 'mini-tour' was now complete and my only task now was to cycle the 9kms or so back to Siem Reap.
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It had been a long day having got up so early this morning, but I was pleased with what I had achieved having seen ten or so temples on my journey throughout the park.
The cycle back to Siem Reap was an interesting one to say the least as I got incredibly lost before eventually stumbling across the old market I had walked around last night. I grabbed a drink from a store next to my hotel and also had something to eat as I'd neglected breakfast this morning in order to see sunrise. For once I actually hadn't felt very hungry, probably because my mind was distracted by all the exploring I had been doing - believe me, Angkor Wat should feel delighted that it could distract me away from feeling the need to eat.
Tonight I ventured back out towards 'pub street', the main strip of restaurants, and settled for grabbing some food from a place which was serving Cambodian BBQ meats. It was a nice restaurant which had quite a large choice of things to eat which is just what I needed after a long and busy day.
Just as I left the restaurant, I felt a few drops of rain on my head which made everyone else on the street go into a frenzy as they feared a downpour. You could almost see the tuk-tuk drivers faces light up as they expected lots more passengers. It was clear at this point to see who the English people were as we were the only people continuing along our way without too much fuss. Eventually the rain subsided, and I was able to walk back to the hotel in the dry.
Tonight we had what must have been four or five either partial or complete power cuts which made it a very strange evening. I came back to find my hotel buried in complete darkness, only to discover that not all of the lights had stopped working on my floor or in my room.
Eventually all of the lights came back on, but then everything went dark as all the power in the entire hotel went out for about twenty minutes. It returned but only to go again two minutes later, and this must have been a relatively major issue as the restaurant across the street and the hotel opposite both appeared to have no power. It eventually came back on again maybe ten minutes later as I lived in fear of it disappearing again at some point which thankfully it didn't.
Unbelieveable
Craig David (2005)
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