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Angkor |
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Thursday, May 6
More
temples. I know I swore off them yesterday afternoon, but three
more were on the agenda today. These were further out of town, and
involved a 80 kilometre round trip in a tuk tuk. An
experience I wouldn’t be too keen to repeat, but the countryside and
the temples were certainly One of the temples, Banteay Srei, (right) has the most amazing carvings; intriguing because they have survived largely intact, despite the depredations of the climate on sandstone over the many centuries since the temple was built. *** I have taken this afternoon off, but diligent DB has continued touring, going out to check on a land mine museum, plus the Siem Reap Killing Fields area, and to climb a hill which apparently gives a good view at sunset of a large lake to the west of Siem Reap. Strictly speaking, it is not a lake; rather a huge tank, several kilometers square, built by the Angkor people in ages past for reasons archeologists have not yet quite worked out.
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 (left): Work has pursued Dave even into the furthest reaches of Cambodia – the intrusive mobile phone doesn’t let anyone escape. Billboards leading into town claim that our hotel, Shinta Mani, has the “best cuisine in Angkor” – and after a dinner and lunch here, I would have to agree. The chef, who introduced himself to us on the first night, is a young New Zealander, hoping for Australian citizenship. We asked him why that would be preferable to being a Kiwi, and he said he envisaged himself spending most of his life in Australia, after little adventures like this one in Cambodia. We owe some thanks to David’s colleague who recommended both the Shinta Mani and our tuk tuk driver. The hotel is best described as a first class boutique establishment, with only a dozen or so rooms, but with about 10 staff to every client, or so it seems (plus, it has a wireless broadband Internet connection! Even if the power supply is a little uncertain). No detail is too small for them to attend to – when we arrived back today from temple-touring we were handed ice-cold damp towels to revive ourselves in the foyer…The rooms are made up twice a day (with fresh towels both times), and any dirty clothes left lying around disappear to the laundry, and reappear a few hours later folded in our room. *** Cambodians are not shy about asking your age. Several times we’ve been questioned on this score, only to be told “Oh, you look so young”. I would laugh, figuring this for the standard flattery of tourists with dollars, until I read that the average life expectancy for Cambodian people is 59 for women and 55 for men. So, by their standards, we’ve exceeded our allotted span, and really shouldn’t be clambering around ancient ruins, being ancient ourselves. *** The idea of a quiet drive in the country is an unrealistic dream in Cambodia. The problem word is “quiet”. Every vehicle, from push bike, to motorcycle, tuk tuk, car, bus or truck, constantly uses a horn or a bell as an early warning system to other vehicles or pedestrians (only cars and bigger vehicles have rear view mirrors). The horn blowing also has the very productive side-effect of conjuring up an instant third or fourth lane in a two-lane road. But, you get used to it, and now, I flinch only if the circumstances are extreme.. Phnom Penh, Saturday, May 8 Last night back in Phnom Penh, we had a return visit to Le Royal Hotel (DB can’t resist those Singapore Slings!), and then to a not-too-bad French restaurant a block away from our hotel. This afternoon, it’s back to Malaysia, and the workaday world for Dave. He says he’s looking forward to getting back to KL, for calm traffic and cool weather (!) For me, it’s on to Australia next week, for nearly three weeks R&R…
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worth seeing.