More tuk-tukking round the temples

As we’d bought a 3-day, use-within-7-days temple pass the previous Tuesday, Saturday the 5th of January and Sunday the 6th were both spent templing. Although Marianne and I had seen most of these, Marianne’s friend (and now mine) Steve had not … as if we needed an excuse to go yet again!

On Saturday, after collecting Steve from his hotel, we headed south on the main road to Phnom Penh and hit the Roulos group of temples: first Bakong, then Preah Ko and lastly Lolei.

Bakong is purported to be the first of the state temples of the Angkor period, having been consecrated to Shiva in 881. It is in relatively good condition as it was restored in 1940 using the original stones. Across the causeway of the wide moat that surrounded the temple complex, there’s a modern wat (temple) housing an assembly of monks, and there I was befriended by a very cute little cat – but more on Cambodian cats in another blog.

Next was Preah Ko. Three mostly ruined sacred bulls guard the temple at the front of a platform holding 2 rows of 3 towers. There are lovely leaf, floral and geometrical designs on the carvings on the octagonal door columns of the towers and some of the lintels still show beautiful garlands and images of Kali, a Hindu god of death.

A young monk in the modern pagoda at Lolei

Next to Lolei, where the temple towers are mostly in ruins, That didn’t matter as we were spotted by a zealous local youth, who offered us some information about the site before leading us off to see the small school where he is taught by the local monks. Of course, it was a ploy to get us to donate some dollars to the school but that was okay, as these places desperately need supporting and he was a very nice lad so we were happy to give a few dollars.

We lunched at Lolei, at a small local stall opposite the temple platform. So many tourists ignore these little local places, terrified that they’ll pick up some dreaded stomach bug when the reality is that the food is delicious and it’s nice to enjoy a chat with the locals!

We took a break from the temples in the afternoon and, instead, had an excursion on the water. Marianne and Steve both work in the yachting industry in the south of France so being on the water seemed appropriate. We tuk-tukked down the long long road that leads towards Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in South-East Asia, then clambered aboard our wooden long boat. They are rather primitive and extremely noisy contraptions but the breeze was very refreshing, and we were soon chugging along the waterways through Kompong Phluk, a lakeside village built entirely on high stilts to protect the houses, school, church, restaurants, etc from the floods of the rainy season.

Next day we headed out relatively early, hoping to reach that world wonder Angkor Wat before the crowds. Fat chance! But it was lovely to see again, to take the obligatory reflection photos in the pool full of water lilies and, this time, to be able to climb the precariously steep stairway up the central tower – the two previous times I’d visited, it had been under restoration so inaccessible.

Just as we were leaving, we were treated to the sight of a local wedding party, arriving to have their wedding photos taken. Here, the brides, in particular, are so heavily made up – with false eyelashes, layers of make up and hair-pieces - that they are barely recognisable. This group was happy to pose for tourists to take their photos.

My absolute favourite temple was next on the list: Bayon. The huge and magnificent faces on its stone towers always amaze, impress and delight me. Their expressions are mesmerising and every corner presents yet another photo opportunity. Thank god for digital cameras!

After another yummy lunch, we strolled leisurely around the temples of Phimeanakas and Baphuon, plus the elephant terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King – strolled because it was extremely hot and humid and we were all wilting a little.

Luckily, a long tuk-tuk ride followed, as we headed out of town to the West Baray. Baray is the Khmer word for man-made reservoir and this one is huge, approximately 8kms x 2kms. Construction was probably begun in the 11th century. The building method is unusual – they didn’t excavate, but rather erected dikes to contain the water. Although there are no beaches to speak of, the locals like spending a lazy afternoon or evening swimming, then eating and swinging on hammocks under small, open-air shelters at the waterside. As it was late afternoon and therefore beer o’clock, we finished off another perfect weekend sipping on cold beers while sitting on the steps down to the water.

Templed out!

Another two days of templing – a verb invented specifically for Cambodia.

On 7 January, Victory over Genocide Day, our group of four barang and four Khmer set out early for the three-hour drive south. Marianne and I joined Marilyn and Marg from Grace House, together with Tola (who also volunteers at Grace House) and one of their teachers, Loung, plus a driver and our tour guide Noun, to explore yet another temple complex. This was Sambor Prei Kuk, a pre-Angkorian temple complex dating from the beginning of the 7^th century, with some of the oldest structures in Cambodia amongst its 100 temples.

We were a merry band of travellers. Loung had brought along his English dictionary and kept asking questions: ‘What’s the difference between expensive and expansive?’, ‘What’s the difference between coast and beach?’, and ‘Can you embalm a fish?’. He was a good student! When I tested him on the journey home, he remembered everything we’d discussed. In return, he told us stories from Khmer culture … or were they? I do wonder whether he was inventing the stories just to amuse us. For example, do you know why the cashew seed grows outside the fruit, rather than within it as is more usual? Well, it seems the fruit went out to a party one night and got very drunk. When it finally made its way home, all the doors and windows were shut, so it had to sleep outside … and it’s been sleeping outside ever since.

After 30 minutes driving, we stopped for breakfast at a roadside restaurant. I was tempted to photograph the toilet facilities. There were 3 toilets, each with a sign in English above the doors: Toilet (male), Toilet (female), and Welcome. This didn’t confuse only me – a local man, who obviously couldn’t read English went into the female cubicle. I crossed my legs rather than tempt fate.

Our journey continued south on the main road to Phnom Penh. This is a busy highway and traffic is always chaotic. Officially there are road rules in Cambodia, but they seem to be more suggestions than rules. Vehicles drive on the right, but it’s not unusual to see traffic driving in four directions at once on the same piece of highway. The centre line seems also to be just a suggestion – perhaps it’s there to help the drivers steer straight. At one stage I was convinced there must be a mattress sale in the next village as we first passed a truck stacked high with mattresses and then two motorbikes, with three mattresses each strapped behind the driver. These were double-size mattresses, not single. I’m not sure how the moto drivers kept their balance.

At Kompong Thom, we turned off the main highway and continued for perhaps 20 minutes on a relatively good dirt road. But then we turned off again and the last 14km were on the best example of a dancing road I’d experienced in Cambodia. By the time we arrived at the temples, our van had developed an alarming knocking sound and we had decided a new road sign was required for this type of road – something like ‘Sports Bra Required’!

The temples of Sambor Prei Kuk are surrounded by jungle and have delicate carvings, much damaged by weathering. They are brick-built structures, rather than stone, and have impressive towers, many of which are threatening to fall apart at the seams. Various archaeological groups have added wooden support structures to stop their destruction. The name of the largest structure, Prasat Tao, means ‘Lion Temple’, hence the two large lions guarding its entrance.

The temples were almost deserted, though as soon as we arrived we attracted the usual group of Khmer sales-children, who accompanied us for the two hours we spent exploring. Their patience was amazing; I guess they knew that their perseverance almost always defeats barang tourists. As we wandered, tiny voices would pipe up: ‘Octagonal temple. Eight-sided’, and ‘Careful the stones’, and ‘Bomb crater’ – these temples had been bombed by the Americans. At the end of our tour, we lined the girls up and bought one scarf from each of them to share the day’s sales evenly between them. None of us needed yet another scarf; it was more like a donation towards their education. Noun also gave an elderly local man a small payment for sharing his knowledge with us. It was yet another great day (and we had just enough energy to go to Rosy’s pub quiz that night – the proceeds of the quiz went to Grace House, so we couldn’t possibly not go.)

Slaves to culture, or suckers for punishment, Marianne and I spent the following day templing as well. To be honest, it was as much for the tuk tuking, which we both adore, but each temple is so different that we couldn’t resist exploring another six – yes, six! With Vibol as our driver, we set off at 8.30.

First were three temples in the Angkor Wat area, East Mebon, Ta Som and Banteay Samre. East Mebon is like a temple mountain, though its moat is now dry. It has impressive elephant statues at each corner and was ‘silent except for the distant chatter of Koreans’ (Marianne’s words). I circled the complex while Marianne climbed up, and yet again I was sought out by a young female salesgirl. She had an amusing sales technique; when I said I didn’t want one of whatever she was selling, she replied ‘Well, buy two then’. I managed not to!

Next came Ta Som, which has beautiful Bayon-style faces and a huge, strangling tree above its gates. Intriguingly, a Korean girl asked to take our photo posed amongst the ruins – we still don’t know why. We had an early lunch (of spring rolls again) before heading down a quiet country road to Banteay Samre, an isolated and so sparsely touristed temple. It was very beautiful but very hot, so the cooling interiors of the shrines and galleries were very welcoming.

From there, we set off across country to the temples of the Roulos group. Lolei is very ruined, with five towers that are now surrounded by rural village buildings and a pagoda. Preah Ko is quite a small complex, with six towers and three impressive kneeling bull sculptures sitting patiently in a row out front. They give the temple its modern name of ‘The Sacred Bull’. Its brick towers have been partially rebuilt so you could easily see the contrast between their construction materials of small pink bricks and large grey slabs of stone. And last, but certainly not least, was Bakong, a five-tier pyramid-type structure, surrounded by a walled enclosure, which is in turn surrounded by a water-filled moat. The countryside round about is very lush and the temple complex includes a range of interesting shrines, gopuras and galleries.

It was an impressive end to my Cambodian temple explorations but I confess to being exhausted by the end of the day and, though I hate to admit it, after exploring 12 temples in just 17 days, I was templed out!