Angkor Wat and Beyond in Siem Reap, Cambodia 11/08/2021 nguptatravelscrapbook.blogspot.com

Blog number 35. Travel to Cambodia. 11/08/2021. nguptatravelscrapbook.blogspot.com 

Angkor Wat and beyond in Siem Reap, Combodia

"Angkor Wat: God is in the details" By Norbert

Angkor Wat

Browsing photos of Angkor Wat in several travel magazines, I often dreamed that I would get the opportunity to explore the wonder of the Ancient World myself one day.

My husband and I visited Vietnam and Cambodia together; back in the late summer of 2010, we had designed a trip for few years. We chose Jules Verne, a known tour operator, one of our favourites, with an organised trip itinerary of nearly a fortnight. I have planned to assemble and compose my travel journal on Vietnam in a separate blog comprising nine days. Cambodia's mix of cities, ancient archaeological sites and fascinating culture mean the country soon seduces any group of travellers from gap year students to silver-travellers like us. 

Angkor Wat at Sunrise, as viewed from its Eastern Gates. 

After touring the length and breadth of Vietnam from Ho Chi Ming city up north to Hanoi, we took a  direct flight from Hanoi to Siem Reap, a city visited by more than 2 million visitors each year, rendering a foundation for the archaeological grandest religious site of Angkor Wat.

 As our flight from Hanoi circled to land in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I was surprised to see how much of the country land was covered with water, even in the dry season.  I knew that I was on a trip to the heart of Cambodia, a country that was to make an enduring footprint on me. We reached our hotel in Siem Reap in the early evening after being picked up by our tour guide, leaving us free to explore Siem Reap for the rest of the evening. Siem Reap means Siam Defeated, with victory over the Thai Kingdom of Ayutthaya. Siem Reap is the main base, underpinning the people visiting the temples of Angkor Wat and around. 

With my primary roots in Delhi, I am used to the fanatical happenings of an Asian Metropolis; I don't hesitate to sightsee a new city without a guide and at my own pace. The slackened wondering about, lets me do mixing up with the crowds, picking up local slang, haggling with shopkeepers or, for that matter, haggling over fares with an auto-rickshaw or tuk-tuk and window shopping in the streets. That's how I dig deep into the fabric of the city or town and feel utterly and overwhelmingly at ease. I jot the travel journal to keep a travel memoir live.

Local family

Street scenes 

We started our tour with a mad cyclo ride around Siem Reap, weaving through the streets as we sat in a seat in front of the cyclist exposed to the tuk-tuks, lorries and motorcycles, which it seemed must collide with us! The motorbikes often carried whole families along with their bundles of luggage. The heat, noise, dust, chaotic traffic, and exotic smells proved that we had arrived in Siem Reap; Cambodia was colourful and charismatic, oozing with cultural cool and authentic Asian charm. Hup Guan Street is hip and fun, with shops that sell everything from artisan ceramics to cold-pressed cappuccinos. At the same time, the bustling, covered market offers colourful snapshots of local daily life. There's much else to enjoy too. The traditional Apsara dancing – unchanged since the days of the temple sculptures – can be found at the Apsara theatre while enjoying an elaborated Cambodian dinner. 

Food Galore

Local food places in Siem Reap

Cambodian food is delicious, light, slightly sweet and not too spicey. Spring rolls stuffed with salad, peanuts and chicken, or hot banana pancakes, made in front of you at market stalls or the most delicate freshwater fish were fresh and moreish. Many restaurants were boastfully showcasing their enlisting in TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet sites, promoting their salesmanship to wandering tourists. 

Beginning of Khmer Civilization in Angkor; Who were Khmers?

The word Angkor means a city, a word deriving from the Sanskrit word, Nagar. Today, Angkor conjures up the glories of the Khmer civilisations that flourished in Kambuj Desh between the 9th and the 14th centuries. Cambodia was once called Kampuchea, a variation of the name Kambuj Desh. The heart of the magnificent Khmer empire was a mighty Asian Hindu power that had ruled over most mainland Southeast Asia including Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, extending from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal (between 802 CE and 1432 CE) for over half a millennium. During this period, the Khmer kings carried out a monstrous series of construction projects to glorify themselves, their cities and their Gods. Hindu, Tamil King Jayavarman I (Varman means king) founded the great Khmer civilisation in 802 CE; his descendent Yashovarman I established the city at Angkor at the end of the 10th Century. 

One of the main towers of Angkor Wat

In the following centuries, their successors built magnificent temples in Angkor, such as Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom, and the bustling city of Angkor Thom. The name Angkor is everywhere once you are in Siem Reap and around. It is a symbol of national pride. Major highways, roads, trains, hotels, restaurants, food stalls, shops, and malls are named after Angkor. In the construction lasting more than 500 years, numerous architectural and artistic style changes occurred and can be perceived today. The highlight amongst the temples, Angkor Wat, is a temple complex built at the beginning of the 12th Century by King Suryavarman II.  It is the ultimate genius of Khmer craftsmen. It took 25,000 workers in over thirty years to complete the construction. Unlike the cathedrals of Europe, which were built co-operatively by the paid artisans, the buildings of Angkor were constructed by unpaid slave labour as there was no monetary system in Angkor in the 12th Century. But then the city of Angkor went into a long slumber, lost to the world for nearly four centuries.

Angkor Wat complex

In the middle of the 16th Century, the king of Cambodia was out hunting for elephants in the northern jungles of his vast domain when he and his party stumbled across the ruins of a vast stone city. It was the fabled city of Angkor! Abandoned centuries earlier, this great metropolis had been home to more than a million people at its height, more than the population of the city of London.  Angkor produced one of the world's most affluent and most sophisticated cultures and left an incredible legacy of art and architecture while surviving as a political and religious empire.   The hunting king had the site cleared and installed his courts in the vast complex. Sadly, this revival did not last long because, within decades, the city of Angkor fell once again into ruins, disappearing into the massive and overgrown jungles. Angkor lay slumbered for more than three centuries before a French botanist called Henri Mouhot happened across its vast ruins while collecting samples of flora and fauna in the winter of 1858. Angkor was reawakened once again! 

Side galleries of Angkor Wat

The historical rediscovery event of Angkor is almost similar to the reinvention and unveiling of the Borobudur temples in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, by Sir Raffles. Located four km north of Siem Reap, the archaeological masterpieces of Angkor Thom, including Angkor Wat, are the most remarkable and massive structural enigmas. Often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, Angkor, the ancient capital of Cambodia of the great Khmer empire, is the most magnificent wonder on the earth. Hinduism dominated the Indian subcontinent for most of the last Millennium with its most prominent temple, an absolute and unbelievable magnificent composition in Angkor. A world Heritage site since 1992, dedicated to Lord Vishnu! 

Inside Angkor Wat

There was a parallel religious shift from Hindu Gods, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, to Mahayana and later to Theravada Buddhism adopted by their later kings.

Some crumbling structures in the temple complex

Structure of Angkor Wat 

To begin with, Angkor Wat never deteriorated into a jungle-clad ruin like the city of Angkor Thom. It remained in one or less continuous use since its inception as a Hindu Temple in the 12th Century. It later became a Buddhist place of worship which it still is today. Besides the Great Wall of China and The Pyramids of Egypt, Angkor is one of the world's must-see sites claimed to be visible from space! In the later years, when I visited Machu Pichu (2011), Temples of Bagan, Myanmar (2016) and Petra (Jordan in 2019), I attempted to seek a comparison to the splendours of Angkor but failed overwhelmingly. 

The surrounding moat of Angkor Wat

Amongst the nearly 70 odd, scattered temples in Angkor and around, Angkor Wat is Cambodia's most beloved, respected and best-preserved temple. Thought to be a miniature replica of the universe, its composition of towers, moats and concentric galleries reveal an architectural sophistication. The bas-reliefs with their plump figures and triumphal battle scenes reflect a robust, healthy and wealthy period of history. 

How big is Angkor Wat?

Reaching the highest tower of Angkor Wat.

The temple is a unique combo of temple-mountain with the plans of concentric galleries. The temple represents Mount Meru, the home of Gods, the central towers symbolising the mountain's five peaks and the walls and moat symbolising the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. The access to the upper areas of the temple is more exclusive, restricted but the majority of visitors gain access to ground floors. We have all come across various huge complexes in our lifetime in the 21st century, but if we put the Angkor complex in what the world must have been like a thousand years ago, then the utter scale of this network becomes breathtaking. 

Another view of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat covers approximately 240 Hectares (making a square of 1500 mX1500 meters approx.). It is still a wilderness location, but trees & roots have been cleared for the most time because of the damage caused. Currently, after decades of war crimes and animosities, Cambodia is now opened to tourists and travellers, from all over the world, to the world's premier architectural sites.  Despite the vastness and wilderness of Angkor Wat, it endures very much alive and buzzing. Vendors roam around, statues are covered with saffron clothes, offerings are put in front of statues, incenses burn, monks carry on their rituals, and the surrounding moat offers an acute and sharp replica image of the temple in the form of water reflections, perfect for the photo click. Much like peaks and troughs on a graph!

Carvings in the Wat

How to view Angkor Wat

The temples of Angkor require both time and motorised transport to visit the various sites. The climate is hot, humid and dusty, with little or no respite. Tuk-tuk travel is comfortable, airy with natural air conditioning, easing off the discomforts of hot and humid weather.

Statue of Lord Vishnu at Angkor Wat

Visiting Angkor Wat is like being granted the keys to another world for a short spell. I would recommend taking in the views of Angkor Wat at sunrise, followed by viewing the galleries for bas-reliefs with the help of a guide. I woke up in the early part of the morning when there was still a thick layer of fog and got into a tuk-tuk with my husband and arrived at Angkor Wat, just as the Sun was occurring to peak out its knowing head.

Golden shades of Angkor Wat at Sunrise

 Here I was, a smile on my face and stupefied, staring at the largest religious monument in front of me, a temple of incomprehensible conundrum and antiquity! It was just like I imagined it would be, and I was incredibly touched. As we positioned near the eastern gates, the Sun started revealing the centre towers gradually and superbly. We were left staggered with the visuals of the temple at sunrise. With the minimal crowd at this hour, we were able to take several pictures of the temple unhindered and got a chance to take steps up to higher floors of the temple. The views from the higher levels were immense, with surrounding jungles and helping to put the size and scale into perspective. 

Sunset Galore

As we ventured with our guide towards the visuals of the bas- reliefs, the rising sunlight brought the enigmatic faces of the figures into a reality, dancing, curving, walking and moving figures! The temple appeared genuine, spiritual, and so calm and meditational. A sense of reverence and spirituality embraces you, well, while I was there!

Bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat

Wall Arts in Angkor Wat

Virtually all exposed stone surfaces of the temples, including Angkor Wat, are covered with carvings of unimaginable variety, vigour and beauty. Most carvings take the shape of dancing figures, animals, birds, trees, flowers, ponds, ornaments, weapons and Gods. Just after the entrance into the temple, on the right side are bas-reliefs depicting Lord Vishnu, Lord Buddha, battle of Kurukshetra depicting a battle scene from the Hindu epic of Mahabharata. On the left side, the bas -relief depicts a scene from another Hindu Epic of Ramayana, where Lord Rama struggles with king Ravana, the Demon King of Lanka. We were dumbfounded at these master relics as we have never been interconnected to such carvings in our school history books!

Bas-Reliefs at Angkor Wat

Furthermore, the carvings that we easily identified and related to were of Apsaras (dancers), Asuras (devils), Nagas (Serpents), monkey Gods, Gurudas and Devas( Gods). At the second level were the famous bas-reliefs of Devas and Asuras churning the sea to collect nostalgic Nectar, called the Amrit. 

The Temple of Ta Phrom

Situated at a distance of about a kilometre from Angkor Wat is the famous and well-known temple of Ta Phrom, filmed in the Indiana Jones films.

Ta Phrom temple strangled by Giant fig tree roots.

Ta Phrom is unique because, unlike most of the temples in Angkor, it has not been restored, so it is still possible to see what these magical places must have been looked like when they were discovered in the 19th century. A wander through the ancient courtyards of this temple is like stepping into a lost world of harmony, peace and serenity. As I walked on the leaf-strewn stones between fragments of lichen-covered statues, all I heard was the soft rustle of leaves, creaking of stones, swaying sounds of banyan and kapok trees.

as before

The ancient temple walls are covered by strangler fig trees that grip like tentacles and up which you can freely clamber, over the tumbledown stone slabs, some half-buried in the earth. These stranglers roots seem to crawl all over the buildings, presenting it most atmospheric of all the sites. It was certainly a Dry Tsunami Effect. Their carved details are worn, not relatively smooth by almost a century of neglect. The jungle ambience persists with swarms of butterflies, dragonflies, the constant squawk of parrots, troops of baboons & there were even elephants that ferry people on the traditional routes between different temple gates. Of all the temples in the Angkor Wat complex, Ta Phrom is my absolute favourite and most breathtaking because of the way the structures have been engulfed by Nature – the trees around them are monstrous! It makes you realise just how powerful the force of Nature could be.

As before 

Most of the trees are now labelled with their names, an extra effort to read and jot down their names. I would make a list of these tree names towards the end of my blog. Most of the names were unknown to me; let me know if you knew any of these trees. Trees provided shades and cooling effects when we needed it most during the sightseeing, air heavy and mystic, interspersed with human voices, a jumble of Hindi, English, Chinese, Japanese, Cambodian, French and German etc.

Sketches at the sites

The cool spots were occupied by numerous budding travellers, including backpackers sitting with their sketchbooks, pencil sketching the scenes over and over again, expecting recognition from fellow travellers. I purchased some of the sketches from the students, who were happy to sell their artwork, preferably for extra pocket money.

Angkor Thom

Famous statue at Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom

Set in its reservation with over 20 other temples (not as big or as splendid), Angkor Thom is another worthy of mention, a walled city with splendours within. Here we could climb and explore without a guide. So, get there while you can, still touch, climb and feel the real magic and beauty of this great site. 

Responsible travel in Cambodia

While Cambodia chiefly kept coronavirus at bay last year, the case numbers spiked in February 2021. As a result, the country's borders are still sealed, and most tourist-related and hospitality businesses are either temporarily or permanently closed until autumn 2021 at the earliest.

Most of the temples in Cambodia are free to visit with no admission fee or bare minimum fees. Many travellers passing thru Siem Reap are interested in contributing something to the communities visited while exploring the temples and other ruins. The conCert is a well-known Siem Reap based organisation working for various communal causes in the local areas. Further info could be obtained by visiting www.concertcambodia.org on anything from ecotourism to volunteering opportunities in Siem Reap.

Names of the trees labelled in the temple of Ta Phrom

• Tetrameles Nudiflora, found in Kerala, India

• Ceiba Pentanda (Kapok) Silk Cotton tree, also present in West Bengal, India. These trees were enormously gigantic in Ta Phrom

• Strangler Figs gigantic too.

• Diospyros Decandra (Gold Apple), a smaller tree

• Parinaria Anamensis

• Diptero Carpus Alatus (Cotton Tree) 

• Knema Globularia

• Agalia Specttabius 

I have included a picture of the travel Journal notes here. Please feel free to contact me or give your comments on the comment form, and thank you for browsing my blogs.