Tomb Raiding in Siem Reap

Due to the dramatic turn of events in Thailand our plans for an island introduction to South East Asia had to be scrapped - with barely a week to make arrangements, we opted to start our adventure in Cambodia, the only mainland S.E. Asian country that has e-visa facilities. Modern Cambodia has only been open to travelers since 1993, when the bitter civil war between the Khmer Rouge and government forces came to an end, and though the tourism facilities are lagging behind those in neighboring countries, Cambodia is swiftly catching up.

Our first port of call in Cambodia was the north eastern city of Siem Reap, home of the World Heritage listed temples of Angkor. You've probably seen the temples in the first Tomb Raider movie, but it is only one temple that is in the run down state that Lara Croft invades. The temples were "discovered" by French explorers in the late 19th Century, and since then there has been on-off restoration work. Much of the earlier restorations did more harm than good though - the clearing of forest certainly had a positive effect, but repairs using modern materials actually made water seepage worse. To make matters worse, restoration work had to be abandoned in 1975 with the Khmer Rouge insurrection, and did not resume in earnest until the 1990s. Nowadays the restoration work is funded by various international governments, and the focus is on returning the temples to their original state and reversing harmful restorations from the past. An interesting point about the restorations is the old to new ratio - buildings will only be rebuilt if for every new brick used two old ones can be fitted in. This is done to maintain the original building materials. If the quantity of new material is too high the original blocks are put in storage or displayed in situ.

This new approach to restoration has certainly breathed a new lease of life for the temples, but it results in a somewhat unsightly mixture of building materials. Perhaps the effect will lessen somewhat with time when the newer materials are weathered by the effects of time. In any case, the temples provide a unique experience and an impressive site for the eyes…

The temples of Angkor constitute the largest religious building in the world, and the whole complex is spread over an area of many kilometers. Our preferred mode of transport was with the ubiquitous south east Asian Tuk-Tuk or moto rickshaw. For an average of $11 a day our driver took us to visit the various temples over three days.

Our first stop was at the mighty Ankor Wat, the largest and most impressive of the temples. It is surrounded by a mighty moat that makes European moats look like children's paddle pools. The complex is approached from a wide walkway to the east, but when we visited the morning sun was obscured by clouds, somewhat diminishing the majesty of the temple, but not altogether extinguishing its might. We were given two hours to explore, and that wasn't nearly enough! There's just so much ground to cover, so many carvings to admire, that we found ourselves pressed for time. The complex rises in tiers, and when you get to the central, highest level, you are faced with a steep, near vertical staircase that comes with a warning for people with weak hearts to think twice about climbing! Needless to say, the views from the top are breathtaking, giving a very nice perspective over the temple complex and providing a glimpse of temples in the distance. Unfortunately for us, the highlight of the temple carvings - The Churning of the Sea of Milk - was closed for restoration during our visit. This impressive mural runs along the whole Eastern Wall of the complex and depicts one of the central tales of Hindu mythology and depicts the epic battle between gods and demons that resulted in the creation of the elixir of life.

From our rushed visit to Angkor Wat we proceeded to some lesser temples on what is known as the "minor circuit" - the beauty of these temples is that they are skipped over by the coach parties, meaning we were almost alone in our meanderings around the temples of Banteay Kdei and Prasat Kravan.

From Prasat Kravan it was another short tuk-tuk ride to one of the most famous of the temples of Angkor - Ta Prohm - also known as the jungle temple, and home to many Hollywood blockbusters like Tomb Raider. This is the only temple that has not been cleared of jungle cover. The temple here is being restored gradually, but it seems that the authorities would like to leave the ambience of the temple "unspoiled" to give an idea of what it was like for the French explorers when they rediscovered the temples hidden in the jungle.

The climax of our first day exploring the Angkor Heritage Park was the city of Angkor Thom, an incredible walled square of 12km x 12km housing several temples, decorated terraces, a giant reclining Buddha and of course plenty of hawkers! By this time the cloud cover had cleared and the late afternoon sun was casting an enticing golden glow on the temples.

The most imposing of the temples inside Angkor Thom is Bayon, with its over 200 carved faces watching over visitors, said to be made in the likeness of King Jayavarman VII who built the temple. There are plenty of bas reliefs to rival the ones at Angkor Wat here, depicting scenes of rural Cambodian life in the 12th Century.

Onwards across the city we came to Baphuon, the temple that houses a 70m long reclining Buddha. The features of the Buddha are barely visible, but it must have been an impressive site back in the day, and I'm sure it will be once the restoration works are complete. This temple is one of the many victims of the Cambodian civil war: it was meticulously taken apart and catalogued by a team of French restorers who had to abandoned their work with the onset of war. All their records and notes were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, leaving Baphuon as the world's largest jigsaw puzzle.

The highlight of our second day of temple exploration was the somewhat distant, but definitely rewarding temple of Banteay Srei. The temple is smaller than the other great temples of the complex, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in detail. Everywhere you look the sandstone is intricately carved and very well maintained. Hats off to the team of Swiss restorers, who not only have brought this temple back on its feet, but provide the most detailed information of any of the temples. If anyone from the Cambodian tourism authority is reading this - take note! The complex of Banteay Srei has an adjacent information centre with detailed and informative displays about everything to do with the temple - its discovery in the 19th Century, the early restoration and the more recent Swiss repairs, an interpretation of the carvings and plenty of history and background information.

Our third and final day in Siem Reap was dedicated to exploring the old market, Psar Chaa, and the temples of Raulos. The market houses everything you could possibly need - food stalls, clothing, souvenirs, fruit and vegetables, hardware, all the different bits and pieces of a motorbike (you could make a bike like a jigsaw puzzle here)… the list goes on and on! Beyond the market attractions in Siem Reap are minimal - there are a couple of Buddhist temples that can be visited, but the big drawcard here is obviously the temples of Angkor. Obviously a great way to kill time is to sit in one of the many bars and cafes that populate the city and just observe the traffic and the people while sipping an iced coffee or a delicious fruit smoothie - just the ticket for whiling away a hot afternoon!

Eating out in Cambodia is a fun affair - most places have menus in broken English (bleak coffee anyone?) and helpful staff who try to explain what's in a dish, though the explanation doesn't always match the finished article! Still, that's part of the charm of travel! Being one to try new things, I leaped at the chance to eat Frogs fried with lemongrass and basil. Top marks to the chef for that combination, the food was really tasty, even though there was hardly any meat on the frogs.

I still haven't racked up the courage to try that quintessential Cambodian snack - fried crickets - but there's still plenty of time for me to get a taste!

For more pictures from Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor, click here