Siem Reap, Cambodia

Coming from Myanmar via Phuket and Bangkok. (The meal on Thai Airways is ice cream.) I've fixed up to meet Elaine in Siem Reap, for a last minute side trip to the amazing twelfth century Angkor Wat. Siem Reap is the second city in Cambodia, known mainly as the gateway to the temples at Angkor. Today, it's a tranquil place, but I can see that this situation will change very shortly. (An estimated two million visitors a year currently.) The whole tree lined approach, from the airport, is a hotel construction site. It looks as if they are building hundreds of megaliths. We're staying in delightful bungalows, with flower filled gardens. I can't see any more of these being built, from my tuk tuk. (There are hundreds of these too.)

Siem Reap is Cambodia’s second-largest urban area (350,000 residents) and is one of the most economically and culturally vital cities in the country. This is the ultimate engine for Cambodia’s global tourism industry, drawing in roughly half of all international visitors who enter the nation. So, the city is the primary source of foreign currency and a key driver of the national economy. Government master plans aim to leverage this economic power into a broader investment and technological hub.

Thankfully, despite the massive boom in luxury resorts and large hotels along the outer ring roads, Siem Reap has managed to preserve its intimate, small-town atmosphere at the (very walkable) centre. The Siem Reap River is lined with leafy promenades, trendy cafes, and traditional boutiques showcasing local Khmer craftsmanship, silk weaving, and stone carving. At night, the city comes alive around the famous Pub Street and its surrounding night markets.

A Brief History of Cambodia

• Evidence from carbon dating suggests that Cambodia was inhabited as early as 4000 B.C.
• The region was ruled by the Khmer Empire from 802 AD, for over 600 years. In addition to Angkor Wat, airborne laser scanning technology suggests that, multiple huge cities between 900 and 1,400 years old lie beneath the tropical forest floor. The Khmer leaders first introduced Hinduism, before they swapped to Buddhism.
• Cambodia experienced a decline of power, as its neighbours Vietnam and Thailand grew in strength.
• In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, and was then subsumed into French Indochina.

• After a period of Japanese occupation during the Second World War, Cambodia gained independence, in 1953.
• Despite Cambodia's neutrality, the Vietnam War extended into the country, in 1965, via the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk trails. A 1970 coup installed the US-aligned Khmer Republic, until it was overthrown, by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ruled the country and carried out the Cambodian genocide - The Killing Fields - from 1975 until 1979 (one and a half to three million people died), when they were ousted by a Vietnamese backed invasion.
• The Vietnamese-occupied People's Republic of Kampuchea became the de facto government. Conflict was ongoing until a 1997 coup d'état consolidated power under Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP). He is the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, (since 1985). It is a de facto one-party state.
• Millions of land mines were planted during the war years and Cambodia has the largest population of amputees in the world, caused by landmines. Almost half of the landmines are yet to be removed.

Angkor, Cambodia

Angkor was the seat of the Khmer kingdom from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. It is colossal (researchers using satellite photographs concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world by surface area, with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres (390 square miles), and incredibly fulfilling. This is one of the most rewarding archaeological sites that I have seen. It was discovered in farmland and the rainforest and partially cleared, from the late nineteenth century onwards. Garuda birds compete with elephants. The bas reliefs are fantastic. And there are pyramids reminiscent of the Mayan structures, though grander. There are also steps galore.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor’s vast complex of intricate stone buildings most notably includes preserved Angkor Wat (City of Temples). This is, incredibly, the largest religious monument in the world. It was built on the orders of Khmer King Suryavarman II, during the early twelfth century, as a Hindu temple, dedicated to the god Vishnu. He intended it to also be his mausoleum. By the end of the century it had evolved into a Buddhist temple.

The main building, with its five towers, is intended to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology. It faces west. Scholars are still arguing over that one, but think it may be related to the funerary plan. And there are three raised galleries around it, contained within a three mile long moat, which is great for photographs of reflections

Intriguingly, the construction of Angkor Wat also suggests a celestial significance: lines of sight from terraces within the temple show specific towers to be at the precise location of the sunrise on a solstice. And there's also an appointed monument, the hilltop of Phnom Bakheng, to be clambered up, for stupendous sunset views across the jungle. The hawkers are relentless. 'Do I look as if I want a postcard, just as the sun's round disc slips below the horizon?'

We have a day in Angkor Wat to be proper tourists. The souvenir shops around the site all look very similar,  mainly packed with wooden carvings and friezes depicting aspects of Angkor Wat. There is more variety in the old market with beautiful (but expensive) baskets and a good selection of silver. Elaine buys up the whole mall.

Angkor Thom

I'm surprised to learn that that there's another Khmer complex, two miles from Angkor Wat. Elaine has arranged a guide who brings a car with a cracked screen and suspect tyres. Angkor Thom (Great City) was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. around several monuments from earlier eras. At the centre of the city is the state temple, the Bayon, incorporating giant, mysterious faces, carved into its towers. This one is on the national flag (not Angkor Wat as I had assumed). Other major structures are clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north. The Terrace of the Elephants was used by King Jayavarman VII as a platform to inspect his victorious army, as it returned to the city.

Ta Phrom, Banteay Kdei and Ta Keo Temple

And finally, I discover that there are many more temples. The area is riddled with them. (Over 1,000 altogether.) Astonishing and wonderful. And exhausting. Thank God for tuk-tuks. Ta Prohm (Royal Monastery), one kilometre east of Angkor Thom was also founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII, as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Ta Prohm has not been subjected to digging and restoration. and so is in much the same condition in which it was found. Huge tree root tentacles grasping onto the ruins only add to the atmosphere. I expect Lara Croft to appear at any moment.

Close by is Banteay Kdei, (A Citadel of Chambers), more wonderful towers and tree roots too.

Then, Ta Keo. This one, dedicated to Shiva, is a little earlier, part of the new capital in the late tenth century. It was never finished as another new king wanted to build his own new capital. I can see why they refer to this area as a complex. And there's still more, some part buried, some just dotted around.

The Cultural Show

In the evening, a cultural show at the Angkor Village. Japanese tourists leap about in front of the stage with their cameras, obscuring every one else's view - and ruining opportunities for photographs

Cambodia - Facts and Factoids

• Cambodia (known as Kampuchea in the east) has high poverty rates, but is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia.
• The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia.
• Theravada Buddhism is the state religion, practised by more than 97% of the population.
• The official language is Khmer, which uses one of the longest alphabets in the world.
• Cambodia’s flag is the only one in the world to feature a building - Angkor Thom
• The riel is the official currency, though the United States dollar is widely accepted and used in daily transactions.
• The Mekong River flows through the country from north to south, serving as a vital trade and transportation route.
• The Cardamom Mountains provide a vast rainforest habitat for diverse wildlife species, including elephants and leopards.
• Agriculture, garment manufacturing, tourism, and construction form the backbone of the national economy.
• Insects are widely eaten throughout the country. Favourites are cricket, grasshopper, spider (even tarantulas) and cockroach, usually eaten tempura style.
• Cambodians celebrate the New Year in April. The celebrations mark the end of the harvest season.

Tonle Sap

A boat ride is a good way to relax. Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. In fact, it is actually a giant and unique river system. The Tonle Sap River exits the lake, to the south, to feed the Mekong; but the mighty river fluctuates in size, expanding considerably during the monsoon (up to five times the volume) and actually reversing the flow direction of the Tonle Sap River, twice a year.

This extraordinary ecosystem is Cambodia's ecological heart. As it grows, the swelling water submerges the surrounding floodplains and forests, creating a fertile breeding sanctuary for hundreds of diverse fish species and migratory waterbirds. This is one of the most productive inland fishing grounds on the planet. And the area, and its surrounding irrigation, is hugely important for growing the staple food, rice.

Millions of people depend directly on the lake for their livelihoods, living a unique (that word again) and astonishing way of life. The stilted houses on the Tonle Sap are engineered to handle water level shifts of up to 10 metres, using water-resistant hardwood pillars, driven deep into the lakebed. The upper living quarters are built with lightweight materials like bamboo and corrugated iron, so that they flex safely against strong monsoon winds. The framework even sometimes has adjustable, pre-cut support notches, so that families can move their floorboards to higher levels, if a flood threatens.

During the dry season, the open space underneath the houses serves as a shaded workshop accessed by long wooden ladders, while in the rainy season, the water rises to the floorboards, submerging the ladders and allowing boats to dock directly against the front porch.

Some folk have opted for completely floating homes, built on platforms of buoyant bamboo rafts and empty oil drums. As the lake expands and shrinks, entire floating neighbourhoods are towed by motorboats, migrating miles at a time, to stay in deep water or shelter from seasonal storms. Essential community hubs like schools, markets, and pagodas are also built entirely on massive floating barges or elevated stilts. Floating schools have fenced-in play areas to keep children safe, while local markets consist of interconnected floating platforms. The vendors sell goods directly to shoppers arriving in small wooden canoes.

So, there’s a lot to see: the floating villages, the dirt and squalor of the grinding poverty, the long boats, as folk ply their wares, the fish farms with their tethered cormorants and pelicans, humming life on the lake shores and children waving from stilt jetties.

Now, to return to the Philippines and home.