Angkor Wat
I had read about the archaeological monument, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and always thought of visiting it, at least, once in my life time. Cambodia, however, is not as popular a tourist destination as its immediate neighbor Thailand. People from India go to Bangkok and Pattaya in Thailand for site-seeing or shopping but very few of them venture to go to Cambodia.
The pictures of huge black stone temples of Hindu origin always looked very mysterious to me and I always wondered the fact that the ancient Indians had spread their culture and stories of Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, up to far off places in the East like Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia etc. Given a chance, I had preferred to make a Europe Tour first rather than Angkor Wat out of a fear of public disapproval.
Angkor Wat temple at Siem Reap, Cambodia
But I was destined to visit Angkor Wat. One of my Pune engineering college mate, Anand Ketkar, recently did some work on a Marathi Encyclopedia and had chosen Angkor Wat as a topic for his research. He earnestly wanted to visit the temples and was looking for a company. He asked me about it and I said, "Yes."
It was planned that four of us, Anand, his wife Swapna, I and my wife Asha would make a short trip to Cambodia and visit Thailand on the way. Anand took all the troubles of making airline and hotel reservations at all the places through MakeMyTrip (MMT) wherever possible. He stays in Pune and I stay in Ahmedabad. We decided to meet at the departure terminal of Mumbai International Airport on the night of 24th February 2016. As a further precaution, however, it was decided later that we will start our journey together from Pune Railway Station on the afternoon on the same day. That would give us some time for discussing and fine tuning our tour plan. We had taken a bold decision of obtaining the visa on arrival (VOA) for both the countries, Thailand and Cambodia, after landing on their respective airports. It had its own advantages and disadvantages. But we decided to take a risk.
We collected from our banks the minimum foreign exchange that was required to be shown at the time of obtaining visa, Bahts for Thailand and US Dollars for Cambodia. Our air travel, local transport abroad and accommodation charges in hotels in Thailand and Cambodia had already been paid. We needed foreign exchange only for convincing the officials on the airport that we could survive in their country for the period of two weeks. They give a tourist visa only for 14 days from the day of entry. The visa expires the moment you leave the country even if your stay there had been less than 14 days. You need to produce a copy of the confirmed return ticket and hotel accommodation etc for obtaining your visa. "That was enough," we were told. Eventually nowhere they asked us to show the actual currency we had in our possession.
We had chosen Bangkok Airways for the Mumbai-Bangkok sector and Air Asia for Bangkok-Siem Reap sector. Air Asia charges a fee for the checked in baggage and expects you to book your luggage in advance. The cost is higher if you check your luggage at the time of flight. We decided to perform our journey only with a cabin baggage (one per passenger). That means we could not carry more than 7 kg each. It was okay for us. Male members were happier as they had to lift lighter bags. Also it would automatically restrict the expenses on impulse shopping that may be done by any or all of us. Bangkok Airways allowed 20 kg free baggage per person and on that sector we could easily hand over our bags at the time of check-in.
While we were waiting on the Mumbai International Airport for the security check etc. someone guided us to a counter where they were offering free international SIM cards. We went there but saw that the SIM card came with a few strings and we dropped the idea of getting it installed in our cell phones. We decided to try our luck with WhatsApp in our cell phones for any communication with friends and relatives back in India during the trip.
On the morning of 25th February at 1:00 a. m. we took off from Mumbai for Bangkok. It was a four hour flight. They served dinner and we slept after filling in the arrival card etc. The flight landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport at Bangkok at 06:30 a.m. local time (90 minutes ahead of IST). We corrected our watches. Got down and stepped our foot on Bangkok Airport. We took a little time to search the counter for the Visa on Arrival (VOA). When we located the counter we found there a very long queue of tourists. It happened because 2/3 flights fully loaded with tourists had landed in Bangkok within minutes of each other. Almost all the tourists had opted for VOA like us. We produced our passport size photograph and collected the Visa form. Filled it and joined the queue. We expected that it would easily take 4/5 hours by the time we could get our visa. Our major concern was to meet the MakeMyTrip person who was to make arrangements for our transportation from the Bangkok airport to our hotel in South Pattaya. If we missed him we had to make our own arrangements.
But as the luck would have it, seeing a group of four senior citizens standing in a long queue one airport official took us to a special counter where all the visa formalities were completed in no time once we paid a visa fee of 1000 Thai Bahts per person in cash. We came out triumphantly with our papers and collected our baggage from the belt.
To our surprise, MakeMyTrip (MMT) representative, a Thai youth Mara, was waiting for us. Mara kept on meeting us later also till we left Thailand. In fact, he was waiting on the Bangkok airport for all other passengers who had made their bookings through MMT and were expected to arrive on that morning. There were 3 more young couples from India apart from us. Mara asked us to board a minivan and first took us to their office building in Bangkok. There we were given Indian breakfast that brought cheers on our faces. It was, however, a marketing trick. Mara and one more gentleman from MMT offered various tourist packages for the local sightseeing for our stay at Pattaya and Bangkok for the next four days. They wanted to keep us engaged on all the mornings, evenings and even nights! Every package had a handsome fee. We politely declined the offer and stuck to our original plan of sightseeing for which we had already made a payment.
Mara then made us board a minivan again that was to take one and half hour to reach our hotel (Courtyard by Marriot) in South Pattaya. The check-in at the hotel was smooth. We were given two double rooms. We had a free evening that day. We decided to go to the road on the seashore which we had seen from our minivan on the way to our hotel. We decided to go there on our own after an afternoon nap.
In the evening, we made a few inquires at the hotel counter about the road to the seashore. We decided to walk the distance through the city market. It took about half an hour. On the way we tried to remember some landmarks to make it easy for us to trace the route back to the hotel while returning. The road through the market was busy and after every few shops there was a massage parlor. The parlor girls sitting outside were loudly inviting the passersby to have a massage. As we were being escorted by our Censor Board members we hurriedly moved forward every time we came across a parlor and did not even throw a cursory glance inside any of those parlors! After reaching the seashore it reminded us of the Marine Drive area in Mumbai. It was very lively and as crowded. We roamed on the road for about an hour or so. It was getting dark and we decided to return to our hotel. On the way back we saw an Indian restaurant and ate some Punjabi food.
The sea-side road in Pattaya
We went to bed early on that day as on the following day MMT had arranged a site seeing tour for us to Coral Island in Pattaya in a Cruise.
Coral Island, Pattaya
Coral Island, or Koh Larn, is a picture-postcard island 7 km off the coast of Pattaya. The speedboat from the South Pier at Pattaya takes around 15/20 minutes to reach there. The popular day-trip destination offers you underwater diving in the surrounding coral, glass-bottom boat tours and beachfront relaxing at one of several beaches on the island.
To Coral Island in a cruise
MMT had collected a big group of tourists from various hotels in Pattaya. They gave an option of water sports to whoever wanted to take. Mostly all the youngsters opted for it. We opted for Coral Island and were dropped on a beach after a cruise ride of 15 to 20 minutes. We took our positions on the chairs under a comfortable tent. We had no plans to enter the sea. We just watched the tourists from Thailand, Japan, China, Korea, India and a few European countries enjoying in the sea. Some of the tourists were swimming in the sea and others in motorboats. It was a sheer joy to watch them. In between we walked on a road behind our tents. The road was crowded. It was full of shops selling a variety of items drawn from the sea that were attracting the tourists. The eateries on the road were also equally crowded.
A beach on Coral Island
After two hours, we were brought back to Pattaya. On the shore, we were surprised to see our own individual colorful photos nicely laminated in a 4"x6" frame. The photos were taken while each one of us was climbing up in the cruise boat. We had thought that they were taking our photos for their records only. But the copies were now available at 100 Bahts each. We couldn't stop ourselves from buying our own photos as mementoes. Afterwards, about two busloads of Indian tourists were then taken to an Indian Restaurant in Pattaya and were served an Indian Lunch by MMT. After lunch, we four opted for a site seeing tour to Pattaya Towers after paying the necessary fees. Those who opted for it were taken in a minivan to Pattaya Towers.
Pattaya Park Tower, Pattaya
The major attraction of Pattaya Park for tourists is the opportunity to see a beautiful panoramic view of Pattaya city from the observation deck on the top of Pattaya Park Tower, the 55th floor (240 meter from ground) of the building. Visitors there can choose to just stand and gaze at Pattaya city and the beach view, or they can go for exciting experience of a Tower Jump. The visitors wishing to jump are locked with the equipment that slides down on wire ropes from the top of the building to the ground. Another way to get down is the Speed Shuttle, where two people stand in a cage. The third option is the Sky Shuttle well suited for families with children. Several people sit inside a capsule. We opted for the Sky Shuttle while coming down from the Tower.
A solo Tower Jump from Pattaya Tower
MMT dropped us back to the Courtyard Hotel. In the evening we again went to the seashore and had a samosa in another Indian restaurant on our way back. Went to bed as we were to check out the next morning and were to be taken to Bangkok.
The Gems Gallery, Pattaya
Next morning, 27th February 2016, we checked out of the Hotel Courtyard and boarded a minivan in a small group of Indian tourists. They were also to accompany us to Bangkok. We were first taken on the way to The Gem Shop and Factory Tour. The visit to the Gems Gallery gives an opportunity to witness Thailand's world renowned Gem Industry at work. Visitors can take a small toy train ride through a tunnel and watch a series of robotic exhibits in cubicles that simulate the evolution of gems all the way to the point where they are excavated from the mines. Tourists can purchase gems and jewelry at the store if they wish.
The Wat Pho Temple, Bangkok
After the visit to the Gems Gallery we were taken to the Wat Pho temple in the Bangkok city. It's one of the largest temple complexes in the city. It is famous for its giant reclining Buddha that measures 46 meters long and is covered in gold leaf. The reclining Buddha on his right side, 15 meters tall, 46 meters long, and looks so large that one gets a feeling that it was squeezed into the temple building. The Buddha's feet are 5 meters long and exquisitely decorated in mother-of-pearl illustrations of auspicious 'laksanas' (characteristics) of the Buddha.
After the Wat Pho temple visit we four were dropped in Novotel Hotel in Bangkok where we were to stay for two nights before our journey to Cambodia. The check in at the hotel was smooth. By this time we felt tired a little bit and decided to take it easy on the following day. On the evening of 27th February we just roamed in the Bangkok city around our hotel. On the way back to our hotel we entered a bakery shop and had a cheese toast. The owner of the hotel was an Indian youth from UK. We had a chat with him. He told us that he could recognize that we were from Bombay as his parents were Indian. He further told us that he was happy that we had planned to go to Cambodia from Bangkok as not many Indian tourists visit Cambodia. Before reaching our hotel we bought some fruits and that was the dinner we had that evening.
A road in Bangkok city
On 28th February 2016 morning we again walked on the roads nearby our hotel. It was Sunday. Mostly the roads were less crowded. After some time we returned to our hotel. We had decided to take rest in the afternoon. Suddenly I and Asha realized that so far, apart from the continental breakfast in our hotels, we had only visited Indian restaurants and had taken Indian food only. As Anand and Swapna were resting in their room I and Asha sneaked out of the hotel and found a Thai restaurant just for making an experiment. We had a look at the menu card and ordered a vegetarian pizza with mushroom topping and French fries along with ice-cream. When the pizza was served we decided that we would remove any piece of vegetable that looked non-vegetarian in appearance. We knew that the Thai definition of vegetarian food did not match with ours.
In the evening we again roamed in Bangkok. We saw that the traffic police had suddenly started putting barricades on the main road. We did not know the reason but continued to walk on the road.
To our surprise the road was closed for the traffic because a big Sunday Evening Market was getting erected on the both sides of the road. Just taking a round in the market was a sheer pleasure. After we were sufficiently tired, we thought of returning to our hotel.
On our way back we heard some chanting and saw a big temple on the other side of the road which we initially thought as a Buddhist temple. But on entering it we found that it was a Hindu temple with South Indian priests. And the chanting sounded "Om Shakti Om". It was a temple of Goddess Uma and was built by local Indians in Bangkok in the year 1874 or so. We observed that a lot of Hindu devotees had come for aarati, may be because it was a Sunday evening. After some time we returned to our hotel.
A South Indian temple in Bangkok
On 29th February 2016 we checked out from the Novotel Hotel in Bangkok and waited for the MMT vehicle that took all the four of us to the Don Muang Airport in Bangkok for our flight to Siem reap, Cambodia.
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Don Muang airport in Bangkok is relatively smaller than the Suvarnabhumi airport. Our Air Asia flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia was to take off from there. We had obtained our boarding passes in advance. We completed the passport and security check etc before boarding the plane. It was just an hour's flight. We landed on the Siem Reap airport. During the flight itself we filled in all the necessary papers including the visa form for Cambodia. Visa formalities did not take much time. They charged 30 USD each as visa fees. We were out of the airport within half an hour. By this time we had finished our contract with MakeMyTrip and we were on our own. We were looking for a representative from Tresor D'Angkor Villa and Resort in Siem Reap where we had booked our rooms. We couldn't find him.
But Anand made some enquires and located one young girl from the same hotel making transport arrangements for a group of tourists. The girl took us in a minivan to our destination. She was thrilled to see tourists from Bombay visiting her hotel. The check-in in the hotel was smooth. Our passport stamped at various places on the way spoke everything about us. We didn't need to show anything else during the check-in.
It was almost noon. They gave us a welcome drink. The Hotel Manager made us sit in the reception longue. He suggested us a tour plan for the next two days as our sole interest was to see Angkor Wat and the other ancient temples around it. On the fourth day we were to take a return flight to Bangkok.
The Manager suggested a "small tour" on the following day to visit Angkor Wat at 08:30 a.m. and end the small tour after witnessing the sun set from the famous Sun Set Point on the top of a hill.
A "big Tour" may be taken a day later. For the "big tour," we would start at 05:00 a.m. to see the beautiful sun rising behind the Angkor Wat temple. Visit a few more temples later.
The Manager suggested that a Tuk-Tuk, a popular local transport vehicle accommodates four passengers at a time and would be suitable for four of us to move around in the Angkor Park area.
The Tuk-Tuk is a carriage open from all the sides except form the top. It is pulled by a motorbike attached to its front. He offered to arrange a Tuk-Tuk ride for us for the “small tour” and the “big tour.” He suggested that it would be safer for the foreigners like us to hire one through their hotel only. The Tuk-Tuk driver provided by the Hotel will remain fully engaged with us. He would wait at every tourist spot as long as we needed. He would serve cold water bottles from a thermo coal crate fixed below his Tuk-Tuk as and when we felt thirsty. He would give us cold towels also as the place was hot and sunny during the day time. The driver also knew good places on the way where we could eat our lunch when we felt hungry.
A Tuk-Tuk ride for visiting Angkor Wat
In addition, the driver of the Tuk-Tuk would help us in getting visiting passes for the Angkor Archeological Park mandatory for the foreign travelers. The Manager also suggested us to buy a 40 USD pass (each) as it would work for three consecutive days. We fixed our local visits and booked a Tuk-Tuk for our sight-seeing for the next two days and then went straight to our rooms as we were feeling tired due to the hot afternoon climate. USD 23 for the “small tour” and USD 36 for the “big tour” were the rates offered to us.
In the evening we just walked around the hotel area. We had been advised by the hotel manager that it would not be safe for us to go to the city side on our own. The hotel was away from the city and the road to the Siem Reap city was deserted. On that night the manager arranged a candle light dinner on a table for four for us on the terrace of the Dining Hall of the hotel. It was a memorable occasion. A bottle of local Angkor beer before the dinner set our mood perfectly. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality shown by the Cambodian staff there. The hotel employees looked simple and humble. The room service we received for our entire stay was excellent and efficient. The Cambodian people, in general, seemed to be aware that their country's economy ran mainly on tourism industry and that's why they tried to give the best of services to the tourists from abroad.
Angkor Archaeological Park
The Angkor Archaeological Park contains magnificent remains of several capitals of Khmer Empire from 9th to 15th century. The most famous are the Angkor Wat temple and Angkor Thom, the ancient township accommodating a number of monuments. The Angkor Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. At the same time it was placed on the List of World Heritages in Danger due to various reasons. UNESCO is taking many steps to safeguard this site.
The entire area is called Angkor Archeological Park. It is 6 km away in North from the Siem Reap city. Angkor Thom, the ancient city is adjacent to Angkor Wat temple on its North side. The park has an area of 400 square km including the forest area.
First visit to Angkor Wat
The next day, 1st March 2016, after breakfast we started our venture to visit Angkor Wat temple, the very purpose of our tour. The Tuk-Tuk was ready with the driver, a young Cambodian boy Chandy, who looked dependable and we became friends in no time. He drove his Tuk-Tuk through the city roads for about 20 minutes and stopped at a place where we could purchase our Visiting Passes after showing our passports and paying USD 40 each. At the time of issuing the pass they take your photograph and print it on your pass. This is done to make it nontransferable. A foreign tourist needs to show the pass at the entry point of every monument. The Tuk-Tuk dropped us at the entrance of Angkor Wat. There was a long stone causeway that we walked on foot to cross the 600 feet wide moat before we could reach the first boundary wall of the Angkor Wat temple.
A stone causeway over the moat around Angkor Wat
After entering the gate we continued to walk the stone pathway before we could reach the second level of the temple. For moving inside the temple premises one needs to walk a lot and climb up and down many steps a number of times. As the original stone steps have become slippery due to weathering effects and the movement of thousands of tourists over them all these years, the temple authorities have fixed wooden planks and metal railings over them at many places for the benefit of the tourists.
We had read a lot about the Angkor Monument on the Internet. After standing in front of it in reality, however, we were overwhelmed by its sheer enormity and beauty. We could not believe our own eyes. It just doesn’t look to be a man-made structure. Looking at the technology used in the construction of the Angkor Wat complex in the 12th century one gets a feeling that only aliens from some other world must have landed on the earth especially for making it and gifting it to us.
An aerial photograph of the Angkor Wat and its surrounding Moat, obtained from Internet shown in the beginning of this write-up will give some idea to the readers about the layout of the temple.
The temples of Angkor are highly symbolic structures. The popular Hindu concept is the temple-mountain, where the temple is built as a representation of the mythical Mount Meru. This is why so many temples, including Angkor Wat itself, are surrounded by moats, built in a mountain-like pyramidal shape and topped by precisely five towers, representing the five peaks of Mount Meru.
The Angkor temples there had a checkered past. While early Angkor temples were built as Hindu temples, Jayavarman VII converted to Mahayana Buddhism in around 1200 A.D. and started building the new capital city of Angkor Thom including Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and many more temples as Buddhist structures. However, his successor Jayavarman VIII returned to Hinduism and started systematically defacing Buddhist images and even crudely altering some to be Hindu again. Hinduism eventually lost out to Buddhism again over the years that followed.
Located six kilometer north of Siem Reap, Angkor Wat is one of the largest of Khmer monuments. Built around the first half of 12th century by King Suryavarman II, the temple's balance, composition and beauty make it one of the finest monuments in the world.
Though 'Wat' is the Khmer (Cambodian) word for temple, the westward orientation of the structure is unusual of Hindu temples. Scholars believe that the architecture and sculptures are that of a temple where Lord Vishnu was worshiped. But it could have been also built as a mausoleum for the king after his death.
Built between roughly A.D. 1113 and 1150, and encompassing an area of about 500 acres (200 hectares), Angkor Wat is one of the largest religious monuments ever constructed. Its name means “temple city.”
Its 213-feet-tall (65 meters) central tower is surrounded by four smaller towers and a series of enclosure walls.
This layout recreates the image of Mount Meru, a legendary place in Hindu mythology that is said to lie beyond the Himalayas and be the home of the Gods.
Angkor Wat itself is surrounded by a 650-feet-wide (200 m) moat that encompasses a perimeter of more than 3 miles (5 km). This moat is 13 feet deep (4 m) and would have helped stabilize the temple’s foundation, preventing groundwater from rising too high or falling too low.
Inside the Angkor Wat complex
After entering the temple one gets lost in deciding on how and where to start. There are various levels and passages enclosing the central tower. One can enter a passage on either side or keep climbing up and down the straight path and come out of the complex through the other gate (at East) into a forest as we did. We returned from that point and again entered the temple now from the Southern side and entered a passage.
The Eastern Gate of the Angkor Wat Complex
That was the starting point of the famous sandstone carvings. The buildings at Angkor Wat used a tough material called laterite which was encased with softer sandstone for the wall carvings. The wall carvings in the passages depict the scenes from various mythological stories and historic events. Walking from left to right we came across scenes from battle of Ramayana, battle of Mahabharata, army of Suryavarman II, scenes from judgment by Yama (the supreme judge), churning of ocean by demons and gods to get Amrita — the nectar of immortality, Vishnu's victory over demons, victory of Krishna over Bana and other scenes of battle between gods and demons. One display plate told us that over the passage of time, Cambodians remembered only Ramayana and forgot the epic of Mahabharata!
A wall carving depicting the scene of Samudra-Manthan
We were extremely thrilled to see our own past depicted on the walls of a temple that is located thousands of miles away from our homeland. I find no more words to describe the beauty of the place and the pride we felt at that moment. As we were to visit many temples before the sunset that day, we curtailed our visit to Angkor Wat temple and came out from it through the Western gate from where we had entered in the morning. After crossing the stone causeway over the moat we came out of the temple complex and located our Tuk-Tuk. The driver, Chandy gave us cold water bottles as he knew we must be thirsty. We were feeling hungry also. We requested him to take us for lunch somewhere. He knew a decent and quiet place where we had a dish made of rice and vegetable.
Narial Pani from a Jumbo Cambodian variety
Before lunch each of us had coconut water. The size of the coconuts was unusually bigger than what we get in India (see photo). After drinking the narial pani by a straw the waiter, on our request, cut each of the coconuts in two pieces so that we could eat the malai also, the test of which still lingers in my mouth.
After taking some rest our Tuk-Tuk was taken to the famous Ta Prohm temple. We felt proud to read a board at the entry point of the Ta Prohm temple stating that Archeological Survey of India (ASI) had helped Cambodian authorities in partially restoring the ruined temple. The conservation and restoration of Ta Prohm is a partnership project of the ASI and the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap).
Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor
Ta Prohm temple was built during the time of king Jayavarman VII. It is best known as the temple where trees have been left intertwined with the stonework, much as it was uncovered from the jungle. It might be considered in a state of disrepair but there is a strange beauty in the marvelous strangler fig trees which provide a stunning display of the embrace between nature and the human handiwork. This is one of the most popular temples after Angkor Wat and the Bayon because of the beautiful combinations of wood and stone. The large sections of the temple are unstable and are in real danger of collapse.
A tree embracing the ancient temple construction
Inside the Ta Prohm temple
After this we went to Ta Keo temple on the way to the Ancient city Angkor Thom.
Ta Keo Temple, Angkor
An incomplete, largely undecorated temple built by Jayavarman V. The stairs going to the top are unusually steep. One almost needs to crawl on them while climbing. Anand and I ventured to reach to the top. We almost did it. Thinking that climbing down the steps might be more difficult we decided to cut short our adventure and slowly and carefully came down to ground.
Steep steps of the Ta Keo temple
After Ta Keo temple we again boarded our Tuk-Tuk and entered the Angkor Thom city through one of its five gates, the Victory Gate, to visit the world famous Bayon temple located at the centre of Angkor Thom city.
Bayon Temple, Angkor
Inside the Bayon Temple
Built in the latter part of the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, Bayon is one of the most widely recognized temples in Siem Reap because of the giant stone faces that adorn the towers of Bayon. There are 54 towers of four faces each, totaling 216 faces. There is still a debate as to who is being depicted in the faces. It could be Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva, or perhaps a combination of King Jayavarman VII and Buddha.
After spending and enjoying the beauty of Bayon temple we walked out of Angkor Thom city through its Southern Gate where our Tuk-Tuk was ready to take us to our last destination of the day, Phnom Bakheng, on a top of the hill to watch Sunset. The Tuk-Tuk took us up to the foot of the hill. We had to climb the winding road through a forest and reach the top as early as possible. Only 300 tourists are allowed every evening, on the first-come-first-served basis, to occupy their position on the flat top of the hill.
Phnom Bakheng Temple, Angkor
The first temple-mountain constructed in Angkor, with a commanding hilltop location, is presently under renovation. It is extremely popular (and crowded) spot for watching sunsets. The final climb on the steps to the top of the hill is steep and dangerous at dark while returning.
We reached the top of the hill and collected our passes to watch sunset. The sunset was expected to take place after three hours from then and sun was still bright. We sat directly on the ground in a shadow of a big temple. Slowly, the crowd stated gathering. Like us, other tourists also preferred to sit on the ground in the shadow. It was fun watching the tourists from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Germany and France etc. all of them sitting on the ground after a hard day visiting so many temples.
As sun started going down tourists shifted their position to the western side of the hill. Many of them could locate a sitting position to watch the sun. But the majority of the tourists had to stand on their feet as the sitting place on top of the hill was limited. Most of the tourists gathered there, as the current trend goes, were moving with a selfie stick in their hand. They took up their position so that they could have a selfie with the setting sun! A few other enthusiasts, with the help of their friends, tried to take trick photographs by adjusting the angle and position of their camera. They shouted with joy if they could succeed to take their picture lifting the red ball of the sun on the palm of their hand or in their open mouth etc.
It was amusing to see that a natural phenomenon like sunset which is taking place every day for the last millions of years, without fail, still attracts the attention and the thrill associated with it by men and women of all ages and all nationalities. It is as if, on every evening the old sun goes down never to come back and a new sun rises the next day. No doubt every sunset and sunrise gives an out of the world experience to the viewers!
After sun set everybody rushed to the staircase as it was getting dark. We walked down the hill and reached our Tuk-Tuk. Feeling completely exhausted we asked Chandy to drop us back to the Hotel. When he left, we promised him that we would be ready by 05:30 morning next day as our day was to start by observing the beautiful sun rising behind the Angkor Wat temple.
On the flat top of the Sun set point
View of Sun set from Phnom Bakheng Temple
After taking dinner of mix vegetable curry and rice we went to bed.
Next day, 02 March 2016, we got up at 4 O'clock in the morning and came to the Reception Lounge of our hotel Tresor D'Angkor at 05:30 a.m. sharp. Chandy was already waiting for us. He collected from the hotel counter four small thermo coal boxes packed with our breakfast. They were kept ready by the Hotel staff as promised on the previous night.
Sun rise at Angkor Wat
We started our Tuk-Tuk ride in the early morning to visit Angkor Wat temple again. The cold breeze was refreshing. By the time we reached the temple, hundreds of tourists had already reached there and had taken up their position. The tourists normally prefer the position in front of a water pond in front of the left side when facing the temple. When sun rises the pond shows a beautiful reflection of the sun rising behind the temple. (See photo). We had to wait a little bit before sun rose. In the meantime the local Cambodian sales girl successfully sold 10 strolls to Asha and Swapna. The strolls had beautiful design on them on the background of Angkor Wat temple.
Sun rising behind the Angkor Wat temple
After the sun came up from behind the temple, most of the crowd started returning but a few of them entered the temple again to continue their exploration. We then again boarded our Tuk-Tuk and proceeded to Preah Khan temple on a quiet forest road. Before entering it, Chandy suggested that we could eat our packed breakfast in a small roadside restaurant and could order coffee also if we wished. After the breakfast of bread, fruit and coffee we felt energetic and entered the Preah Khan temple opposite the restaurant.
Preah Khan Temple, Angkor
The Preah Khan temple complex situated at the northern edge of the Angkor Archaeological Park is one of the most significant buildings erected during the ancient Khmer empire. Dedicated by the great king Jayavarman VII to his father in 1191, Preah Khan serves today as an outstanding example of a large linear temple complex in a dense jungle setting. Rectangular in shape and occupying 138 acres, Preah Khan’s boundaries are defined by a protective moat and fortified walls adorned by monumental carved stone garudas—eagle-like divine beings. The temple complex includes entryways, towers, ceremonial spaces, courtyards, shrines, and a variety of connecting corridors. Additional special features of Preah Khan include its two-story pavilion, the once-bronze-plated sanctum sanctorum, and its Hall of Dancers.
Entering the Preah Khan Temple
In this temple, we spotted many Shivalingas in square shape of 2’ x2’ x2’ size one each at the centre of rooms that we visited as we followed the central passage.
Inside the Preah Khan Temple
Prasat Neak Pean Temple, Angkor
Prasat Neak Pean is located in the east of Preah Khan, 300 meters from the road.
View of the Prasat Neak Pean Temple
One can enter and leave from the North entrance. It was built on a circular island in the second half of the 12th century by king Jayavarman VII, dedicated to Buddhist, with following to Prasat Bayon art style.
Some historians believe that Neak Pean represents Anavatapta, a mythical lake in the Himalayas whose waters are thought to cure all illness. The name is derived from the sculptures of snakes (Naga) running around the base of the temple structure, neak being the Khmer rendering of the Sanskrit naga. They are Nanda and Upananda, two nagas traditionally associated with Lake Anavatapta.
Ta Som Temple, Angkor
Ta Som is a small temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built at the end of the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII. It is located north east of Angkor Thom and just east of Neak Pean. The King dedicated the temple to his father Dharanindravarman II (Paramanishkalapada) who was King of the Khmer Empire from 1150 to 1160. The temple consists of a single shrine located on one level and surrounded by enclosure laterite walls. Like the nearby Preah Khan and Ta Prohm temples it was left largely un-restored, with numerous trees and other vegetation growing among the ruins. In 1998, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) added the temple to their restoration program and began work to stabilize the structure to make it safer for visitors.
Being the last of the temples to visit that day, myself and Anand decided to climb the steep steps just for a little adventure.
Outside the Ta Som Temple
Front view of the Ta Som Temple
After getting down from the top we again boarded our Tuk-Tuk and returned to our hotel by 11 O' clock. The day was very hot and humid. We had our lunch of vegetable curry and rice in the Dining hall of the hotel.
We were very tired. So we slept for a while. In the evening we again called for a Tuk-Tuk. That was to be the last evening of our stay at Siem Reap. We decided to visit the famous Pub Street market in Siem Reap. The ride took 15/20 minutes. We got down and told the driver that we would meet him at the same spot after a couple of hours.
Visit to the Pub Street, Siem Reap
The Pub Street, Siem Reap
We just roamed the Pub Street and other nearby roads and walked through the Siem Reap market. Swapna and Asha purchased a few items from the market as mementoes for our visit to Cambodia. This market also had massage parlors like Bangkok. We were more interested in exploring a typical Pub Street restaurant for our dinner. We mustered some courage and ventured into a roadside restaurant on the Pub Street that was offering Draft Beer and snacks. We asked for menu and searched the list for items that did not have any fish, pork, beef and chicken. The list of items on the menu card was very scary. I was not surprised. Before our visit to Cambodia I had watched TV programs on Cambodia Tourism and had concluded that Cambodians could eat any creature moving around in the house or in the ponds outside.
The Market Road in Siem Reap
We fixed on a vegetarian (?) pizza and French fries. I and Anand took draft beer to justify our visit to the Pub Street. It was a “Happy Hour” there in the restaurant. Satisfied, we returned to our Hotel and slept.
The last day of our tour, 03, March 2016
It was to be a very hectic day. We had to check out from our hotel to catch the Air Asia flight back to Bangkok. The same evening we were to return to Mumbai via Bangkok. After completing the formalities at the hotel we loaded our luggage in a taxi and went to the Seam Ream airport. We had obtained our boarding passes on-line in advance. After the security check we waited for the boarding announcement.
The flight took about one hour after which we landed on the Don Muang Airport of Bangkok. We needed to obtain the Thailand visa again as we were entering their country. Our earlier visa was null and void as we had left Thailand for Cambodia on 29th February 2016. We had only three hours to obtain our Thailand visa, take a free bus service from Don Muang Airport in Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi International Airport, complete check-in procedure and security clearance etc at Suvarnabhumi airport and board the Bangkok Airways flight back to Mumbai at 9 O'clock evening.
On the VOA counter there was a very long queue of the tourists seeking visa. Seeing this we almost thought that we would definitely miss the Mumbai flight. We knew that the bus from the Don Muang airport to Suvarnabhumi airport would easily take more than one hour through the evening traffic in Bangkok.
Anand once again located some elderly lady behind the counter and played our trump card of senior citizenship. The lady yielded and asked us to hand over our visa forms, Passport and visa fees of 1000 Thai Bahts each. We waited in suspense as she disappeared in the room behind. After a few minutes she returned with our visa papers etc. We profusely thanked her and rushed to the Airport Gate with our luggage and boarded the free bus for the Suvarnabhumi airport. It reached the destination in little more than one hour. We were now in a comfortable position.
On entering the departure terminal of the Suvarnabhumi Airport, we saw a big colorfully decorated sculpture depicting the legendary scene of Samudra-Manthan erected on a big flat platform. We were quite thrilled to see it and felt proud of our connections with Thailand from the past.
Completing the check in formalities we boarded the Bangkok Airways flight back to India and landed in Mumbai at 1 a.m. on the next morning. This time we came out of the airport like seasoned international travelers as we had reached our own country. Anand fixed a taxi for all the four of us to go to Pune. We left Mumbai at 02:30 a.m. and reached our sweet homes in Pune at 05: 30 a.m. The end of a very memorable trip! It was worth visiting Angkor Wat. The dream came true.
The pictures of huge black stone temples of Hindu origin always looked very mysterious to me and I always wondered the fact that the ancient Indians had spread their culture and stories of Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, up to far off places in the East like Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia etc. Given a chance, I had preferred to make a Europe Tour first rather than Angkor Wat out of a fear of public disapproval.
Angkor Wat temple at Siem Reap, Cambodia
But I was destined to visit Angkor Wat. One of my Pune engineering college mate, Anand Ketkar, recently did some work on a Marathi Encyclopedia and had chosen Angkor Wat as a topic for his research. He earnestly wanted to visit the temples and was looking for a company. He asked me about it and I said, "Yes."
It was planned that four of us, Anand, his wife Swapna, I and my wife Asha would make a short trip to Cambodia and visit Thailand on the way. Anand took all the troubles of making airline and hotel reservations at all the places through MakeMyTrip (MMT) wherever possible. He stays in Pune and I stay in Ahmedabad. We decided to meet at the departure terminal of Mumbai International Airport on the night of 24th February 2016. As a further precaution, however, it was decided later that we will start our journey together from Pune Railway Station on the afternoon on the same day. That would give us some time for discussing and fine tuning our tour plan. We had taken a bold decision of obtaining the visa on arrival (VOA) for both the countries, Thailand and Cambodia, after landing on their respective airports. It had its own advantages and disadvantages. But we decided to take a risk.
We collected from our banks the minimum foreign exchange that was required to be shown at the time of obtaining visa, Bahts for Thailand and US Dollars for Cambodia. Our air travel, local transport abroad and accommodation charges in hotels in Thailand and Cambodia had already been paid. We needed foreign exchange only for convincing the officials on the airport that we could survive in their country for the period of two weeks. They give a tourist visa only for 14 days from the day of entry. The visa expires the moment you leave the country even if your stay there had been less than 14 days. You need to produce a copy of the confirmed return ticket and hotel accommodation etc for obtaining your visa. "That was enough," we were told. Eventually nowhere they asked us to show the actual currency we had in our possession.
We had chosen Bangkok Airways for the Mumbai-Bangkok sector and Air Asia for Bangkok-Siem Reap sector. Air Asia charges a fee for the checked in baggage and expects you to book your luggage in advance. The cost is higher if you check your luggage at the time of flight. We decided to perform our journey only with a cabin baggage (one per passenger). That means we could not carry more than 7 kg each. It was okay for us. Male members were happier as they had to lift lighter bags. Also it would automatically restrict the expenses on impulse shopping that may be done by any or all of us. Bangkok Airways allowed 20 kg free baggage per person and on that sector we could easily hand over our bags at the time of check-in.
While we were waiting on the Mumbai International Airport for the security check etc. someone guided us to a counter where they were offering free international SIM cards. We went there but saw that the SIM card came with a few strings and we dropped the idea of getting it installed in our cell phones. We decided to try our luck with WhatsApp in our cell phones for any communication with friends and relatives back in India during the trip.
On the morning of 25th February at 1:00 a. m. we took off from Mumbai for Bangkok. It was a four hour flight. They served dinner and we slept after filling in the arrival card etc. The flight landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport at Bangkok at 06:30 a.m. local time (90 minutes ahead of IST). We corrected our watches. Got down and stepped our foot on Bangkok Airport. We took a little time to search the counter for the Visa on Arrival (VOA). When we located the counter we found there a very long queue of tourists. It happened because 2/3 flights fully loaded with tourists had landed in Bangkok within minutes of each other. Almost all the tourists had opted for VOA like us. We produced our passport size photograph and collected the Visa form. Filled it and joined the queue. We expected that it would easily take 4/5 hours by the time we could get our visa. Our major concern was to meet the MakeMyTrip person who was to make arrangements for our transportation from the Bangkok airport to our hotel in South Pattaya. If we missed him we had to make our own arrangements.
But as the luck would have it, seeing a group of four senior citizens standing in a long queue one airport official took us to a special counter where all the visa formalities were completed in no time once we paid a visa fee of 1000 Thai Bahts per person in cash. We came out triumphantly with our papers and collected our baggage from the belt.
To our surprise, MakeMyTrip (MMT) representative, a Thai youth Mara, was waiting for us. Mara kept on meeting us later also till we left Thailand. In fact, he was waiting on the Bangkok airport for all other passengers who had made their bookings through MMT and were expected to arrive on that morning. There were 3 more young couples from India apart from us. Mara asked us to board a minivan and first took us to their office building in Bangkok. There we were given Indian breakfast that brought cheers on our faces. It was, however, a marketing trick. Mara and one more gentleman from MMT offered various tourist packages for the local sightseeing for our stay at Pattaya and Bangkok for the next four days. They wanted to keep us engaged on all the mornings, evenings and even nights! Every package had a handsome fee. We politely declined the offer and stuck to our original plan of sightseeing for which we had already made a payment.
Mara then made us board a minivan again that was to take one and half hour to reach our hotel (Courtyard by Marriot) in South Pattaya. The check-in at the hotel was smooth. We were given two double rooms. We had a free evening that day. We decided to go to the road on the seashore which we had seen from our minivan on the way to our hotel. We decided to go there on our own after an afternoon nap.
In the evening, we made a few inquires at the hotel counter about the road to the seashore. We decided to walk the distance through the city market. It took about half an hour. On the way we tried to remember some landmarks to make it easy for us to trace the route back to the hotel while returning. The road through the market was busy and after every few shops there was a massage parlor. The parlor girls sitting outside were loudly inviting the passersby to have a massage. As we were being escorted by our Censor Board members we hurriedly moved forward every time we came across a parlor and did not even throw a cursory glance inside any of those parlors! After reaching the seashore it reminded us of the Marine Drive area in Mumbai. It was very lively and as crowded. We roamed on the road for about an hour or so. It was getting dark and we decided to return to our hotel. On the way back we saw an Indian restaurant and ate some Punjabi food.
The sea-side road in Pattaya
We went to bed early on that day as on the following day MMT had arranged a site seeing tour for us to Coral Island in Pattaya in a Cruise.
Coral Island, Pattaya
Coral Island, or Koh Larn, is a picture-postcard island 7 km off the coast of Pattaya. The speedboat from the South Pier at Pattaya takes around 15/20 minutes to reach there. The popular day-trip destination offers you underwater diving in the surrounding coral, glass-bottom boat tours and beachfront relaxing at one of several beaches on the island.
To Coral Island in a cruise
MMT had collected a big group of tourists from various hotels in Pattaya. They gave an option of water sports to whoever wanted to take. Mostly all the youngsters opted for it. We opted for Coral Island and were dropped on a beach after a cruise ride of 15 to 20 minutes. We took our positions on the chairs under a comfortable tent. We had no plans to enter the sea. We just watched the tourists from Thailand, Japan, China, Korea, India and a few European countries enjoying in the sea. Some of the tourists were swimming in the sea and others in motorboats. It was a sheer joy to watch them. In between we walked on a road behind our tents. The road was crowded. It was full of shops selling a variety of items drawn from the sea that were attracting the tourists. The eateries on the road were also equally crowded.
A beach on Coral Island
After two hours, we were brought back to Pattaya. On the shore, we were surprised to see our own individual colorful photos nicely laminated in a 4"x6" frame. The photos were taken while each one of us was climbing up in the cruise boat. We had thought that they were taking our photos for their records only. But the copies were now available at 100 Bahts each. We couldn't stop ourselves from buying our own photos as mementoes. Afterwards, about two busloads of Indian tourists were then taken to an Indian Restaurant in Pattaya and were served an Indian Lunch by MMT. After lunch, we four opted for a site seeing tour to Pattaya Towers after paying the necessary fees. Those who opted for it were taken in a minivan to Pattaya Towers.
Pattaya Park Tower, Pattaya
The major attraction of Pattaya Park for tourists is the opportunity to see a beautiful panoramic view of Pattaya city from the observation deck on the top of Pattaya Park Tower, the 55th floor (240 meter from ground) of the building. Visitors there can choose to just stand and gaze at Pattaya city and the beach view, or they can go for exciting experience of a Tower Jump. The visitors wishing to jump are locked with the equipment that slides down on wire ropes from the top of the building to the ground. Another way to get down is the Speed Shuttle, where two people stand in a cage. The third option is the Sky Shuttle well suited for families with children. Several people sit inside a capsule. We opted for the Sky Shuttle while coming down from the Tower.
A solo Tower Jump from Pattaya Tower
MMT dropped us back to the Courtyard Hotel. In the evening we again went to the seashore and had a samosa in another Indian restaurant on our way back. Went to bed as we were to check out the next morning and were to be taken to Bangkok.
The Gems Gallery, Pattaya
Next morning, 27th February 2016, we checked out of the Hotel Courtyard and boarded a minivan in a small group of Indian tourists. They were also to accompany us to Bangkok. We were first taken on the way to The Gem Shop and Factory Tour. The visit to the Gems Gallery gives an opportunity to witness Thailand's world renowned Gem Industry at work. Visitors can take a small toy train ride through a tunnel and watch a series of robotic exhibits in cubicles that simulate the evolution of gems all the way to the point where they are excavated from the mines. Tourists can purchase gems and jewelry at the store if they wish.
The Wat Pho Temple, Bangkok
After the visit to the Gems Gallery we were taken to the Wat Pho temple in the Bangkok city. It's one of the largest temple complexes in the city. It is famous for its giant reclining Buddha that measures 46 meters long and is covered in gold leaf. The reclining Buddha on his right side, 15 meters tall, 46 meters long, and looks so large that one gets a feeling that it was squeezed into the temple building. The Buddha's feet are 5 meters long and exquisitely decorated in mother-of-pearl illustrations of auspicious 'laksanas' (characteristics) of the Buddha.
After the Wat Pho temple visit we four were dropped in Novotel Hotel in Bangkok where we were to stay for two nights before our journey to Cambodia. The check in at the hotel was smooth. By this time we felt tired a little bit and decided to take it easy on the following day. On the evening of 27th February we just roamed in the Bangkok city around our hotel. On the way back to our hotel we entered a bakery shop and had a cheese toast. The owner of the hotel was an Indian youth from UK. We had a chat with him. He told us that he could recognize that we were from Bombay as his parents were Indian. He further told us that he was happy that we had planned to go to Cambodia from Bangkok as not many Indian tourists visit Cambodia. Before reaching our hotel we bought some fruits and that was the dinner we had that evening.
A road in Bangkok city
On 28th February 2016 morning we again walked on the roads nearby our hotel. It was Sunday. Mostly the roads were less crowded. After some time we returned to our hotel. We had decided to take rest in the afternoon. Suddenly I and Asha realized that so far, apart from the continental breakfast in our hotels, we had only visited Indian restaurants and had taken Indian food only. As Anand and Swapna were resting in their room I and Asha sneaked out of the hotel and found a Thai restaurant just for making an experiment. We had a look at the menu card and ordered a vegetarian pizza with mushroom topping and French fries along with ice-cream. When the pizza was served we decided that we would remove any piece of vegetable that looked non-vegetarian in appearance. We knew that the Thai definition of vegetarian food did not match with ours.
In the evening we again roamed in Bangkok. We saw that the traffic police had suddenly started putting barricades on the main road. We did not know the reason but continued to walk on the road.
To our surprise the road was closed for the traffic because a big Sunday Evening Market was getting erected on the both sides of the road. Just taking a round in the market was a sheer pleasure. After we were sufficiently tired, we thought of returning to our hotel.
On our way back we heard some chanting and saw a big temple on the other side of the road which we initially thought as a Buddhist temple. But on entering it we found that it was a Hindu temple with South Indian priests. And the chanting sounded "Om Shakti Om". It was a temple of Goddess Uma and was built by local Indians in Bangkok in the year 1874 or so. We observed that a lot of Hindu devotees had come for aarati, may be because it was a Sunday evening. After some time we returned to our hotel.
A South Indian temple in Bangkok
On 29th February 2016 we checked out from the Novotel Hotel in Bangkok and waited for the MMT vehicle that took all the four of us to the Don Muang Airport in Bangkok for our flight to Siem reap, Cambodia.
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Don Muang airport in Bangkok is relatively smaller than the Suvarnabhumi airport. Our Air Asia flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia was to take off from there. We had obtained our boarding passes in advance. We completed the passport and security check etc before boarding the plane. It was just an hour's flight. We landed on the Siem Reap airport. During the flight itself we filled in all the necessary papers including the visa form for Cambodia. Visa formalities did not take much time. They charged 30 USD each as visa fees. We were out of the airport within half an hour. By this time we had finished our contract with MakeMyTrip and we were on our own. We were looking for a representative from Tresor D'Angkor Villa and Resort in Siem Reap where we had booked our rooms. We couldn't find him.
But Anand made some enquires and located one young girl from the same hotel making transport arrangements for a group of tourists. The girl took us in a minivan to our destination. She was thrilled to see tourists from Bombay visiting her hotel. The check-in in the hotel was smooth. Our passport stamped at various places on the way spoke everything about us. We didn't need to show anything else during the check-in.
It was almost noon. They gave us a welcome drink. The Hotel Manager made us sit in the reception longue. He suggested us a tour plan for the next two days as our sole interest was to see Angkor Wat and the other ancient temples around it. On the fourth day we were to take a return flight to Bangkok.
The Manager suggested a "small tour" on the following day to visit Angkor Wat at 08:30 a.m. and end the small tour after witnessing the sun set from the famous Sun Set Point on the top of a hill.
A "big Tour" may be taken a day later. For the "big tour," we would start at 05:00 a.m. to see the beautiful sun rising behind the Angkor Wat temple. Visit a few more temples later.
The Manager suggested that a Tuk-Tuk, a popular local transport vehicle accommodates four passengers at a time and would be suitable for four of us to move around in the Angkor Park area.
The Tuk-Tuk is a carriage open from all the sides except form the top. It is pulled by a motorbike attached to its front. He offered to arrange a Tuk-Tuk ride for us for the “small tour” and the “big tour.” He suggested that it would be safer for the foreigners like us to hire one through their hotel only. The Tuk-Tuk driver provided by the Hotel will remain fully engaged with us. He would wait at every tourist spot as long as we needed. He would serve cold water bottles from a thermo coal crate fixed below his Tuk-Tuk as and when we felt thirsty. He would give us cold towels also as the place was hot and sunny during the day time. The driver also knew good places on the way where we could eat our lunch when we felt hungry.
A Tuk-Tuk ride for visiting Angkor Wat
In addition, the driver of the Tuk-Tuk would help us in getting visiting passes for the Angkor Archeological Park mandatory for the foreign travelers. The Manager also suggested us to buy a 40 USD pass (each) as it would work for three consecutive days. We fixed our local visits and booked a Tuk-Tuk for our sight-seeing for the next two days and then went straight to our rooms as we were feeling tired due to the hot afternoon climate. USD 23 for the “small tour” and USD 36 for the “big tour” were the rates offered to us.
In the evening we just walked around the hotel area. We had been advised by the hotel manager that it would not be safe for us to go to the city side on our own. The hotel was away from the city and the road to the Siem Reap city was deserted. On that night the manager arranged a candle light dinner on a table for four for us on the terrace of the Dining Hall of the hotel. It was a memorable occasion. A bottle of local Angkor beer before the dinner set our mood perfectly. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality shown by the Cambodian staff there. The hotel employees looked simple and humble. The room service we received for our entire stay was excellent and efficient. The Cambodian people, in general, seemed to be aware that their country's economy ran mainly on tourism industry and that's why they tried to give the best of services to the tourists from abroad.
Angkor Archaeological Park
The Angkor Archaeological Park contains magnificent remains of several capitals of Khmer Empire from 9th to 15th century. The most famous are the Angkor Wat temple and Angkor Thom, the ancient township accommodating a number of monuments. The Angkor Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. At the same time it was placed on the List of World Heritages in Danger due to various reasons. UNESCO is taking many steps to safeguard this site.
The entire area is called Angkor Archeological Park. It is 6 km away in North from the Siem Reap city. Angkor Thom, the ancient city is adjacent to Angkor Wat temple on its North side. The park has an area of 400 square km including the forest area.
First visit to Angkor Wat
The next day, 1st March 2016, after breakfast we started our venture to visit Angkor Wat temple, the very purpose of our tour. The Tuk-Tuk was ready with the driver, a young Cambodian boy Chandy, who looked dependable and we became friends in no time. He drove his Tuk-Tuk through the city roads for about 20 minutes and stopped at a place where we could purchase our Visiting Passes after showing our passports and paying USD 40 each. At the time of issuing the pass they take your photograph and print it on your pass. This is done to make it nontransferable. A foreign tourist needs to show the pass at the entry point of every monument. The Tuk-Tuk dropped us at the entrance of Angkor Wat. There was a long stone causeway that we walked on foot to cross the 600 feet wide moat before we could reach the first boundary wall of the Angkor Wat temple.
A stone causeway over the moat around Angkor Wat
After entering the gate we continued to walk the stone pathway before we could reach the second level of the temple. For moving inside the temple premises one needs to walk a lot and climb up and down many steps a number of times. As the original stone steps have become slippery due to weathering effects and the movement of thousands of tourists over them all these years, the temple authorities have fixed wooden planks and metal railings over them at many places for the benefit of the tourists.
We had read a lot about the Angkor Monument on the Internet. After standing in front of it in reality, however, we were overwhelmed by its sheer enormity and beauty. We could not believe our own eyes. It just doesn’t look to be a man-made structure. Looking at the technology used in the construction of the Angkor Wat complex in the 12th century one gets a feeling that only aliens from some other world must have landed on the earth especially for making it and gifting it to us.
An aerial photograph of the Angkor Wat and its surrounding Moat, obtained from Internet shown in the beginning of this write-up will give some idea to the readers about the layout of the temple.
The temples of Angkor are highly symbolic structures. The popular Hindu concept is the temple-mountain, where the temple is built as a representation of the mythical Mount Meru. This is why so many temples, including Angkor Wat itself, are surrounded by moats, built in a mountain-like pyramidal shape and topped by precisely five towers, representing the five peaks of Mount Meru.
The Angkor temples there had a checkered past. While early Angkor temples were built as Hindu temples, Jayavarman VII converted to Mahayana Buddhism in around 1200 A.D. and started building the new capital city of Angkor Thom including Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and many more temples as Buddhist structures. However, his successor Jayavarman VIII returned to Hinduism and started systematically defacing Buddhist images and even crudely altering some to be Hindu again. Hinduism eventually lost out to Buddhism again over the years that followed.
Located six kilometer north of Siem Reap, Angkor Wat is one of the largest of Khmer monuments. Built around the first half of 12th century by King Suryavarman II, the temple's balance, composition and beauty make it one of the finest monuments in the world.
Though 'Wat' is the Khmer (Cambodian) word for temple, the westward orientation of the structure is unusual of Hindu temples. Scholars believe that the architecture and sculptures are that of a temple where Lord Vishnu was worshiped. But it could have been also built as a mausoleum for the king after his death.
Built between roughly A.D. 1113 and 1150, and encompassing an area of about 500 acres (200 hectares), Angkor Wat is one of the largest religious monuments ever constructed. Its name means “temple city.”
Its 213-feet-tall (65 meters) central tower is surrounded by four smaller towers and a series of enclosure walls.
This layout recreates the image of Mount Meru, a legendary place in Hindu mythology that is said to lie beyond the Himalayas and be the home of the Gods.
Angkor Wat itself is surrounded by a 650-feet-wide (200 m) moat that encompasses a perimeter of more than 3 miles (5 km). This moat is 13 feet deep (4 m) and would have helped stabilize the temple’s foundation, preventing groundwater from rising too high or falling too low.
Inside the Angkor Wat complex
After entering the temple one gets lost in deciding on how and where to start. There are various levels and passages enclosing the central tower. One can enter a passage on either side or keep climbing up and down the straight path and come out of the complex through the other gate (at East) into a forest as we did. We returned from that point and again entered the temple now from the Southern side and entered a passage.
The Eastern Gate of the Angkor Wat Complex
That was the starting point of the famous sandstone carvings. The buildings at Angkor Wat used a tough material called laterite which was encased with softer sandstone for the wall carvings. The wall carvings in the passages depict the scenes from various mythological stories and historic events. Walking from left to right we came across scenes from battle of Ramayana, battle of Mahabharata, army of Suryavarman II, scenes from judgment by Yama (the supreme judge), churning of ocean by demons and gods to get Amrita — the nectar of immortality, Vishnu's victory over demons, victory of Krishna over Bana and other scenes of battle between gods and demons. One display plate told us that over the passage of time, Cambodians remembered only Ramayana and forgot the epic of Mahabharata!
A wall carving depicting the scene of Samudra-Manthan
We were extremely thrilled to see our own past depicted on the walls of a temple that is located thousands of miles away from our homeland. I find no more words to describe the beauty of the place and the pride we felt at that moment. As we were to visit many temples before the sunset that day, we curtailed our visit to Angkor Wat temple and came out from it through the Western gate from where we had entered in the morning. After crossing the stone causeway over the moat we came out of the temple complex and located our Tuk-Tuk. The driver, Chandy gave us cold water bottles as he knew we must be thirsty. We were feeling hungry also. We requested him to take us for lunch somewhere. He knew a decent and quiet place where we had a dish made of rice and vegetable.
Narial Pani from a Jumbo Cambodian variety
Before lunch each of us had coconut water. The size of the coconuts was unusually bigger than what we get in India (see photo). After drinking the narial pani by a straw the waiter, on our request, cut each of the coconuts in two pieces so that we could eat the malai also, the test of which still lingers in my mouth.
After taking some rest our Tuk-Tuk was taken to the famous Ta Prohm temple. We felt proud to read a board at the entry point of the Ta Prohm temple stating that Archeological Survey of India (ASI) had helped Cambodian authorities in partially restoring the ruined temple. The conservation and restoration of Ta Prohm is a partnership project of the ASI and the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap).
Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor
Ta Prohm temple was built during the time of king Jayavarman VII. It is best known as the temple where trees have been left intertwined with the stonework, much as it was uncovered from the jungle. It might be considered in a state of disrepair but there is a strange beauty in the marvelous strangler fig trees which provide a stunning display of the embrace between nature and the human handiwork. This is one of the most popular temples after Angkor Wat and the Bayon because of the beautiful combinations of wood and stone. The large sections of the temple are unstable and are in real danger of collapse.
A tree embracing the ancient temple construction
Inside the Ta Prohm temple
After this we went to Ta Keo temple on the way to the Ancient city Angkor Thom.
Ta Keo Temple, Angkor
An incomplete, largely undecorated temple built by Jayavarman V. The stairs going to the top are unusually steep. One almost needs to crawl on them while climbing. Anand and I ventured to reach to the top. We almost did it. Thinking that climbing down the steps might be more difficult we decided to cut short our adventure and slowly and carefully came down to ground.
Steep steps of the Ta Keo temple
After Ta Keo temple we again boarded our Tuk-Tuk and entered the Angkor Thom city through one of its five gates, the Victory Gate, to visit the world famous Bayon temple located at the centre of Angkor Thom city.
Bayon Temple, Angkor
Inside the Bayon Temple
Built in the latter part of the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, Bayon is one of the most widely recognized temples in Siem Reap because of the giant stone faces that adorn the towers of Bayon. There are 54 towers of four faces each, totaling 216 faces. There is still a debate as to who is being depicted in the faces. It could be Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva, or perhaps a combination of King Jayavarman VII and Buddha.
After spending and enjoying the beauty of Bayon temple we walked out of Angkor Thom city through its Southern Gate where our Tuk-Tuk was ready to take us to our last destination of the day, Phnom Bakheng, on a top of the hill to watch Sunset. The Tuk-Tuk took us up to the foot of the hill. We had to climb the winding road through a forest and reach the top as early as possible. Only 300 tourists are allowed every evening, on the first-come-first-served basis, to occupy their position on the flat top of the hill.
Phnom Bakheng Temple, Angkor
The first temple-mountain constructed in Angkor, with a commanding hilltop location, is presently under renovation. It is extremely popular (and crowded) spot for watching sunsets. The final climb on the steps to the top of the hill is steep and dangerous at dark while returning.
We reached the top of the hill and collected our passes to watch sunset. The sunset was expected to take place after three hours from then and sun was still bright. We sat directly on the ground in a shadow of a big temple. Slowly, the crowd stated gathering. Like us, other tourists also preferred to sit on the ground in the shadow. It was fun watching the tourists from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Germany and France etc. all of them sitting on the ground after a hard day visiting so many temples.
As sun started going down tourists shifted their position to the western side of the hill. Many of them could locate a sitting position to watch the sun. But the majority of the tourists had to stand on their feet as the sitting place on top of the hill was limited. Most of the tourists gathered there, as the current trend goes, were moving with a selfie stick in their hand. They took up their position so that they could have a selfie with the setting sun! A few other enthusiasts, with the help of their friends, tried to take trick photographs by adjusting the angle and position of their camera. They shouted with joy if they could succeed to take their picture lifting the red ball of the sun on the palm of their hand or in their open mouth etc.
It was amusing to see that a natural phenomenon like sunset which is taking place every day for the last millions of years, without fail, still attracts the attention and the thrill associated with it by men and women of all ages and all nationalities. It is as if, on every evening the old sun goes down never to come back and a new sun rises the next day. No doubt every sunset and sunrise gives an out of the world experience to the viewers!
After sun set everybody rushed to the staircase as it was getting dark. We walked down the hill and reached our Tuk-Tuk. Feeling completely exhausted we asked Chandy to drop us back to the Hotel. When he left, we promised him that we would be ready by 05:30 morning next day as our day was to start by observing the beautiful sun rising behind the Angkor Wat temple.
On the flat top of the Sun set point
View of Sun set from Phnom Bakheng Temple
After taking dinner of mix vegetable curry and rice we went to bed.
Next day, 02 March 2016, we got up at 4 O'clock in the morning and came to the Reception Lounge of our hotel Tresor D'Angkor at 05:30 a.m. sharp. Chandy was already waiting for us. He collected from the hotel counter four small thermo coal boxes packed with our breakfast. They were kept ready by the Hotel staff as promised on the previous night.
Sun rise at Angkor Wat
We started our Tuk-Tuk ride in the early morning to visit Angkor Wat temple again. The cold breeze was refreshing. By the time we reached the temple, hundreds of tourists had already reached there and had taken up their position. The tourists normally prefer the position in front of a water pond in front of the left side when facing the temple. When sun rises the pond shows a beautiful reflection of the sun rising behind the temple. (See photo). We had to wait a little bit before sun rose. In the meantime the local Cambodian sales girl successfully sold 10 strolls to Asha and Swapna. The strolls had beautiful design on them on the background of Angkor Wat temple.
Sun rising behind the Angkor Wat temple
After the sun came up from behind the temple, most of the crowd started returning but a few of them entered the temple again to continue their exploration. We then again boarded our Tuk-Tuk and proceeded to Preah Khan temple on a quiet forest road. Before entering it, Chandy suggested that we could eat our packed breakfast in a small roadside restaurant and could order coffee also if we wished. After the breakfast of bread, fruit and coffee we felt energetic and entered the Preah Khan temple opposite the restaurant.
Preah Khan Temple, Angkor
The Preah Khan temple complex situated at the northern edge of the Angkor Archaeological Park is one of the most significant buildings erected during the ancient Khmer empire. Dedicated by the great king Jayavarman VII to his father in 1191, Preah Khan serves today as an outstanding example of a large linear temple complex in a dense jungle setting. Rectangular in shape and occupying 138 acres, Preah Khan’s boundaries are defined by a protective moat and fortified walls adorned by monumental carved stone garudas—eagle-like divine beings. The temple complex includes entryways, towers, ceremonial spaces, courtyards, shrines, and a variety of connecting corridors. Additional special features of Preah Khan include its two-story pavilion, the once-bronze-plated sanctum sanctorum, and its Hall of Dancers.
Entering the Preah Khan Temple
In this temple, we spotted many Shivalingas in square shape of 2’ x2’ x2’ size one each at the centre of rooms that we visited as we followed the central passage.
Inside the Preah Khan Temple
Prasat Neak Pean Temple, Angkor
Prasat Neak Pean is located in the east of Preah Khan, 300 meters from the road.
View of the Prasat Neak Pean Temple
One can enter and leave from the North entrance. It was built on a circular island in the second half of the 12th century by king Jayavarman VII, dedicated to Buddhist, with following to Prasat Bayon art style.
Some historians believe that Neak Pean represents Anavatapta, a mythical lake in the Himalayas whose waters are thought to cure all illness. The name is derived from the sculptures of snakes (Naga) running around the base of the temple structure, neak being the Khmer rendering of the Sanskrit naga. They are Nanda and Upananda, two nagas traditionally associated with Lake Anavatapta.
Ta Som Temple, Angkor
Ta Som is a small temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built at the end of the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII. It is located north east of Angkor Thom and just east of Neak Pean. The King dedicated the temple to his father Dharanindravarman II (Paramanishkalapada) who was King of the Khmer Empire from 1150 to 1160. The temple consists of a single shrine located on one level and surrounded by enclosure laterite walls. Like the nearby Preah Khan and Ta Prohm temples it was left largely un-restored, with numerous trees and other vegetation growing among the ruins. In 1998, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) added the temple to their restoration program and began work to stabilize the structure to make it safer for visitors.
Being the last of the temples to visit that day, myself and Anand decided to climb the steep steps just for a little adventure.
Outside the Ta Som Temple
Front view of the Ta Som Temple
After getting down from the top we again boarded our Tuk-Tuk and returned to our hotel by 11 O' clock. The day was very hot and humid. We had our lunch of vegetable curry and rice in the Dining hall of the hotel.
We were very tired. So we slept for a while. In the evening we again called for a Tuk-Tuk. That was to be the last evening of our stay at Siem Reap. We decided to visit the famous Pub Street market in Siem Reap. The ride took 15/20 minutes. We got down and told the driver that we would meet him at the same spot after a couple of hours.
Visit to the Pub Street, Siem Reap
The Pub Street, Siem Reap
We just roamed the Pub Street and other nearby roads and walked through the Siem Reap market. Swapna and Asha purchased a few items from the market as mementoes for our visit to Cambodia. This market also had massage parlors like Bangkok. We were more interested in exploring a typical Pub Street restaurant for our dinner. We mustered some courage and ventured into a roadside restaurant on the Pub Street that was offering Draft Beer and snacks. We asked for menu and searched the list for items that did not have any fish, pork, beef and chicken. The list of items on the menu card was very scary. I was not surprised. Before our visit to Cambodia I had watched TV programs on Cambodia Tourism and had concluded that Cambodians could eat any creature moving around in the house or in the ponds outside.
The Market Road in Siem Reap
We fixed on a vegetarian (?) pizza and French fries. I and Anand took draft beer to justify our visit to the Pub Street. It was a “Happy Hour” there in the restaurant. Satisfied, we returned to our Hotel and slept.
The last day of our tour, 03, March 2016
It was to be a very hectic day. We had to check out from our hotel to catch the Air Asia flight back to Bangkok. The same evening we were to return to Mumbai via Bangkok. After completing the formalities at the hotel we loaded our luggage in a taxi and went to the Seam Ream airport. We had obtained our boarding passes on-line in advance. After the security check we waited for the boarding announcement.
The flight took about one hour after which we landed on the Don Muang Airport of Bangkok. We needed to obtain the Thailand visa again as we were entering their country. Our earlier visa was null and void as we had left Thailand for Cambodia on 29th February 2016. We had only three hours to obtain our Thailand visa, take a free bus service from Don Muang Airport in Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi International Airport, complete check-in procedure and security clearance etc at Suvarnabhumi airport and board the Bangkok Airways flight back to Mumbai at 9 O'clock evening.
On the VOA counter there was a very long queue of the tourists seeking visa. Seeing this we almost thought that we would definitely miss the Mumbai flight. We knew that the bus from the Don Muang airport to Suvarnabhumi airport would easily take more than one hour through the evening traffic in Bangkok.
Anand once again located some elderly lady behind the counter and played our trump card of senior citizenship. The lady yielded and asked us to hand over our visa forms, Passport and visa fees of 1000 Thai Bahts each. We waited in suspense as she disappeared in the room behind. After a few minutes she returned with our visa papers etc. We profusely thanked her and rushed to the Airport Gate with our luggage and boarded the free bus for the Suvarnabhumi airport. It reached the destination in little more than one hour. We were now in a comfortable position.
On entering the departure terminal of the Suvarnabhumi Airport, we saw a big colorfully decorated sculpture depicting the legendary scene of Samudra-Manthan erected on a big flat platform. We were quite thrilled to see it and felt proud of our connections with Thailand from the past.
Completing the check in formalities we boarded the Bangkok Airways flight back to India and landed in Mumbai at 1 a.m. on the next morning. This time we came out of the airport like seasoned international travelers as we had reached our own country. Anand fixed a taxi for all the four of us to go to Pune. We left Mumbai at 02:30 a.m. and reached our sweet homes in Pune at 05: 30 a.m. The end of a very memorable trip! It was worth visiting Angkor Wat. The dream came true.
posted by Dilip Subhedar @ 00:03
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