ANDYBROUWER.CO.UK
A
CAMBODIAN ADVENTURE WITH LISA & THEA
Lisa's Cambodian Travelogue
Thursday April 6 - After
working so many hours in the days before leaving, all I wanted to
do was sleep. So, that's all I did . . . on the plane on the way,
as well as when I arrived in Siem Reap at the Guesthouse that was
to be (intermittantly) home for the next 10 days. Finally dragged
myself into the world of the living in the late afternoon, and
had a quick wander around the market, before meeting Sok Thea for
dinner at the Kulen Restaurant (the Kulen beef - cooked rare then
sliced and served with tamarind sauce - was fantastic) with it's
dance performance.
Friday April 7 - Off to
Phnom Kulen and Kbal Spean for the day. Pretty good roads
(relatively) for most of the way. The roads were the least of my
concern at the time, though, as the 4WD we were in had battery
problems and required clutch-starting every time we stopped. The
wat and reclining buddha were at Phnom Kulen were nothing
spectacular, but the falls were quite nice, and it was fun to be
part of the local crowd enjoying the day there and swimming
(fully clothed, of course) under the falls - the water from which
had already passed over 1,000 lingas (stone, of course, not real,
so the water was clean). By the time we got to Kbal Spean after
lunch, the heat was picking up. I'd been assured that because
we'd be walking through jungle that it would be cooler. Yeah,
right ! Under the trees, the heat and humidity had no way to
escape, leaving the air thick and stifling. The 45minute walk
took only 30minutes, with a couple of stops along the way, but
was worth it to see (besides more stone lingas) some great
carvings of Vishnu et al. On the way back, we stopped at Banteay
Srei - I'd missed this on my last trip to Angkor 3 years
previously - no amount of money could get us there at the time,
given security issues. Lovely little temple, although somewhat
crowded with a group of monks - no, I didn't want photos of the
monks, just the temple, but they wouldn't get out of the way. We
gave a lot of the vendors a lift back to town from Banteay Srei.
They all had a great laugh as they watched me attempt to eat some
strange fruit - orange, thick mango-like flesh, with so many
seeds - no idea what it was, but tasted good for a while. A
not-good sunset at Bakheng (ah, wrong season anyway) on the way
back finished off the day.
Saturday April 8 - This was originally
supposed to be just a day-trip to Beng Mealea, but actually
turned into Day 1 of the 4-day trip into the jungle, in search of
Koh Ker and other temples. The crew from Angkor Conservation
picked me up in their 4-wheel drive (same truck as yesterday, but
with 'fixed' battery), with a driver, a 'head-guy' and 2
soldiers. First stop, though, was the central market. We may be
staying in some fairly remote villages, where there'd be little
spare food, so we'd need to stock up on enough basic provisions
to feed ourselves along the way. A pot, a kettle, some bowls,
spoons and chopsticks, a case of Mama noodles, dried fish, cans
of sardines, a bottle of chilli sauce (if I was going to eat that
stuff, I'd need to kill the taste!), tea, crackers and lots of
bottles of water. Finally on the road, the adventure started
early. Many of the bridges were not strong enough to handle going
over, so we had to go around. At each bridge we had to stop,
inspect it, jump up and down on it a few times, look for other
routes, and then somehow get to the other side. First bridge of
the day . . . had to go around, but got stuck in the sand and
stalled . . . damn hard to clutch-start trying to push through
sand, but finally succeeded. Second bridge of the day . . . also
around, this time through a small channel of water . . . didn't
see the deep hole, but my head felt it on the dashboard. Thea and
I went down the road to Chao Srei Vibol on a local moto, while
the rest of the guys tried to work out how to get the truck out
(which they finally did about an hour later - see picture above).
Chao Srei Vibol was a
local temple/monastery located beside a ruined temple. Throughout
the ruin, we were followed by three local kids, who picked
delicious mangoes for us from the trees. The ruined temple itself
was lovely and peaceful, located on the top of a hill, with a few
towers, galleries and walls still standing, in between piles of
rubble. The locals and the monks at the monastery then fed us
coconuts and lychees until our truck turned up to get us. Our
packed lunch was eaten at the soldier's canteen, with the
soldiers claiming what was left for themselves. A couple of them
then came with us to tour the ruined temple of Beng Mealea, named
after the local flowering tree that used to be in the area. The
ruin was unbelievable. They say that Ta Prohm is overgrown and
atmospheric (and I used to think that too), but it had nothing on
Beng Mealea. Clambering over those ruins made me really feel like
I was discovering some new unknown temple, climbing through
windows and galleries, around trees and roots, and over fallen
bricks - especially so given then number of thorns that spiked me
as I went. Another 3 or so hours of driving brought us to the
town of Svayle - we would not make it to Siyong tonight.
Following protocol, the first port of call was to see the
governor of the town (thus breaking up a game of cards), getting
his 'blessing' to pass through the district, and sorting out the
paperwork. As there were no guesthouses in town, we were offered
a choice of the local hospital or a local person's house for the
night - we chose the latter. What was left of the afternoon was
spent meeting some of the locals, taking family portraits of my
host family, looking around the local temple, and taking a walk
to the local 'waterfall' which was no more than a spring but
which was cool and refreshing to sit with my feet in and splash
myself a little. I really admire 
the family whose house we stayed in - the
father/husband had lost a leg and some sight in one eye thanks to
a land-mine. But, instead of being like so many others I see
begging for money, this guy changed careers, resulting in a very
busy general store and cycle repair shop - taking the family
portrait for them meant customers were waiting (see picture
right). He was also much more agile that me - he'd be up the
stairs to his house faster than I could manage with both my legs
! That night, there was a local festival about a km down the road
- food and drink stalls, merry-go-round type rides, and a (very)
amateur performance of the story of buddha (in true SEAsian
style, with poor quality sound system making the singers sound
off tune and screechy).
Sunday April 9 - I've
learned now, that when Khmers say we're leaving at 7am, that it
really means be ready by 6.15 or 6.30, otherwise you won't get to
eat breakfast. So, it was possibly a good thing that the roosters
are crowing and the market was coming to life at about 6am: my
alarm clock. It was also a good thing that we hadn't attempted to
get to Siyong the night before. It took a good 4hours to get
there along ox-cart tracks, many of which were barely visible for
the new growth after light rains, and through river beds. We went
no more than about 25kmh. Siyong itself was not much more than a
main street, although the town was apparently relatively rich,
thanks to the red, fertile soil, good for growing beans that they
'export' to other towns. It is quite a new town, only becoming
safe in the past few years - such a new town, that no temple
exists yet, and monks from neighbouring towns need to make
regular visits. It took a while to sort through the paperwork
with the town governor. While waiting, we joined the locals in
front of one of the houses, talking to the people, and drinking
coconut juice. One man asked whether I was a 'barang' assuming I
was French. He was told that I was Australian - that dumbfounded
him - he'd never heard of that place. The town governor was quite
excited to have us there, and insisted on joining us for the 7km
trip to Koh Ker, with another of his men. He was so proud showing
us around the site. The main temple site was deceiving. On
arrival, we could see the wall, but no sign of 
the rest of the temples. We walked through the wall,
then down a path, then suddenly on our right was the main tower
of Koh Ker, Prasat Thom, standing tall, somewhat overgrown, with
7 levels of undecorated terraces. We climbed up to the top, where
there were only a few remains of garudas and dragons - but the
views were amazing. Before fully descending, we did a lap of one
of the wide terraces. Back through the wall, there was another
path leading to the remains of a gate, before we reached a series
of small brick towers, followed by a 'path' made of bricks from
fallen down towers, leading to the remains of a hall of some sort
and another gate/hall. The pillars were only along one side of
the path, the left side as you walked towards the impressive
redbrick tower - Prasat Kraham (or Red Prasat). The tower still
had beautiful carved sandstone columns by the door, and one
lintel still in pretty good shape - the other lintel had been
damaged by thieves. Through a couple of small fallen down towers
and we reached another gallery/hall area. Each time you turned
around, another structure emerged in front of you. We'd easily
filled a couple of hours wandering around the site.
Back at the truck, the
soldiers were busy playing cards, but in the meantime they'd
cooked up a great lunch: rice, barbequed chicken, chicken and
lemon soup (delicious !), and noodles - how was I supposed to eat
it all? The local kids from the nearby village quickly polished
off the leftovers, together with a packet of biscuits. One of the
smaller temples on the way back to Siyong was impressive.
Surrounded by a laterite wall, the single laterite tower still
had it's lintel and columns intact, although it required a small
log to keep it all from falling down (thanks to a previous trip
by Angkor Conservation). We were told that the road we were
intending to take, directly to Phum Mrich Pdak (I think) near
Preak Khan, was unsafe, since it hadn't been de-mined. That meant
we had to go the 90km to Preah Vihear town. On this stretch of
road we even managed to over a few bridges (instead of around),
and a couple of times nearly hit 40kmh! Even still, it took 5
hours to get to town. At the restaurant, we could have anything
we wanted, as long as it was rice, vegetables and those 'yummy'
not-quite-hatched eggs where you can recognise the chicken -
they'd run out of everything else. I felt that I'd deserved those
couple of beers (with rice and vegetables, no eggs) to celebrate
visiting this 'long lost' temple site.
Monday April 10 - The
local minister for culture met us for breakfast, before we hit
the road again at 7am. The road quickly deteriorated to worse
than we'd been on the day before - instead of overgrown tracks,
we could actually see the road ahead of us and it was real rough.
Three hours got us about 50km to the turn-off, and then it was
another 3 or so hours to go the 56km to the temple site - with an
essential stop for more paperwork, a gallon of honey-flavoured
rice whiskey on the way, and a stop by a drunk 'official' who
couldn't extort any money out of us because we had all the right
paperwork (but our driver appeared pissed off at his cigarettes
being taken as a 'present'). The first minor temple on the way, a
few km before the main complex, was beside a huge baray, still
filled with water at this time of year. Local legend has it that
a fisherman went toward the other end of the baray, to an island
there. He killed a crocodile, and when he got back to shore, both
his children were dead. The people are now superstitious, and
won't go anywhere near that island. The temple was not much more
than a laterite base with 2 elephant statues, a wall with
apsara-decorated gates and the remains of a causeway with nagas.
The carved pieces were still pretty much intact, with the locals
fiercely protecting them. The second minor temple, my favourite,
was a further 2km down the road. Sandstone galleries (largely
filled with rubble) surrounding a sandstone tower with 4 'Bayon'
faces, thus named Prasat Mouk Boun. Local boys stared at me while
we ate lunch - very few blonde farangs get down this way I guess.
We'd had a packed lunch made at the restaurant in the morning -
rice with chicken and pork with a delicious sweet chilli sauce -
and more mama noodles. The soldiers had caught a turtle, and
cooked it up somehow - I missed tasting that one. Maybe it was
the heat. Maybe it was the dehydration even after drinking as
much water as I could. Maybe it was being thrown about in the
truck due to rough roads. But, while Preah Khan of Kampong Svai
was impressive and all, it really didn't catch my attention in
the same way that Bang Mealea or Koh Ker did.
The entrance to the main
temple area was reminicent of the entrance to Angkor Thom,
although on a considerably smaller scale. A beautifully decorated
sandstone 'gaol' and another stucture of laterite were just near
where we ate lunch. As we entered the main area, there were 3
laterite towers on our right (which we couldn't get to for the
scrub), doorways and remains of structures on our left, and a few
sandstone towers ahead. Looters had really gone to town on some
of the towers, with big chunks of carvings hacked out of the
corners. It was difficult to see what else was there, without
wandering through the scrub and finding it. The sandstone
galleries, gates and walls around the outside were difficult to
distinguish from the trees until you were were virtually on top
of them. Back on the road about 3pm, we left the complex by a
different route from which we came, heading towards Steng
(located on National Highway 6), driving along a track that (at
times) we appeared to be making up as we went. We must have been
going the right way, though, since we did end up on something
that appeared to be a road - so good was this road at times that
we managed to go over more bridges than we went around, and even
got up to 50kph at least once - but, then, so bad was the road at
times that we 'crashed' into a hole in the road that we didn't
see (had that seatbelt on, so no lump on the forehead this time,
but the jolt really took the wind out of me, and well contributed
to the sore back I had by the end of the trip). It was getting
dark, we'd taken a few wrong turns and had to back track, the
road was rough going (and even a couple of healthy swigs of honey
whiskey didn't make the road any better), and by 9pm we'd gotten
to Steng. It was to be another 4hours (at least) to Siem Reap,
and with rain starting to fall, we decided to stop for the night.
We were all exhausted, and almost everyone had a couple of beers
and some honey whiskey with dinner while the rain fell outside.
Tuesday April 11 - Awake
by 5am with the noises of the roosters and town going to market,
and on the road before 6am. This was supposed to be a holiday,
and I was getting up this early! Breakfast (usual filter coffee
with sweet milk, and a bowl of noodles) in Kampong Kdei. The naga
bridge was pretty impressive, made from laterite with sandstone
railings and nagas at each end. Finally made it back to Siem Reap
by 11am - nearly 5hours on rough roads, although these were the
best roads of the trip. E-mails home to say I was alive and well,
a relaxing lunch, and a snooze to recover from the road trip.
Travelling with the Angkor Conservation guys has it's advantages
- we got to view the pieces being stored in their warehouse -
lintels, nagas, and various statues, all waiting to (maybe, in
theory) go back to where they came from. Sunset at Angkor Wat was
relaxing - most people had left for the afternoon, maybe because
of the rain earlier in the afternoon, leaving the place quiet,
empty, enjoyable and pretty much all to me.
Wednesday April 12 - Got
to sleep in a little, leaving at 7am for Sisophon (or Svay as
known locally) in a local pick-up/taxi. I was a farang, had 2
seats bought for me, so got the front seat to share with a little
kid. Thought is was going to be awful in the front cab, usually
hot squashed and stuffy - but not too bad with the air con on
(which saved us from getting covered in mud spashing up from the
road). The roads on the way to Sisophon were up there with some
of the roads I'd been on during the past few days - so no respite
from that 'thrown about' feeling. In some places, the paddy
fields were better than the road - although that was also because
the bridges were impassable. We did hit a sticky spot, though . .
. trying to get back up onto the road from a paddy, we slipped
and were unable back up onto the road . . . bit a problem getting
back down to try again . . . very steep embankment that we were
not far of overturning down - at least we just slid the rest of
the way. 4hours later, after unloading all the fresh Tonle Sap
fish from the back of the truck, we reached Sisophon. At the bus
station, all the taxi drivers assumed we were going on the
Thailand, so it took a while to shake them and find a moto
driver. Dropped off at a local restaurant to get some lunch, he
went to find a friend to take Thea and I to Banteay Chhmar. It
was only 70km, and out moto driver assured us that the road was
good and it would take an hour. I had my doubts on this for two
reasons: (1) the only road I know of in Cambodia on which anyone
could manage 70kph on is the new highway from Phnom Penh to
Kampong Cham, and I seriously doubted similar quality of road
given what I'd just come off, and (2) I didn't think that Honda
Dreams could go that fast. Needless to say, the roads were so bad
that I nearly bounced off the seat a dozen times, and it took a
good 2 hours to get there. The driver could understand a little
English and a little Thai, but neither seemed to be of use asking
him (sorry, yelling at him) to stop so I could drink some water.
Of course, once I did manage to stop, he just asked: 'why didn't
you just ask me to stop'. Aaarrggghh! We had Banteay Chhmar all
to ourselves, excepting the soldier assigned to guide us. Despite
it's general state of disrepair, the site was very impressive,
and you could imagine how large and beautiful the site would have
been all those years ago. As we wandered from the entrance to the
back of the temple, there were a number of doorways with lintels
still in good condition, carvings of apsaras, and a series of
4-faced towers. From the back, we headed to our left and followed
the wall around, admiring the amazing reliefs - so many of them
(most of the south wall was intact) and still in quite good
condition. We only saw the reliefs on one side of the complex -
they continued around the other side, but with more of the wall
having fallen over.
It was 4pm. There was
another couple of temples nearby that were known about. Our moto
guys weren't quite sure how to get to them, so we went to ask the
local moto guys under the tree at the local market near the
corner of the temple. Mebon (or Neak Bon as the locals referred
to it) was interesting to get to. Go across the local school
(right near the market), down a local track, take the first right
(don't go straight), through a village (this is where we picked
up another guy who had a better idea of where to go), follow the
remains of the laterite wall, go across the first creek bed, but
don't cross the second creek bed (quite deep), follow it, turning
to the left until you get to a baray filled with rice paddies,
start to walk across the rice paddies, half-way across take off
your shoes and roll up your pants because the murky water in the
rice paddies reaches your thighs, then hack your way through
thorns and scrub until you find the fallen-down remains of a
small sandstone temple. OK, finding it was more of the adventure
than seeing it. Banteay Top was much easier to find (OK, so
picking up another local on the road helped), and much more
impressive. Back towards Sisophon for 10km, then turning right
and following that road for about 8km. You can't miss that one,
and in dry season was easy to cross the rice paddies to reach it.
Five towers, in good condition not so long ago until vandals,
trying to steal some large pieces, caused one of the towers to
collapse on top of them. That'll teach 'em. Pity that the light
was fading, so didn't get to explore as much as I would have
liked, and we only just made it to the main road before it was
completely dark. It then took another 3hours of that road again
to get back to town. Body was aching just trying to get up the
stairs to go to sleep.
Thursday April 13 - Body
was still aching the next day, and it was getting difficult to
get motivated to move about, let alone get into a taxi for (what
was supposed to be) another 4hour drive. Thea had arranged for a
taxi to pick us up when they were full, and by about 8am we were
on our way back. It had rained overnight, making the roads
muddier and more slippery than before. To make it worse, those
paddy fields we drove through the day before, to avoid the
fragile bridges and craters in the road, were filled with water
and impassable. The first delay was bridge-related: a pick-up,
trying to cross a bridge, fell through it and was stuck with no
wheels on solid ground, with dozens of cars lined up working out
how to get to the other side, and at least 20 people trying to
pick up the truck and somehow push it across the bridge. The
second and much longer delay was mechnical. Our taxi had 'broken'
and needed to be 'fixed', and it took about 90 minutes to get
whatever fell off securely tied to something else. Whatever was
done, it somehow worked, as the taxi didn't break down again for
the remainder of the trip. Pity they didn't fix the hole at the
front near my feet - the floor of the passenger side filled with
muddy water (first covering my feet) as we went through the deep,
water-filled potholes. Finally, at about 3pm, we got back to Siem
Reap. Still aching, my plan for the afternoon was to do nothing !
The people at Bakong Guesthouse were really good to me, bringing
lunch up to me after I'd showered and changed - room service in a
guesthouse ! Best I managed was to watch a couple of cable tv
movies, attempt to send e-mails to confirm I was still alive, and
get the required souvenir shopping out of the way.
Friday April 14 -
Definitely not the best day of the trip. Started the day feeling
pretty average, but decided to go with mind-over-matter - I was
going to be fine! Revisiting Angkor complex for the first time in
nearly 3 years, I chose to start at the quiter, outer temples
first - after the past few crowd-free days, the last thing I
wanted was to be in a temple heaving with people. Preah Khan was
just as I remembered it, although discovering different nooks and
crannies as I went. By Neak Pean, however, I was feeling
lethargic, as I wandered around the different styled
water-spouts. Krol Ko was a peaceful little temple, warm and
inviting. There was only one other person there - another
Thailand-residing expat, and we talked for a while, comparing
notes of where we'd travelled before, the people in those
countries, and the differences between city-life in Bangkok and
laid-back lifestyle of Phuket, before agreeing to meet the next
morning to share a boat on Tonle Sap. By the next temple, Ta Som,
however my health was further deteriorating and I was really
struggling to even get back to the guesthouse, let along see the
temple proper - my back was in pain, and I was feeling extremely
nauseous, and no amount of positive-thinking was going to make me
feel otherwise. Rest, attempts at sleep, and plenty of water and
rehydration salts was all I could manage for the rest of the day.
This rest was broken, however, by a panic note from the girl I'd
met earlier - she'd come off the motorbike and badly hurt her
ankle, the local hospital had nothing, and she needed any kind of
medicine I had. I always carry a medical kit, so made it to her
hotel where we tried to betadine the missing skin, and find
anything to relieve the pain (of which paracetamol was all we
could manage). It took me a good 15minutes to walk the 50metres
back to my guesthouse - at that point, I was ready to pack and
get plane out of there (problem was that I didn't feel I was even
capable of doing that). Some dencorub discovered in the medical
kit helped ease the pain a little, giving me a night's sleep.
Saturday April 15 -
Feeling somewhat better (and smelling of more dencorub) I decided
to give Angkor complex another try, going real slow and taking my
time. Short walks around Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang, Preah Rup,
East Mebon and Presat Kravan filled my morning. While Prasat
Kravan is the smallest of all these temples, it was definitely my
favourite - clean, relaxing and crowd-free. I don't think I can
recommend my guesthouse more! Again, still not feeling 100%, they
insisted on bringing my lunch as room service. I think they were
happy that I was starting to feel better and was eating again. In
the afternoon, I headed over to Banteay Samre. I don't recall
having gone to this one on the last trip - another of those
temples designated as unsafe at the time. I think I'd have to
rate Banteay Samre as one of my favourites in the Angkor Complex.
Nicely restored, well kept and clean, the small crowds keeping
fairly quiet as you'd expect in a temple. Pale-coloured laterite
walls and galleries with sandstone windows were beautiful. The
temple kids, while still trying to sell you more whistles
(despite having already bought two, at 500riel each - I didn't
even bother to bargain), seemed more interested in just following
you around, looking at what you're looking at, rather than
desperately hassling you to buy everything. Stopped at Ta Prohm
on my way back. That 'amazing, overgrown temple' I'd seen and
remembered from years ago, seemed so 'clinical' after trapsing
aroung Beng Mealea and Koh Ker. Light was fading, so only a very
short visit, before heading back to town.
Sunday April 16 - Again
refusing to get up too early (this was supposed to be a holiday),
it was going on 7.30 am when we headed off to Tonle Sap. The road
there was relatively flat, and the houses along the street were
decorated for the new year: tables near the front door with
offerings of fruit and drinks (always Mirinda orange drink -
why?), and bamboo stars covered with multicoloured cellophane.
Arriving at Tonle Sap by 8am, most of the tourists hadn't yet
arrived, giving a peacful morning on the lake. Views of daily
life on the water proved interesting, with houseboats ranging
from simple 'junk'-looking boats, to fancy floating houses with
rooftop gardens. I wish the standard part of the tour did not
include visiting the fish-farm, with it's sick, near-featherless
birds tied to logs in the water for the tourists - what tourist
would want to see that? Heading back to shore, there was a steady
stream of tourist traffic heading out. We stopped at Phnom Krom
on the way back, getting a dose of exercise climbing the hill.
The towers there were nothing spectacular, although the stone
used were really interesting - I'd never seen sandstone erode
like that before. From the top of the hill, you could see the
dark clouds rolling in, and the heavy rain falling in the
distance. We only just got back to town without getting too wet.
With no intentions of walking around temples in the rain, I
settled in for a couple of hours at my favourite Cafe Kampuccino
with my book, a pot of peppermint tea, and classical music
playing in the background. The rain eased up at about 1pm,
meaning that I could head back for one last visit to Angkor site
- this time to the Bayon. Last trip, not long after we arrived at
Bayon a bus-ful of Japanese tourists arrived, taking over the
temple, thus prompting us to just get out of there. This time, it
remained fairly peaceful for a couple of hours, allowing me to
admire the reliefs and amaze at the faces, before finally heading
home . . . . . . Lisa Cox (Bangkok)
Thea's Cambodian Travelogue
The mango
harvest in Cambodia is drawing to a close this May 2000, and a
new season has taken its turn. It is the rainy season, bringing
water to the land, which has been parched in the past few
months. With the water bringing the rebirth of green
tropical fauna and flora, friendly Cambodian kids in their ragged
shirts are commonly seen in various paddy fields. They are
working hard as always, searching for crabs, frogs and fish for
the daily food for their entire family. Although peace and
safety are now better assured, the local economy gives these
kids, the Khmer younger generation, virtually nothing in terms of
education and medical care, and they are living from hand
to mouth.
Of important
note, these kids have survived, partly due to the support of
tourists, who have visited the country despite uncertain
security, and have admired the wonders of the Angkor monuments,
passed on to the younger generation of Cambodia. As you are
aware, our Khmer ancestors built not only the Angkor
complex, but also other beautiful temples and cities,
hidden in the jungle. These are becoming accessible given
improving security. Traveling off the beaten track allows us not
only to explore the ancient capitals, but also further to witness
the real lifestyle of the friendly Khmers, and understand their
need for help.
To this end, we
would like to share with you our new discovery of the hidden
ancient Khmer capitals and amazing temples. Join us now in the
travelogue below:-
CHAO
SREI VIBOL – BENG MEALEA – PRASAT BOT
It was on
April 8, 2000, just 5 days before the beginning of Chul Chhnam
(Khmer New Year, April 13-15), that a 4WD car collected us at
dawn from Bakong Guesthouse, Siem Reap town. We and our armed
companions began our adventurous journey, after filling the back
of our car with pots, pans, safe drinks and food stocks. On
National Road 6 we drove, then through numerous villages where we
were greatly impressed by the way of life of the locals, their
fruit gardens, and other sights uniquely different from those we
had encountered in the cities. As New Year was drawing closer,
the villages were more active and colorful. Decoration was seen
on local wooden stilt huts, for welcoming the turn of a New
Khmer God (The Year of the Snake God). Both children and adults
dressed up colorfully, and they were cheerful. The village roads
are not easy. No concrete, just soil and sand, broken with huge
holes. Despite these difficulties, our powerful 4WD car went
through successfully and we arrived at Chao Srei Vibol at 10am.
Lisa Cox, from Australia, an amazingly adventurous traveler, and
sponsor of our trip, offered alms to the head of the Buddhist
monks residing at the monastery in the compound of Chao Srei
Vibol. This act helped reinforce Buddhism, whose Lord Buddha was
given alms by a generous lady amidst the forest, when he had just
started to eat after a long period of fasting, which taught him
an answer to life and to gaining enlightenment. Just as Buddha
blessed the lady, the monk then blessed all of us in his prayer,
in Pali language beyond our comprehension.
After
that, we climbed the northern hill toward the main towers of Chao
Srei Vibol, built in the 11th century in Baphuon
art style, and dedicated to Hinduism. Atop the hill, a few
sandstone towers stand in their amazing art style, and reliefs,
while other towers are totally collapsed. Walking around, we were
thirsty and hungry. Suddenly, we were given a surprise by a kid
who was shaking a mango tree. I was wondering what was in the
tree. Was it a chipron (a kind of tree dwelling rodent) or monkey
? No, it was the kid, and he climbed down with mango fruits. He
gave the fruits to us, we ate them and they were so sweet. I
found myself no longer thirsty and hungry! Walking down the
pyramid steps on the eastern side of the hill, we climbed down to
photograph an impressively ruined gopura, and while climbing down
we came across a beautiful free standing relief of lions, nagas
and more. Next we walked on the base to the cruciform building,
then to the pool which we would not have discovered without the
guidance of the local kids, and finally to our car. As we were
thirsty again, the monks gave us coconut fruits, and lychee
fruits. It was at noon, when the weather is so hot, that we bade
farewell to the kids and the monks, and set off, on the advice of
the monks, on an ancient road , which is easier than the
previous one, to Beng Mealea.
We were not
concerned about the state of the road, as it is common off the
beaten track. Villages along the ancient road close to the
Eastern base of Phnom Kulen (Kulen Mountains) are very remote and
in a poor state of development. This is made evident by the
sight of local huts and schools, simply made of leaves. After an
hour and a half, our car drew into Beng Mealea village. Before
proceeding to the temple, we were greeted by a military
engineering unit that was stationed at the gateway to the temple,
to look after the temple, and to check on travelers. As the
arrangement of our trip was assisted by the Cambodian government
officials who accompanied us, we were given a warm welcome, and
courteously offered a place as canteen for our lunch in their
military unit.
After lunch, we
proceeded to the temple of Beng Mealea built in late 11th
century by King Suryavarman II, and dedicated to Hinduism, in
Angkor Wat art style. By size, history, art and architecture, and
nature, Beng Mealea has been considered to be among the top three
temples, after Angkor Wat and Bayon. A team of armed soldiers
guided us through all the attractive buildings, and reliefs, and
the three ponds. We were highly impressed, with its style, huge
size, the long causeway, natural settings of tree trunks
covering the buildings, Apsara reliefs, and several
artistically styled nagas. Once infrastructure is improved,
Beng Mealea is one of the must-see sites.
That same
afternoon we headed to Svay Le District. On the way, we stopped
to visit an ancient sandstone quarry where Angkoreans are said to
have mined the stone for building the Angkor monuments. This is
where the Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor (JSA)
extracted sandstone for their conservation projects at Bayon,
Prasat Suor Prat and a library at Angkor Wat. Then we arrived
into Svay Leu district, where we stayed overnight after we were
received courteously by the governor Sin Ron, who briefed us on
security updates before we continued to Koh Ker the next morning.
We stayed in a local wooden house, owned by a family whose father
was a victim of a landmine accident, but who has survived, and is
wealthy by the standards of this remote town. We were guided to
visit another temple Prasat Bot in the compound of a
Buddist temple. Then, kids and other villagers took us to a
bathing area at the base of Phnom Kulen, when the sun was about
to set. Lisa and I walked with the kids and the village men all
the way (3kms) until we arrived at the bathing area, with creeks
and cool water. There, other villagers together with local
personnel of the Halo Trust, the British founded de-mining team,
were having their bath, while others were carrying water from
this clean source to their houses. It is a great evening meeting
spot! Lisa joined the locals for a bath and a chat. At night, to
end our day, we walked by torch light to a cultural show
(dance and drama) in an open field, that attracted the locals
from all the nearby villages.
KOH KER
Next morning,
April 9th, we set off for Koh Ker. The governor gave us two more
armed companions, led by the police commissioner Min Chantha. So
we had more confidence about safety from bandits for our onward
trip. After just fifteen minutes drive, we reached the dense
tropical jungle, where we were in the middle of nowhere; no
established road, no villages, no person in sight. We were on an
ox cart path covered all along by leaves fallen from
evergreen trees of this vast tropical jungle. This jungle is
inhabited by different kinds of wildlife, such as deer, tortoise,
cock, chipron, and other birds. Before we left Svay Leu town, we
saw local men carrying deer carcasses, no doubt hunted from this
jungle. On and on the car moved and our eyes feasted on the
beauty of the jungle, with evergreen trees and attractive birds
of different colors, that are not seen in the cities. The
commissioner also took his turn to explain to us about the
paddy fields we came across, even in the heart of
the jungle. These paddy fields have been abandoned since
1970, when Cambodia started to suffer civil war. He also pointed
out to us a hideout of bandits, that no longer exist now that his
troops have wiped them out. Once in a while, we stopped the
vehicle to rest, and on the way we saw no passers-by.
It takes 4
hours to drive the 50 km from the town Svay Leu to the
village Siyong, gateway to Koh Ker. We had done 30 kms already.
We were wondering if other teams had also conquered this jungle
like us. We were not the only ones. After our cars moved up and
down the dried stream bed, and over the hills, we
approached a team of ox carts, on which yellow robes and other
clothes were hanging. I asked myself who they were, and what they
were doing in the heart of jungle. We saw that Buddhist monks
,and other laymen were resting, and they told us that they were
making their way to Siyong. It would take them a full day by
ox cart. Then one of the laymen jumped on the back of our car,
and he made his way with us to the village. Several times were
left in the middle of nowhere, not able to recognize the path. We
would not have been able to make our way to Siyong had the
commissioner and his men not guided us to the paths, one by one.
On the way, we talked about the absence of communities in
the jungle. We understood that it is not because of the jungle
that the locals don’t settle to make a community. It is
because it is a drought area, there is no source of water,
neither can wells produce water. It is a matter of lack of
water, rather than safety and jungle. In the dry season, it
is impossible to spot the existence of water in any form of
puddle or stream in this jungle at the base of Phnom Kulen.
In the rainy season, the streams store water for only one
or two hours, then rush off toward the vast plain area below.
While we were talking, our car reached the border of the village,
where we could see huts, fruit gardens and some signs of
cultivation of beans. Next we stopped at the office of the Siyong
commissioner who we met briefly. Also, we took time to visit
the locals in their huts. The locals looked at us as strangers
that they saw for the first time. “Hey! Come and look at
“Barang”, one girl shouted.” She referred to
Lisa, a western tourist with sharp pointed nose and white skin
similar to the former colonial French. The word Barang means
French. “Ah! Barang Srei (French Woman)!”, a boy
shouted to his friends.
We heard music
from speakers nearby. One local explained to us about a Buddhist
temple that is to be established soon for the village
of Siyong. The locals have just moved there to settle in
their village of rich land after the civil war has died out, and
they want to have their Buddhist pagoda as the core of
their community. So monks from nearby districts, particularly
Svay Leu are invited to settle down at their newly established
temple. We then understood why we met the ox cart team of
Buddhist monks on our way. The major economy of Siyong is the
cultivation of beans and rice, and hunting. Rice and hunting are
just good enough to support the needs of their community, but
beans are produced for export. So the strength of Siyong is
beans. Twenty one years ago, Siyong was a fierce battle zone
where the Khmer Rouge forces clashed with the government’s
in an attempt to attack the towns of Preah Vihear Province. This
is the reason why the locals had to abandon their villages until
recent days.
After talking
with the villagers, we proceeded to Koh Ker, and the local
commissioner joined us, to guide our team. It took half an hour
to drive the 7km through the jungle. We then crossed the Baray,
the man-made lake of Koh Ker. We saw the locals carrying water
from the Baray. I understand why Koh Ker was chosen as
a former ancient capital ,and why the locals now chose
Siyong as their village. It is because of water, source of life,
and the heart of the community. It is a testimony to the
wisdom of the Angkorean kings, that they are famous for building
their moated cities, with Barays, ponds and canals, without which
the existence of crowded communities is not possible.
We then arrived
at the main complex of Koh Ker, one of the Khmer ancient
capitals, built in 928 (10th century) by King
Jayavarman 1V, after turmoil took place at the main complex of
Angkor, and dedicated to Hinduism. Lisa and I went inside with
the local commissioners Him and Eun to the main compound, while
our armed companions and driver stayed behind with the car,
to do the cooking in the area shaded by the laterite enclosure
wall. We walked by the inner moat, then into the main compound,
with overgrown, pyramidal seven tiered foundation towers. We
climbed, one by one, the sandstone staircases, largely broken due
to theft and natural erosion. Reaching the top of the main,
tiered temple Prasat Thom, we stood looking around. We were
amazed by the bird’s eye view of the landscape. Koh Ker is
bordered by vast evergreen tropical jungles, and the
mountains Phnom Kulen and Phnom Dangrek. It is easy to understand
why Koh Ker remains isolated and totally undiscovered. This was
also the reason why King Jayavarman IV chose Koh Ker as his
hideout during the turmoil at Angkor. We were also amazed by
the carvings of large garudas, and at the same time sorry to see
evidence of theft and illegal excavation. After climbing down, we
were taken to visit the temples nearby such as Prasat Andong
(Well temple), Prasat Khmao (Black temple), Prasat Kraham (Red
temple), and Prasat Kohak whose carvings of deities, animals and
flowers, on colonettes, lintels and frontons amazed us beyond
description. We felt deeply saddened by the illegal
excavation and destruction of sculptures, and theft of
ancient Khmer treasures from all temples.
After that we
went back to our car, where our escort team was ready to serve
several courses, of Thai noodles, grilled chicken and rice.
Before having our lunch, Lisa distributed crackers to the local
kids and other villagers who come to carry water from the moat of
the temple. On our way back, we visited another impressive
temple, Prasat Neang Mao, made of laterite, where we were greatly
impressed with the beautiful detailed carving on its lintel,
reflecting the unique artistic style of Koh Ker. At 3 pm, we
headed for the provincial town of Preah Vihear province, again
through a vast jungle. “There are about 130 temples in Koh
Ker, requiring a 2 week stay if we want to explore all the
temples,” said the local commissioner. After a two hour
drive, we passed through the jungles, into villages. The villages
here, however, looked rather temporary. Some families were
moving, others were not yet established . We were wondering why.
The commissioner explained to us the trend of moving back to
Siyong after the war, and we then understood. It is because the
source of water there is so scarce, that it is impossible
to establish a permanent community. We realized we were now on
the very northwest of Cambodia, on the high latitude and were
close to the Thai border. After another four hour drive, we
arrived at Bakan guesthouse in the Provincial town of Preah
Vihear at 9pm, for an overnight stay.
PREAH
KHAN, KAMPONG SVAY
Next morning,
April 10th, we left the town of Preah Vihear for Prasat Preah
Khan, now known as Prasat Bakan on the main road. But like other
roads, it was in a poor state of repair, and our
journey was so rough and bumpy. On the way, we were impressed by
slash and burn cultivation. The locals burnt down the trees of
excellent logs for gardens of bananas, jack fruits, pineapples
and other kinds of fruits. After two hours’ drive, we turned
right at the corner, with a banner “Welcome to Prasat Preah
Khan-Bakan 57 Kms", into the base of the mountains in the
jungle again. After going through the jungle, we approached the
district Srok Sangkuk Thmei, where we met with the deputy
governor Chum Puy and his commissoner Ou Buntheoun, who
issued us with a permit. We then left them and at one
village we were stopped by a drunken policeman. But after
showing the permit, he let us continue. On the way, we paused,
and one of our companions climbed a mango tree to pick
green mangoes, as a vinegar source for lunch in the next
few hours. At another village, our companions also requested the
driver to stop, for they wanted to purchase Sra Sor (white
alcohol made of rice, or Khmer Whisky). Our car then moved on and
on, until at 12pm we arrived at Prasat Preah Damrei (The
Elephant temple). In front of the temple is a huge Baray with
crystal clear, deep water. The size of this Baray is as huge as
that of the Western Baray at Angkor. The guards there told us it
was inhabited by crocodiles - no doubt why the Angkoreans
chose the area as one of their hideout capitals. Most of the
temples at Preah Khan were built in the 12th century
in Bayon art style, and the areas were the hideout of the
Angkorean King Jayavarman VII, when the neighbouring
Champas looted and burnt down Angkor. After residing at Preah
Khan, and regaining full strength, the emperor moved to reclaim
the throne at Angkor. The story of his victory is carved
vigorously on the galleries of Bayon and Banteay Chhmar.
Prasat Preah
Damrei was built in pyramidal style, but the chief attractions
are the free standing statue of the elephant being worshiped by
the locals, Apsara reliefs, and the attractive nagas with
garudas, symbols of unification of Hinduism and Buddhism. This
simple concept was successfully employed by the Angkorean Kings
to settle social issues concerning religious conflict.
After that we visited Prasat Mouk Boun (the four faced temple),
so called because of the tower carved with four
smiling faces, similar to those found at the Bayon. The
soldier guard at Preah Khan guided us to most corners of Prasat
Mouk Boun even though he was weak, due to suffering from malaria.
He asked us if we had any medicine for malaria, but we had
brought none. Then we drove through the eastern entry tower of
the main complex of Preah Khan. We were amazed by the entry
tower, which is similar to that of Angkor Thom, although it is
smaller in size. We rested at a wooden platform in a field, where
the past millennium celebrations were held. Our armed partners
cooked Thai noodles and rice for us again, while they themselves
had a special menu of tortoise, the Khmer Whisky, and other Khmer
foods. After lunch, we visited two temples nearby: Prasat Kuk,
and Prasat Sela Chareok, and then walked into the main tower of
Preah Khan, which was very overgrown. We came across many
impressive artistic reliefs, and again we were saddened by the
destruction of sculptures and reliefs. Many heads of Buddha
statues and Apsaras have been chopped off. The moat at the wing
of Preah Khan has been totally overgrown. It was not until 3pm
that we left Preah Khan, through the jungles, and villages, to
overnight at a guesthouse at Stung District, Kampong Thom
province, before journeying back to Siem Reap next morning.
BANTEAY
CHHMAR, MEBON AND BANTEAY TOP
On April 12, we
took a taxi at 8am from Siem Reap to Sisophon, in Banteay
Meanchey province, on National Route 6, which is a very
rough road. At 11am, we arrived in Sisophon, and checked in
to the best hotel available, the Prum Mean Chei. At noon, we took
motordops (motor taxis) to Pouk district, where the famous temple
Banteay Chhmar is located. The journey took two hours in the
severe heat, and we felt exhausted and dehydrated.
Arriving in Banteay Chhmar, we were taken to greet the
police unit that is stationed there to look after the temple,
after recent major thefts. After paying for the pass, one of the
police guided us into the temple, which is amazing both
architecturally and artistically. The chief attractions are
the four faced towers, and the beautiful carvings.
The carvings are dedicated to Alokesvara, the founder of Mahayana
Buddhism, and, on the galleries, to battle scenes of the victory
against the Chams. Banteay Chhmar was built in the late 12th
century in Bayon art style by the king Jayavarman VII, dedicated
to his son Shridrakumara, and to four of his companions-in-arms,
who saved his life during a fierce battle. Banteay Chhmar
is situated on a vast plain, surrounded by a large moat
filled with water. It also has its own inner pool. Next, our
motor taxi took us through the school and behind the school is
another temple similar to Mebon with a surrounding Baray. We
walked through the water of the Baray, knee deep, to the temple
on the island. There is nothing to admire, however. This temple
made of sandstone is totally collapsed and overgrown with plants
and thorn bushes. Mebon is known by the locals as Neak Bon. After
Mebon, we visited Banteay Top, in the same district of Pouk.
Banteay Top is located just 10Km from the main road, and we had
to drive through a rough soil road, still under construction.
When we arrived in Banteay Top village, our attention was caught
by the setting sun, giving wonderful sunset views over the huge
Baray. Next to the Baray is Banteay Top, with its impressive
towers of sandstone. Sunset is an excellent time to visit Banteay
Top. It was almost dusk when we walked into Banteay Top, to its
high towers and other buildings. It was not until 6pm that we
left the village for the main road. On the way through the
jungle, it was dark but it was safe and we enjoyed our visit very
much.
by
Sok Thea (Siem Reap)
Acknowledgements:
* Lisa Cox, for sponsoring the trip that we made together,
and without whom our successful discoveries would not have
been possible. * Local authorities at district level, and
government cultural officials, particularly Angkor Conservation,
for their support in terms of facilitation, guidance and sharing
documents for our understanding of ancient Khmer knowledge. * The
Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor (JSA) as my
employer, for granting me days off, which allowed me to lead this
successful trip, for their passion for the Cambodian people, and
for their encouragement throughout of my coverage of Angkor. *
All those international researchers, scholars, and tour operators
who have motivated me throughout.
Associated
Links:
- Go to Cambodia Tales 2 to read more about
the temples Lisa and Thea visited above or visit my own
travelogues at Cambodia Tales to relive the
author's personal experiences.
This website is
dedicated to the memory of... Sok Thea, a personal friend and
managing director of a Siem Reap-based tour company, Angkor
Adventures, who died in 2000 at the age of 29. I will miss but
always remember Thea's boundless enthusiasm, sense of adventure
and his friendship.
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