Day 1, Afternoon:

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post I was back in the temple complex again at about four o’clock, which was a bit late. I didn’t know that the temples that I would be visiting are far from their respective parking areas.

Banteay Kdei was the first. It is a temple with four walls, the outer is huge (700 by 500m) and its entrance alone indicates that it was created during the reign of Jayavarman 7th, with that huge face similar to those in Bayon. Inside, near the second wall is a platform with nagas. The back of the heads of each are intricately carved. I noticed that in this temple, the apsaras carved on the pillars were dancing like there’s a feast going on.

In front of the main exit is Srah Srang where I was mobbed by Khmer kids, selling postcards, books and souvenirs. I have already purchased a set of postcards for $1 near the terraces from a kid whom I asked for directions, so I ignored them and proceeded to the terrace of Srah Srang. Srah Srang is a royal bath, a large royal bath! It almost equals the size of Banteay Kdei! There were two men there in happy mode, smoking marijuana.

Next was Ta Prohm, made famous by Angelina. It has five walls and is unrestored with trees growing on the walls of the temple. Stupidly, my driver dropped me at the wrong end, again. I was the only one going against the flow of the visitors! The wooden trail was very helpful as there was water everywhere due to the rain earlier that afternoon. Of course I didn’t forget to have a “tomb raider” photo op.

By six o’clock we’re heading back to the town again.

One thing similar about the early history of the Philippines and Cambodia is the absence of written documents of our early existence. This doesn’t mean that our ancestors didn’t know how to write but the problem was due to the materials that they used. They probably used biodegradable materials. Thus, in our case, the first written account of life in our islands is by a priest, while in Cambodia, it’s by a visiting Chinese.

Our ancestors may not have written about our past but they left us some evidences of how they lived. Manunggul jar, the burial jar with the rowing spirits is an example and of course the rice terraces in the north.

Meanwhile, in Cambodia, they have Angkor Wat. I can’t think of something to compare it with here in the Philippines. It’s omnipresent in Cambodia. It’s in their flag, money, beer, souvenir shirts, etc.

Angkor is not the typical church that we have here in the Philippines but it is a group of temples located near the center of Siem Reap which is a town north of Phnom Penh. Siem Reap is the “life support of Angkor”.

The following is my Angkor itinerary:

November 13, 2009
I woke up early to catch the sunrise in Angkor. I bought a $40 ticket which is good for three days, although my plan is only to go around Angkor in two days. It was because of the “same same” reasoning of the tuktuk driver. The fee is $20 per day but the three-day ticket is also $40. So, it was “same same” and I don’t want to argue with him.

The night before, I showed him my itinerary which I lifted from Maurice Glaize’s Angkor: A Guide to the Angkor Monuments. It’s available online for free which I just Googled.

First Day: Morning; The Bayon, the terrace of the Leper King, Tep Pranam, Prah Palilay, the Royal Palace, the Baphuon. Distance - 20 kilometres. Afternoon; The small circuit via the Royal Palace, the Victory Gate, Ta Prohm (traverse from west to east), Banteay Kdei (ditto), the terrace of Srah Srang, and possibly Phnom Bakheng. Distance - 27 and 32 kilometres.

Second Day: Morning; The Grand Circuit, with a visit to Pre Rup, Banteay Samre, Neak Pean, Prah Khan (traversed from east to west) Distance - 46 kilometres. Afternoon; Angkor Wat. Distance - 12 kilometres.

Our first stop was Angkor Wat, because I was supposed to take a sunrise photo. I was able to take some photos but I didn’t realize until I’m back here in the Philippines that I was supposed to go near the temple to be able to have the silhouette of the temple similar to the one in the Cambodian flag!

After spending a few minutes there, I headed to The Bayon. I was awed by the giant faces looking at every direction at different levels. I was there before 7:00AM but it was already too hot and too humid as I climbed towards the elevated center. Of course, I missed the bas relief!

I proceeded next to the Baphuon by walking through some shortcut paths. Then I remembered the mines left by Khmer Rouge! I stayed on the clear path while following a Japanese couple towards the big temple. As I approached I noticed that it is surrounded by a fence. It was due to the renovation works being done. I didn’t go in via the front gate because I noticed that there were some arrows pointing towards the direction of the Big Buddha. I saw some kids whom pointed to me the other gate at the back. There was a platform there which can be reached by a wooden stair. I almost didn’t go up because at the bottom I only saw construction men working on the rocks of the temple. But one of them opened the gate when he saw me and I climbed the stairs without realizing that the Big Buddha was there. And IT WAS BIG! The Buddha is actually the rear wall of the temple.

After the Baphuon, and I walked to Tep Pranam, Prah Palilay, and Phimeanakas which are also inside Angkor Thom. There’s a smaller, but still big Buddha sitting in Tep Pranam. Prah Palilay is a terrace with nagas, their bodies were the balustrades on the two sides. From there I proceeded to the terraces: Terrace of Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King.

The terraces served as royal audience hall. The elephants were very realistic. These were the remnants of the hall described by Chou Ta-Kuan in 1296: “In the counsel hall, the window frames are of gold: to the left and right are square pillars bearing forty or fifty mirrors, below them are elephants…”. “Here, on the central perron amidst the ringing of conches, when the golden curtain was drawn aside by two servants, the king of Angkor, seated on lion skin, appeared before his prostrated subjects.”

After this long walk, I was tempted by the sandwich and cold water being sold by Khmer vendors under an acacia tree in the middle of the square in front of the terraces. I then walked towards the parking lot where the tuktuk was waiting for me and I went back to the hotel to rest. (Time: 10:00AM)

By 3:30PM, I’m back to the temple complex again. First stop was Bateay Kdei where I was scammed by a “guide” that asked for $10!

TBC

Posted inside the room.

•C2, a well-known brand of green tea here in the Philippines, is being sold in the streets of Saigon. I’ve also seen some TV commercials about C2 in some Vietnam TV channels. Unknown to some, the green tea that Robina uses in manufacturing C2 comes from Vietnam.

•I have seen some feed stores in Vietnam selling B-Meg which is a popular brand of feeds in the Philippines being produced by San Miguel Corp. Did you know that the B in B-Meg stands for Bacillus? Just visit their site for the explanation; it has something to do with fermentation.

•San Miguel Beer is also available in Vietnam and in Siem Reap although it doesn’t come cheap. So I opted for Saigon Beer which has a bottle bigger than the usual beers that we have here, almost the same size as the 500ml Red Horse.

•Banks in the area of Pham Ngu Lao do not close at three or five in the afternoon. They stay open even at night. Also, unlike here in the Philippines where a bank has several guards who would insist on frisking everyone who enters, their bank only has one who wouldn’t even open the door for the customer.

•There are plenty of English language schools in Vietnam and Cambodia. They hire native speakers as teacher and the pay is of course based on skin color. Whites get the highest pay of course (up to 3,000 USD depending on experience). Even though only the affluent ones study in these schools, the effect is that the graduates speak American or European English.

Vietnamese Dong (VND) bills has Uncle Ho in his many names and his image.

This is the street at the back of Pham Ngu Lao St. At night, it is home to touts, prostitutes and everything in between.

Bus 152 which I found just outside of the Domestic Terminal of Saigon. The ride from the airport to Pham Ngu Lao is just 3000 VND, roughly 8.00 pesos!

A woman food vendor in Saigon. Note the small chairs for her customers. This photo was taken while on the 4th floor veranda of Yellow House.