Cambodia - More Wats !




Arriving in Siem Reap, Cambodia I was greeted by a swarm of "moto" drivers wanting to take me to a hotel. I jumped on the back of a motorbike with my backpack (now huge)balanced in front of the driver. He skillfully navigated his was into town and I viewed a number of hotels before deciding on a nice family run guest house by the river. I made My way to the fascinating floating village for sunset...I would say its about the size of Horwich or Hebburn with similar amenities such as churches, bars and even a pool and karaoke bar which people arrive to mid evening when the generators get going and flashing lights begin. As darkness falls the kareoke got busier with at least 10 people taking turns its a very serious business. There are also a number of crocodiles and fish farms along the river also floating! not so happy to see all the crocs but watching the American tourists feeding them for a dollar a time was hilarious.

Next morning i got up before sun rise to see the world famous Angkor Wat...now i don't know if i have become some what (note the bad pun!) immune to the sight of wonderful temples and sights over the post few months but I was a little disappointed and did find some of the other temples around more interesting than this world famous heritage sight. However the sunrise was wonderful and peaceful (once i negotiated a tourist free spot!) I spent the rest of the day rambling and riding through the many other temples some of which are seriously fighting nature and the trees which gave many of them an Indiana Jones film feel. Lots of countries worldwide seem to support the preservation and restoration of the temples of Angkor (even India) this involved halting the effects of nature on the sights removing tree roots etc but for me this was one of the charming attractions.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I also travelled to Cambodia with my family last summer. I also found it very hilarious especially when we visited the Angkor temples. I believe that the human race should not go against the existence of these temples. We came back home safely and really thanked God for giving us that opportunity explore the global ideas of our fellow brothers and sisters.