Crapping on a yak.....overland to the other side of the world and the rest: Day 165 – 13 January 2010: Angkor Wat & pizza world champion (?)

Today we have an early start, Laurie, Gary and I having booked a tuk tuk to get us to Angkor Wat for sunrise at 5:30. Angkor Wat is both the collective name for the group of temples and of the main temple. The origin of the temples is both Hindu and Buddhist, although nowadays Cambodia is very much a Buddhist dominated culture.

There is a spectacular sunrise over the 12^th century Angkor Wat for which there is a large crowd of people to witness. The walled area is about 1.5 square kilometres and it is surprisingly well preserved, although it had been damaged by some acts of vandalism by the Khmer Rouge in the 70s. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site of course, and repairs have taken place, though not every piece is back to its former glory.

After Angkor Wat, we move onto the Bayon in Angkor Thom and then we climb to the top of the 50m high Ta Keo up some very steep steps. As with my experience of trekking in Nepal, going down seems more difficult than going up, though some of the more fragile people take to crawling on all fours to get up the steps. From the top, I look down upon a slightly dressed Russian woman gathering some Buddhist monks to have her photo taken with them, which reminds me of the bikini clad Russians walking around the Hieropolis Roman ruins at Pammukale in Turkey, and another woman walking around the Taj Mahal in near transparent baggy trousers.

Finally, we move onto the Ta Prohm Temple, now associated with the Tomb Raider film. One of the many giant trees whose roots encase parts of the temple is now known as the ‘Tomb Raider Tree’, it being the tree where Angelina Jolie discovers a hidden passage or something like that.

The collection of temples as a whole were built between the 9^th and 15^th centuries, parts have been added or restored on an on-going basis except during the Khmer Rouge, who took to destroying ancient monuments.

Originating as Hindu temples, a change of religion in the 12^th century by King Jayavarman VII (r. 1181 to 1215) means that these are now Buddhist monuments and Cambodia a Buddhist country. Buddhist temples are generally designed to be navigated in a clockwise direction, but Angkor Wat is supposed to be navigated in the opposite direction, although the western tourists pay little attention to that.

The whole collection is unique, at least it is unlike anything I have ever seen. My favourite was Ta Prohm Temple stuck in the middle of forest to add to its air of mysticism. However, to risk becoming the Victor Meldrew of travel blogging, I can’t help but think of these as a collection of monuments built by slaves in honour of the power and wealth of the Angkor Kings of the time. Having overdosed on religious monuments and having become disillusioned by some Buddhist practices, I am somewhat less enthused by the whole experience than most of my travelling colleagues.

Although we could have stayed to see the sunset, Laurie, Gary and I decide to go back to the hotel in the mid afternoon, having been awake since 4:30am. It is possible to buy weekly tickets for Angkor Wat for those who wish to take more time to explore the sights, but we have satiated our appetite. Prices, for interested parties, were $20 US for one day, $40 for three, and $60 for a week. Oh, and the tuk tuk driver charged us $12 for the day’s ride from & to Siem Riep and around the various sites, which are variable miles apart.

In the evening I go for my Cambodian pizza experience, going to a restaurant on Pub Street which advertises an Italian chef with Stacey the smiley and finely sculpted American. Walking along Pub Street, we pass a TV camera crew and Stacey loudly exclaims ‘Oh my God, it’s Samantha Brown!’ ‘Who?’, I ask. She is apparently a regular on the Travel Channel in the US and there follows some really cheesy Americanisms, with Stacey approaching her to tell her ‘I just wanted to say that I really love your show, etc…’

Anyway, the pizza is a belter. From a wood fire oven, the base is near perfect and the sauce base is, in both flavour and quantity, just right. We may have a champion pizza of Asia here. 9 ½ / 10. The name of the restaurant was, er, um, I think it might have been the ‘Le Tigre de Papier’ (not very Italian name I know – and quite possibly not the right one as there are two very similar restaurants on the same road…)