It was an early start. Sunrise at Angkor Wat is one of those incredible experiences on the bucket lists of many travellers, and even in low season there were hundreds of people making the journey out from Siem Reap in the dark. We were up at 4am for a 4:30 pickup. We bought our tickets amongst the rain and thousands of insects at the ticket booth. The weather was not cooperating and as we arrived on the scene, our head torches illuminated just some of the hundreds of puddles I stood in as we walked along the promenade into the inner area of the temple grounds.
Humidity wreaked havoc with my filters and I had absent mindedly left my lens hood in my other bag at the hotel. It was raining, my lens was fogging up and as people arrived, my position was thwarted by people with no quams of stepping in front of me to take their pictures. It didnt matter much because the clouds were pretty thick and their was nothing happening in the sky. Either way I was pretty disappointed as it became apparent that my opportunity to capture an image I had wanted for years was not going to come to fruition. The weather forecast for the next few days was the same....
We moved on quickly to Ta Prohm, the famous buildings with the trees growing out from the stone structures, crushing them and sending them crumbling. We beat all the crowds here and it was beautifully quiet for the first hour or so. After finally cleaning the condensation from my filters so I could make clear images, I slowly made my way around and through the incredible buildings and towers, it was lush and green, with incredible carving and stonework, from the 11th century. Selfishly I was pretty disappointed with the many areas that now have boardwalks and handrails that remove the look of something that was well before our time, and the cranes, scaffolding, works tools and employees that were restoring the buildings. Without question it is great that teams of people are working to keep this marvelous place from totally collapsing, it just made it look so ugly and very difficult to photograph.
We revisited Angkor Wat later in the morning and went inside the structure this time. I had a moment where it sank in that I was standing in this remarkable place, but it was quickly washed away by the throngs of tourists, guided by a bloke with a megaphone blasting out his commentary to his group of sheep, they really do suck the enjoyment out of these places.
There was a quick break midday for lunch and a pool dip to cool off back at the hotel, then we returned in the afternoon to see Angkor Thom and it's impressive gateways and temples such as the Bayon with its dozens of larger than life faces, the Bauphon, and the Elephant terrace. By days end we were pretty beat from walking and exploring, and I was even getting slightly bored.
Our hotel was probably the best we have stayed in SE Asia, incredible value with a great breakfast and a nice little pool, close to town and friendly helpful staff that could communicate well with us. We wandered through the markets, sat and had street food and wandered the loud streets at night, enjoying 50 cent beers and various other cheap drinks and cocktails. I had a mixed fruit smoothie that was so good at one place that I had to have another straight away. The heat is pretty over whelming so icy drinks really are refreshing.
We had dinner at a Khmer restaurant and discovered that we really do love the Cambodian curry, and I am a big fan of the Chicken Amok dish, when it's done well. The green mango salad is also very good, a mixture of the fruit, salt, and chilli, that really beats a hot meal in the middle of the day.
Our time in Cambodia was coming to an end, but we had experienced their beaches and islands, eaten their traditional dishes, discovered more of their unfortunate history and gazed in wonder at some of the worlds most unbelievable structures. Vietnam was next, and I remembered suddenly that Vietnam held many treasures that I was looking forward to also: Caves, jungle, historic villages trapped in time, hilltop rice fields, mountains, lime stone cliffs, and their own version of the twelve apostles, except there are hundreds!!! it really should be great fun!
All photographs by Tara
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