At last; Ankhor Wat

  

Tuesday 30th Dec. 2008  

It's been all go since I left Viet Nam, but so good to be travelling with my son Richard. If I'd been alone in Phnom Pen I don't think I'd have visited the Killing Fields, so I'm glad he was with me for this horrifyingly moving experience. The monument at the site contains at least 20,000 skulls, a fraction of the people who were butchered there, not to mention the many thousands or millions who died at the hands of the Khymer Rouge all over the country. A quarter of the population died in the 3+ years they were in power! This country is still recovering. Cambodia or Kampuchea is quite different from Viet Nam; there are so many beggars, children and victims of land mines here that a tourist has to be selective in giving money. Sometimes it's enough to give a child a bottle of water just purchased. Desperate! 

After a couple of days we booked tickets for a boat trip up river to Siem Reap, the entrance to Ankhor Wat, so at 6.30 on Monday morning we were at the quay with a bag of bananas, bread and bottle of water to sustain us.  I soon began to understand what I'd read online; one traveller's advice was to not travel inside as it's too stuffy, but to find a place on deck and chain one's bag to the rail.  OK, I thought, I'm sure that's good advice, but it wasn't until we boarded the long, narrow boat that we thought was to ferry us to a bigger boat, that we realised how a large cumbersome river boat would be far too slow for the journey of 60 Kilometres. 

We were among the first onboard, so chose our place in the bow and tried to get comfortable on the deck; with no seats we made use of our bags and a blanket but it was quite uncomfortable and my legs began to cramp after a while. Starting at 7.30am, the 60 Km river journey took just 6 hours so we were exposed to the midday sun as we crossed the huge Lake, where the shores just disappear. Unfortunately, coming from cold northern climes, Rich forgot about the strength of the sun and got his legs and face badly burned. I was luckier, having long trousers, long sleeved jacket and my sunhat firmly tied in place with a scarf, but my unprotected feet and lower legs are now the colour of boiled lobster and my lower lip is swollen!  (Like a idiot, I've left my sun protection in my case at the hotel!)

We were met at the Quay by a friend of the Tuk-tuk driver we used in Phnom Pen, (you can't avoid using them unless you hire a bicycle, which some tourists do,) to bring us to a hotel, which is clean and not too expensive.  When I say Quay, please imagine a rough earth causeway (must be horrendously slippery in the rain) rising up from the lakeside, crowded with Drivers holding placards with the names of the Tourists they are to meet. I'm glad we had no illusions of finding our own way into town as it was quite some way.  

It really is necessary to make friends with those who provide a good service in guiding and advising and the ones we've met seem to be honest and reliable. They are educated and speak pretty good English, but they can't earn enough as Teachers to keep a family, so they invest in this carriage attached to a motorbike to earn substantially more from Tourists. 

Later we had a wonderful meal of Khymer cuisine and explored the market where we were persuaded to have a 'fish massage', which was great fun and really cleaned my poor old feet! 

I'd heard about the sunrise at Ankhor Wat, so determined to get the whole experience, this morning we were up at 4.30 for a 5am pickup by 'our' Tuk-tuk driver. We joined an unending procession of Tuk-tuks, buses and cars for about 15 Km's along a less than perfect road to reach the site. There, we bought one-day tickets and proceeded to follow the crowds, stumbling along a causeway across the huge moat that encircles the site, (the only entrance) in the semi-darkness.  If this is meant to be a profound experience it is diluted by the the hordes of Tourists waiting for the moment when 'the dawn comes up like thunder' to quote the words of an old song; 'The Road to Mandalay', that came to mind and seemed appropriate.  However, this morning the crowds waited in vain for an apocalyptic vision as it was more of a damp squib; dull and overcast, raining briefly while we took cover under the dripping umbrellas of the many waiting food stalls anxious to serve us breakfast. 

The fare to Ankhor Wat was $15 and our driver waited patiently for us to return. Unfortunately for him, we couldn't face any more sightseeing and just wanted to return to our beds.  We're probably suffering from mild heat stroke and Richard is still affected by jet-lag as he was travelling for 2 days without any proper sleep.  So after a couple of hours, I'm up again and at this Restaurant called 'The Dead Fish' that houses a few crocodiles that they don't want to eat and can't loose into the river. It's the only place I've found that has FREE WiFi with good coffee. I'm enjoying the good choice of music too! 

I'll post a few pictures of the journey. One shows me with the troupe of Shadow Dancers that recreate the traditional forms of theatre in Phnom Pen and also abroad.  A couple of pics from the boat trip and you'll see from our faces how much we enjoyed the 'Fishage'. Then Dawn at Ankhor Wat and our Tuk-tuk driver.  

That's it for now folks!!!