Cambodia
It’s not every day that you get to see a view like this early in the morning.
Recently, I ticked a very important thing off my bucket list, which was long due: Solo trip to a new country.
Cambodia is home to a rich cultural heritage, stunning visuals and some of the most helpful, tourist-friendly locals. Although before reaching, I heard some stories of communication struggles with the locals, my experience was fairly smooth. There was no real necessity to know a few Khmer words to navigate your way through for a few days. Reading about the country before deciding to go there, I was shocked to know about the traumatic set of events that the country had to endure which was as recently as 1970s. The output of uncontested power is indeed very dangerous. It was pretty evident that they are still recovering from that. Although they have made good strides to make significant progress over the last few years, there still remains some effect of that civil war. Tourism contributes highly to that progress.
Most of the tourists visiting the country come for visiting the Angkor temples. Known as the gateway to these temples, Siem Reap is a major hub in Cambodia and one of the fastest growing cities. ‘Khmer hospitality’ is a commonly used phrase among the locals because of the generally warm reception provided to outsiders. Everything in Siem Reap is made convenient for the tourists, so much so that USD is the unofficial second currency which is accepted everywhere. Although that could also be because their currency is just too weak.
Siem Reap is synonymous to Angkor Wat. Everywhere you turn around, be it resorts, airlines, hospitals or restaurants everything has the word ‘Angkor’ in it. I guess that should be obvious given the country has an Angkor Wat image on its flag.
It is the world’s largest religious monument which was discovered quite recently and the tourism to the site has exploded in the last two decades. Tourism is the main source of income in Siem Reap and I was told that there is no ‘right time’ to visit these temples since there is no dearth of tourists at any point of the year.
You can afford to miss anything here, but not the early morning sunrise at Angkor Wat. It takes some effort to catch it because if you are there at 5 in the morning, then there are 100 people ahead of you. Waking up at 4, travelling for around 45 mins in a tuk tuk to reach there and waiting for the sunrise along with so many other people is an experience in itself. As the sun slowly starts to rise, the way the silhouette changes to a temple over the course of an hour is such a beautiful sight to witness. Artificial pools on either side of the towers give you a mirror perspective which enhances the natural display of the whole place.
Spare with me as I dump a little history here that I learnt from a local there. Once a powerful empire that ruled much of today’s Cambodia, parts of Thailand and Myanmar, these temples are the only visible remains of an advanced civilization in Southeast Asia. Originally constructed as Hindu temples and later with the growing traction of Buddhism, these were gradually converted to Buddhist traditions. No archives of Angkoran history exist, the oldest known chronicles available are as recent as the 18th century. Only through the study of these monuments can the discovery be taken forward. After the ruins were rediscovered, it has taken a lot of effort to bring it to the shape it is today. There are numerous sites around the region that are currently in poor condition and the efforts to restore is undertaken by contributions from different nations and a lot of help from international experts. It was a pleasant surprise for me to know that India has taken up conservation projects for restoration of some of these sites.
Given the steady rise in the number of tourists and the increased demand for skilled human resources in the tourism industry, they should definitely work on catering to this. In fact, it has become so touristy that even the random dude who clicked my picture in front of Angkor Wat asked me to pose with my finger at the top of the tower.
Although it does occupy a lot of tourism space, it would be unfair to say that the Angkor temples are all Siem Reap can offer. It also offers a flavour of the ‘Khmer cuisine’ and is home to a very vibrant nightlife.
I just decided to pen down some incoherent thoughts about this short experience as a memory because I am a person who still subscribe to the traditional view that memories are better captured in words than pixels.
I guess the effect any memory has on you has more to do with the particulars of the experience than about the amount of time spent. Even though this experience was short-lived, it would be very difficult for me to forget this.
Originally published at http://mumblingmadrasi.wordpress.com on December 25, 2018.
