Angkor Wat: A Must Visit!
Nothing can quite describe what it's like to visit Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Majestic, Inspiring, Beautiful, Cautious and Crowded.....Yes Crowded. While visiting the temples is a highlight for any trip to south east Asia the temples of Angkor Wat may be getting a little too much tourism.
Cambodia is a land of contrasts. No where else in south east Asia (and maybe the world) is there such a large collection of monumental religious buildings. To see every last nook and cranny of these temples would take a lifetime. But these impressive displays of sandstone and relief carvings are contrasted by the absolute poverty of the local population. At every temple entrance (and sometimes inside) we were greeted by rows of children selling postcards, cold drinks, books, scarfs and countless other trinkets and accessories. The children would try to impress us with their language skills as they counted post cards in German, Spanish, English and French ("mister 10 for a dollar one, two, three....ein, zwei, drei, uno, does, tres")....I would assume they could count in other Asian languages as well. There were only so many postcards and cold drinks that one person could buy and after awhile I admit that I did grow a little detached from the whole scene. But you can't blame the Cambodians though who are using Angkor Wat as a natural resource to help them undo the damage of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge. I have no doubt that every dollar spent had a measurable impact on their day to day survival. {D's insert} And so, when the little boy pleaded us into buying an Angkor Wat guide book for $9 that we later saw selling for $1, we couldn't get too upset because he needed that extra money more than we did.
If anyone does decide to visit Angkor Wat, I would suggest going independently and skipping the large group tours. We found the Cambodian people very friendly and we felt very safe contrary to what we read in some of our guidebooks. It is very affordable to hire a local tuk tuk driver who will take you around to the temples all day. We were lucky to be hooked up by our hotel (Villa Siem Reap--we highly recommend by the way) with Mr. Lang who was a very friendly driver and coincidently was the same age as Donielle. The local Khmer food is quite good and their curry dishes are slightly sweet versus the spicier Thai version. In fact, we liked the local dishes (Fried Morning Glories and Amok Chicken--yummy!) so much that we ate at a locally owned restaurant, Khmer Kitchen, two nights in a row.
The time to visit is now......Donielle and I saw row after row of new luxury apartments and resorts being built along the main roads into the national park. There are times when the popular places turn into a circus, but it's still possible to find temples that are peaceful and serene. However, it's only a matter of time before Angkor Wat is loved to death and restrictions are placed upon visitors.
And if this isn't a surprising contract. We left the US and traveled all this way around the world to see something different and unique.....Well our favorite temple of the entire visit was Ta Phrom.....the temple where Laura Croft Tomb Raider was filmed. American culture is everywhere!
~Jon
Nothing can quite describe what it's like to visit Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Majestic, Inspiring, Beautiful, Cautious and Crowded.....Yes Crowded. While visiting the temples is a highlight for any trip to south east Asia the temples of Angkor Wat may be getting a little too much tourism.
Cambodia is a land of contrasts. No where else in south east Asia (and maybe the world) is there such a large collection of monumental religious buildings. To see every last nook and cranny of these temples would take a lifetime. But these impressive displays of sandstone and relief carvings are contrasted by the absolute poverty of the local population. At every temple entrance (and sometimes inside) we were greeted by rows of children selling postcards, cold drinks, books, scarfs and countless other trinkets and accessories. The children would try to impress us with their language skills as they counted post cards in German, Spanish, English and French ("mister 10 for a dollar one, two, three....ein, zwei, drei, uno, does, tres")....I would assume they could count in other Asian languages as well. There were only so many postcards and cold drinks that one person could buy and after awhile I admit that I did grow a little detached from the whole scene. But you can't blame the Cambodians though who are using Angkor Wat as a natural resource to help them undo the damage of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge. I have no doubt that every dollar spent had a measurable impact on their day to day survival. {D's insert} And so, when the little boy pleaded us into buying an Angkor Wat guide book for $9 that we later saw selling for $1, we couldn't get too upset because he needed that extra money more than we did.
If anyone does decide to visit Angkor Wat, I would suggest going independently and skipping the large group tours. We found the Cambodian people very friendly and we felt very safe contrary to what we read in some of our guidebooks. It is very affordable to hire a local tuk tuk driver who will take you around to the temples all day. We were lucky to be hooked up by our hotel (Villa Siem Reap--we highly recommend by the way) with Mr. Lang who was a very friendly driver and coincidently was the same age as Donielle. The local Khmer food is quite good and their curry dishes are slightly sweet versus the spicier Thai version. In fact, we liked the local dishes (Fried Morning Glories and Amok Chicken--yummy!) so much that we ate at a locally owned restaurant, Khmer Kitchen, two nights in a row.
The time to visit is now......Donielle and I saw row after row of new luxury apartments and resorts being built along the main roads into the national park. There are times when the popular places turn into a circus, but it's still possible to find temples that are peaceful and serene. However, it's only a matter of time before Angkor Wat is loved to death and restrictions are placed upon visitors.
And if this isn't a surprising contract. We left the US and traveled all this way around the world to see something different and unique.....Well our favorite temple of the entire visit was Ta Phrom.....the temple where Laura Croft Tomb Raider was filmed. American culture is everywhere!
~Jon
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