Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

Early in July, I traveled south to the city of Siem Reap with three friends from Phnom Penh. Siem Reap is the town immediately adjacent to Angkor, Cambodia’s famous temple area/ Angkor housed Khmer royalty from the 9th-13th centuries, when the empire was very powerful. Kings built temples, or, let’s be real, they ordered slaves to build temples, to show their authority. The buildings reflected the society’s dual Hindu/Buddhist population. The tall temples are typically Hindu in nature, as their height reflects the many gods of that religion; the longer ones are typically Buddhist, representing the Buddha’s singularity and humility.
Ranch style temple

building upward style temple

At least that’s what our incredible tu-tuk driver Mr. Thom told us. We stayed at this wonderful inn about 5 km. outside the downtown of Siem Reap, owned by a highly opinionated and talkative Australian with two similarly fashioned parrots. Mr. Thom was the best of the Inn’s many perks. He picked us up from the bus station in the most beautiful tuk-tuk I’ve ever seen: a freshly polished black and white vehicle which we immediately and unquestionably recognized as the “limousine of tuk-tuks.” He’d even built a gorgeous wood cooler for keeping face towels and water bottles ice cold for riders! Mr. Thom is so fascinated by and knowledgeable about Angkor that he is known as “the temple nerd” and drove the National Geographic team around when they did a spread on Angkor a few years ago. He was able to tell us the depth of the moat around Angkor Wat during dry season and wet season.

Mr. Thom explaining some ancient myth.

The ruins are incredible. One of the temples, once colloquially known as the “jungle temple,” is now referred to as the Tomb Raider Temple by guidebooks, tourists, and locals because Angelina Jolie/Lara Croft discovered a time-changing device there in a terrible 2001 movie.

Tomb Raider temple :)
It’s incredible how preserved these temples are. They were basically abandoned when the empire fell in the 13th century (think monkeys playing in the Jungle Book) and then rediscovered by French colonialists in the 17th century who began the preservation, restoration, and credit-claiming process.

Jessica climbing a temple

The town of Siem Reap exploded when Angkor became a tourist-destination. The abject poverty was pushed to the side (nearer where I stayed) as bars and hotels took over the town’s main front. We spent our last morning on terrible one speed beach cruiser bikes exploring these poor villages en route to a remote temple, per the Aussie’s recommendation. It was so much fun (and so sweaty!) Yet there is something charming about the meticulously maintained green space and French colonial architecture, which is wholly absent in Phnom Penh.

It was a wonderful weekend.