February 13, 2010
I crossed over into my seventh country thus far on the trip, Thailand. It's incredible to think of all I've done in the last five months. So much has been packed in that the early parts of the trip feel like a year ago. And somehow the seven months I have left don't feel like enough time to do my remaining places - the words of a spoiled traveler I know!
I arrived in Bangkok by bus last night - I really should have logged my hours on buses and boats because I'm sure I've done several hundred hours by now - and it was quite a contrast to my last stop, Battambang. It was a small town who's streets were deserted by 8pm, where as the tourist street in Bangkok, Khao San Road, is deserted at 8am.
Since my last entry I've gotten to explore the celebrated historical side of Cambodia, the time of the Angkor kingdom. I did have one last day of hanging out at the Sihanoukville beach before catching my sleeping bus to Siem Reap. Laying on that soft sandy beach in a lounge chair, shaded by an umbrella was so enticing and it was hard to make myself leave. It seemed somewhat easy to find work that would just cover your expenses to stay there so I was tempted to stay, but staying at a busy tourist beach for long isn't the vision I had for my trip. There seemed to be little cultural or personal value in staying there and my time is running short. But I relished my last day at the beach and saw my new "friend" who sold fruit on the beach. I met her the first day as she marketed her goods. She had me pinky swear that if I bought fruit I'd get it from her. I said I would, but didn't know that I'd get any. She came back several times and eventually she wore me down I got a pineapple. The beach vendors were quite aggressive and you were constantly getting offered food, massages, manicures/pedicures, waxing, and souvenirs. These vendors were relentless, which was a sharp contrast to the staff at the restaurants. To use a lounge chair all day you only had to buy one drink. They would take your order soon after you sat down, but after that they never inquired if you wanted something else. It's nice not to be hassled, but if you did want something it was an effort to get it. From their point of view it seems to be bad business because they'd probably sell a lot more if they came around every 45-60 minutes to politely see if you needed anything.
In the evening I clambered onto the sleeping bus, but had a fitful freezing sleep. I actually woke up with a sore throat and achy muscles from the AC. I had made reservations at a guesthouse ahead of time and the owner had nicely offered to pick me up at the bus station. So I was looking out the window and spotted not one, but two people holding up signs with my name on it! Strange. One sign only had my first name so I figured that was the guesthouse because I never gave him my surname. So I come off the bus and it turned out the person with my full name had been given it by the tour company that sold me the bus ticket. They were trying to get commissions off of taking me to whatever hotel they had in mind. Annoying scamming. The area where the bus parked had a gate closed behind it and it was opened as I walked out with my escort. There were so many men, drivers, racing in - literally! - to swarm down on the tourists. I was so thankful that at 6:30am I didn't have to contend with them. It's one of the most unpleasant things about traveling - coming off a bus and being mobbed by people all shouting at you at once to stay at their hotel or take their tuk-tuk/moto. And sometimes you need to find a place to stay or get a ride and then it's very stressful because you can't blow them all off, but have to try to figure who is the most trustworthy and you have to negotiate.
Anyway, I got back to the guesthouse and napped before heading out into the sweltering heat and humidity to explore Siem Reap. I visited the National Museum, which was a good introduction to the Angkor period before I headed to the ruins. The exhibit was largely statuary, that is all that seems to remain from this period, along with some videos. Unfortunately, the museum cost $12, but only $3 for Cambodians. Quite a mark up! And for $12 I still wasn't allowed to take pictures. I also walked around the city a bit, but went to bed early as I wasn't feeling well. I decided to delay my trip to Angkor Wat and the surrounding ruins for a day until I felt better. I planned on riding my bike and didn't think I'd be up for it and also wanted to feel good so I could really enjoy it. So on my second day in Siem Reap I rented a bicycle and rode around exploring. There aren't too many sites to see in Siem Reap and I was "templed-out" so I stopped in cafes, read, got a massage at a place for blind massage therapists, and tried to get my hair cut. After all these months I need a haircut, but it's hard to trust anyone but Moscow (my hairdresser for the last 8 years). I stopped in several places and the price was right - $2.50-$3 - but they didn't speak English well enough for me to feel confident they would know what I want. So I skipped it and maybe I'll find a place here in Bangkok. I also hung out at a small comfy cafe near my guesthouse and ended up chatting for awhile with one of the owners. She was happy to practice her English and I found it fun talking with her and then her friends when they came later. In the evening I headed to a district with a restaurants, bars and a night market for foreigners. At dinner I met a guy from Denmark and had a nice chat and walk through the market. It is fun all the different people you meet along the way.
This next morning I got up at 4:30am to head to Angkor Wat for sunrise. This is one morning the roosters' early morning calls would have been helpful, but ever since I crossed the border from Laos into Cambodia I haven't stayed near any. I started peddling the 7km and hoping that my rusty bike would make it through the day. Once again my headlamp was indispensable as was a local man who nicely pointed out a turn I needed to take, but just missed. Most people took the tuk-tuks to the ruins, but there were a couple other people I saw bicycling. The weather at this time was nice and the land is flat so it's a nice easy ride. One at the sight there are hordes of people and vendors. You walk through the main entrance, but everything is pitch black except for the few of us with lights. I knew the general layout of Angkor Wat so knew at one point I was crossing over the moat. I wonder if anyone ever falls in! I found an area off to the side to watch the sun reveal the mysteries of what was around me. The light came up subtly and at first just revealed the outlines of the buildings - giving some shape to the temple. Slowly, enough sunlight emerged to show details and solve the mystery of everything around me - including the small ruins I was sitting on. I walked to another area that had a lily pond and many more people all angling for the right shot.
I walked on to explore this 12th century Hindu temple built by Suryavarman II and ventured to the center of the universe (the picture of me with the tower looming behind). Suryavarman II is known for this construction as well as unifying Cambodia and extending Khmer influence across much of mainland SE Asia. A startling realization is that Angkor Wat and the other Angkor sites are ruins yet they are contemporaries of Notre Dame and Chartres. The explanation for their ruinous state seems to be that they were neglected and forgotten about so the forest reclaimed them. You can see pictures from temples I later visited that still have trees growing on top as well as the crumbled sandstone. Angkor comes from the Sanskrit world "nagara" and means holy city. And wat means temple and was probably added to the name in the 15th century when it was made a Buddhist temple.
The temple is dedicated to Vishnu (Preserver of the Universe) and is laid out to display the Khmers idea of the universe. The main tower at the center is Mount Meru, the center of the universe. The five surrounding towers represent the five peaks of Meru. The outer gallery symbolizes the mountains at the edge of the world and finally the moat represents the ocean. The seven-headed naga (a mythical being) represents the rainbow bridge that humans use to reach the hone of the gods. The one unusual fact about the temple that leaves scholars debating is that the temple faces west. Temples usually face east and facing it to the west references death. Some of then concluded this is a mausoleum for the king while others say it is in honor of Vishnu who is god of the west. Another clue is that the reliefs are completed left to right, which is in the tradition of tombs in Hinduism.
The gallery has extensive reliefs along all for sides. Some show battles, but the most famous one is the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. This is the creation story for the Khmer whereby gods and devils hold opposite ends of a massive serpent and churn up the sea in order to extract the elixir of immortality. From the churning all life arose.
This is the largest religious monument in the world with the moat forming a rectangle that is 1.5km by 1.3km. One can wander endlessly.
After a couple of hours here I headed to Angkor Thom just 2km north. A later king, Jayavarman VII, made Angkor Thom the new capital and built the Bayon temple. This was the last temple of the Khmer Empire and was built between 1177-1230. The Khmer empire weakened in the 13th century. But under this king the empire was at its largest size and saw the construction of over 100 hospitals for all four castes, roads, and resting places for travelers and pilgrims. He is remembered as a compassionate and wise king, but from what I learned about Bayon he also had quite an ego. The bayon temple has 54 large statues staring down at you. They are meant to represent the main cities of the empire, but their eyes are always following you and they supposedly have a strong resemblance to the king. The smiles on the statues is classic Bayon style. You don't see this at Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, this temple was extremely crowded in the main area, but I wormed my way through and found some more spartan areas.
Still within Angkor Thom is another area of massive ruins. There are terraces that were used in royal ceremonies, more temples, a palace, and two small lakes. I definitely got my exercise climbing up the steep steps of the temples. To actually enter Angkor Thom, where Bayon and the above is, you cross a bridge lined with sandstone heads and a gate with massive heads looking at you. As I exited north I passed under a gate of the same design.
These were the two main areas to visit so from her on I only stopped at some of the ruins I saw. The run down ones were fun to climb around and witness these massive trees that grew out of cracks in the sandstone. One of these temples was even used in an Indiana Jones movie. You can see from all the riding and walking in dusty Cambodia my feet looked like I hadn't seen a shower for weeks. :) After hours of riding and sightseeing in the heat I was ready to head back to the Mommy's Guesthouse. In the end I figured I rode 37km (23 miles) on my 12 hour tour. I slept well that night, but am pleased to say my muscles weren't sore the next day. :)
After seeing the sights I saw I felt ready to leave Siem Reap. The city didn't grab me as a place to chill for awhile so I caught a boat the next morning to Battambang. I had read in Lonely Planet that this was a beautiful ride and worth the extra money ($20 vs. $5 for the bus), but was very disappointed. After the boat rides in Indonesia and Laos this was not spectacular and in parts the water was so low we kept getting stuck. And I must say that after riding on a bicycle for 37km the day before sitting on a hard wooden bench for 8 hours was not ideal! We made one rest stop at a floating market. The food was, of course, over priced and after using the bathroom, which was a hole into the river, I opted not to buy any rice. Who knows which water she used because they use the river for everything. I shared the boat with a French couple I had met in Laos so it was fun to see them again and he's a character. A group of us headed to a hotel and I got a dorm bed for $1.50 - yeah!
Battambang is a small town with a few tourist cafes and places to hangout. The main attraction are some nearby temples and the bamboo train. I didn't expect much of the bamboo train after seeing a picture of it. It is a flat bed of bamboo strips with a motor strapped on. So in the picture it looked looked like a monotonous ride, but boy was I wrong. It was fun because of the speed and openness off the train. I felt like I was on a roller coaster without the hills. Michele, my French friend (his girlfriend didn't want to go), and I had a blast. At times we came in line with trains going the opposite way. We had to get off our train twice and they moved it off the tracks until the others had passed - clever. On the way back others had to move out of our way so we felt redeemed! :) We also had to stop on the tracks for a mass of ducks to be herded across. There must have been a couple of thousand and it was so fun to watch them waddle and see the cloud of dust they kicked up. There was one straggler who was injured, maybe from the other ducks, and could hardly waddle. His wings were cut short and weren't much help with balance. One of the herders finally picked him/her up and at first I thought he was going to kill it. But instead he decided to play with it and put it in the dogs mouth. Like the poor duck hasn't been terrorized enough! I just don't get it.
Besides this sight it was a fun ride and at the end we stopped at a tiny village. A teenager working one of the stands showed us the brick factory and a snake. We then had a drink at her stand and played with some of the kids. It was a fun break and you can see the picture I got with them at the end. We went back the way we came and bumped along.
I did eat at some of the street vendors, but when I want to sit and relax with my book I head to one of the tourist cafes for a fruit shake. And there beggars always come. I've seen a lot more in Cambodia than elsewhere on my trip and most have lost limbs or have disfigured faces. I'm assuming they are victims of the land mines. I didn't see as many in Laos so I don't know if that means there is less help for them in Cambodia. I don't know that they have their equivalent of CORE of artisan factories for people with physical disabilities. It's hard to see and I wish I had more to give, but I get asked so often and I'm so strapped as it is. They don't look starved at least. Throughout SE Asia I've seen a lot of poverty, but people do seem to get enough to eat.
I couldn't see all of the sights in one day because the afternoons are just so hot and I retreat to my room with the nice cool fan. Even the cafes are uncomfortable. Of course, I only found out the night before I left that there was an internet place with AC! I used it the morning I left to upload the pictures you see, but didn't get a chance to write the blog. It was the fastest computer I've had so far so was sorry to not have learned of it earlier.
Back to my last full day, I hired a moto driver to take me to various places outside the city and asked that we start at 7am so we'd miss most of the heat. The two lovely temples we visited involved steep climbs so I was glad it wasn't later in the day. The first temple is also near a cave that was used to dump bodies in by the Khmer Rouge. Actually it has a hole at the top and they'd kill their victims there and toss them in the hole. Many bones have been collected and places in memorial boxes. There is also a Buddha shrine in the cave, but I don't know if that came after the genocide. Reminders of the genocide are everywhere. My moto driver's father died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge during the civil war. He was accused of allying with the Americans.
The second temple predates Angkor Wat by about a century and the locals claim it's style was the inspiration for Angkor Wat. I can see why they believe that and it wouldn't surprise me. The towers are extremely similar. The temple is still used for worship and being a full moon more Buddhists were there that day. This temple had over 800 steps, but that was nothing compared to the first one. By this time it was hot and once I climbed down I enjoyed a pineapple with the vendor and my guide.
We then hit the road again and throughout the whole drive I saw markets, villages and farms. I saw a family making sticky rice to sell - it's the last picture. The grain of rice is different from plain rice and you add a black bean, coconut juice and I think water before putting it in bamboo and cooking it. The rice season is over unless you have wells, but the rice farmers might go to the city for work. I also just see a lot of people sitting around. And I must say I consistently see most women working hard, but only in certain places on this trip do I see men doing the same. Even if the men are working it might be very sedentary. For instance, in Luang Prabang only men drove the motos and tuk-tuks, but most of the time they wait around for business or take the visitor to a sight and then wait for them. So they are trying to earn money, but the day isn't physically taxing. They even have hammocks they lay out in the back so they nap while they wait. Whereas the women were constantly moving about working at the food stalls and in the market. Anyone working in stores has a slow day because you just don't see much business.
We stopped quickly at the only vineyard in Cambodia. I opted not to pay the $1 to try the wine, but it was fun to see. After the tour I retreated to my room for part of the afternoon and watched HBO under the fan. :) By roommates in the dorm came in and did the same.
The next day I went to the bus station for the 12pm bus to Bangkok. This bus comes from Phnom Penh so the times are fuzzy and it was 45 minutes late - not bad. While waiting I was getting hungry and when I asked the manager (?) at the bus station if there was a sandwich stand nearby he offered to pay for a moto to take me to one. So next thing I know I've hopped on and off we go. We stopped at one place, but they only had bread so we moved on. Another place was out or something so off we went again. My driver was very friendly and all smiles. Then we stopped at another street bakery and he pointed to the sliced bread saying sandwich. Unfortunately, they didn't make sandwiches and he thought I meant sliced bread. So after more hand gestures he whizzed me off again and finally we were back near my hotel and at a sandwich vendor. Then back to the bus station. I gave him a little tip since he was so helpful and went all over even though the other man was supposedly "paying."
The bus arrived just after I finished eating and on we went. It wasn't the VIP bus so mostly locals were on it and it wasn't very full. In a couple of hours we hit Poipet at the border. From the bus station we were piled into a moto contraption that you can see me posed next to. There were 5 of us and all of our bags loaded in - tight fit! The border crossing was huge and very developed compared to the others I've done. It's is the main one I believe and fortunately does not have the violence you probably heard about further north. On the other side we were scrunched into a van with 13 people and all our bags. The driver had asked for volunteers to wait for the next van so we'd fit better, but no one wanted to wait. It'd been a long day all around and who knew when the next one was really coming. It worked out fine. Everyone had a seat - so really there was no problem. We just had bags everywhere and the guy next to me had to catch one a few times before it fell on him.
I had done a lot of research on places to stay in Bangkok, but didn't find anything that worked to book ahead of time so I figured I'd just walk the backpacker street, Khao San Road. By this time it was 7:30pm and most budget rooms were taken. I found a place after an hour of looking and paid just $14 for a room - dramatic change after $1.50 in Battambang. All the hostels were full or quite expensive. As I checked in I saw a cockroach scurry across the floor. :) But actually my room was fine with good water pressure, clean comfy bed and fan. I am moving today though to what I've been told is a nice place. And it will be a bit cheaper because I'm sharing a bathroom. I've got to go check-in soon and I'm worried they lost my reservation - cross your fingers.
Looking back on traveling Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, my favorite overall was Laos. The river villages, the scenery, the people, the activities, and the towns were all so wonderful. However, I did find Cambodians to be the most friendly overall. Cambodia and Vietnam were great for historical sights. The above things make a difference on what you make of the country, but also the people you encounter along the way, locals and travelers, really make a difference. It also makes a difference where you've been to before and how long ago that was. For example my boat ride in Cambodia might have been worth it if I hadn't done a better one in Laos. One random comparison between Laos and Cambodia is that Cambodia actually seems to have birds. In Laos they've been so hunted that you hardly hear birds singing. Unfortunate. There's a saying you hear a lot from local sellers as they try to make a sale and that is "same same" or "same same but different." It's become so used that you see it on t-shirts. But the phrase in many ways also applies to these three countries. You see many commonalities in history, religion, culture, infrastructure and housing, but also there are distinctions. One silly distinction is that Cambodia is filled with Toyota Camry's. That seems to be the car of choice - or the Lexus for the elite. Feels like home!
Off to check-in and strategize the next few days. Look for work, plan travels, so much to figure...
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