I spent Tuesday, February 16, 2010, through Friday, February 19, in Cambodia, exploring the Angkor temple complexes (world heritage sites) and Siem Reap (the adjacent town).
Although Cambodia certainly is a developing country, the Angkor area is such a tourist destination that Siem Reap has become a town that is comfortable for foreign visitors. It's developed rapidly and now has many modern hotels. The town itself is pleasant, very walkable, and has a nice river. It's easy to navigate without speaking the local language. People who work in Siem Reap know enough English to do business in it: restaurateurs can converse about their dishes in English; tuk-tuk drivers can talk about where you want to go; salespeople can tell you what a great product they're selling and why you should want it enough to pay their absurdly high opening offer (which you'll end up paying less than a third of).
Money
The vast majority of transactions take place in U.S. dollars! I didn't believe it at first when I read it in a guidebook, but it's true. And it's true not only in places on the regular tourist track such as historic sites or restaurants; it's also everyday places such as a local grocery store I wandered into. I think the choice of a non-Cambodian working currency reflects more the level of trust in the Cambodian economy than in the number of tourists in town. (Even the fee one must pay the government for an overstayed visa must be paid in dollars!)
Traffic
As a developing country, most roads in Siem Reap aren't paved, and there are few traffic lights. Nevertheless, drivers are careful: they signal, proceed slowly, and are reasonably courteous; the the lack of traffic lights doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Obviously, larger, heavier vehicles have priority, but everything seems to work okay. Also, there's little honking (in contrast to India). Also in contrast to India, it felt as if there was relatively little pollution. The only time I noticed pollution was while walking alongside a major road, and that's to be expected. I had imagined that tuk-tuks, which are rickshaws made of a motorcycle pulling a covered seat in the rear, would be polluting, but I guess there aren't enough vehicles (tuk-tuks, cars, buses, or otherwise) to amount to much pollution in the end.
Food
We discovered we like Cambodian food. It's a pleasing blend of Thai and Vietnamese dishes.
Culture
Di Yin noticed that Cambodians seem possessive of their country and government. For instance, people seem to say "my country" and "my hometown" and "my king" rather than, as people say in other places I've been, "the king", "the president", and "I grew up in ..." I'm not sure what this implies, but it's an interesting linguistic observation.
Weather
We visited in the cooler, drier season. Nevertheless, it was hot! I wrote in my notes on the first day that it was like a furnace in the sun. Also, the sky was rarely cloudy, which meant we were often in the sun unless we were under the cover of ruins or in the car. The clear skies also had another negative effect: it sometimes spoiled pictures. In particular, the blazing sun made it difficult to get the contrast right; shaded buildings would be black and bright objects would be overexposed whiteness.
Being Hassled
In Angkor itself, I was repeatedly offered t-shirts, books about Angkor, postcards, fruit, and drinks. Sometimes people asked a few times, not taking the initial "no." In this way, it was like traveling in India. However, in Siem Reap, the shopkeepers and tuk-tuk drivers usually asked once, then left me alone. They seemed to respect my answer more (or cared less about doing business), and fewer tried to engage me in conversation as an indirect way of getting business (or perhaps they were simply less interested in foreigners). Whatever the reasons, I found walking around town fairly comfortable (in terms of how I was treated, not in terms of temperature), less irritating than walking around towns during my trip to India.
Angkor
Historical background: The Khmer empire ruled the region for several hundred years around the turn of the first millennium. The Angkor temples were mostly built around the twelfth century, during the height of the Khmer empire, at which time Angkor served as the empire's capital.
As for the Angkor complex itself, it wasn't like I expected in both state and size. I expected a couple of impressive, moderately-sized ancient temples. What I got was a large number of large old temples that clearly have been neglected for hundreds of years and are now in varying states of disrepair. That said, the way in which these temples have begun crumbling / succumbing to attacks by nature can be rather attractive. Some of the most memorable photos I took are of temples (about a millennium old) that came into conflict with now-huge trees (several hundred years old) and of the way in which both bent, warped, twisted, and sometimes broke as a result. Incidentally, these trees are usually the members of the group referred to as strangler figs, an appropriate name given their destructive power.
In addition to the temples' state, the size of the Angkor temple complex was the other way in which things weren't as I expected. Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are large, grandiose, royal. They're meant to impress by sheer scope. In addition to these two huge temple complexes, each with outer walls, moats, and a series of large multi-level concentric temples within, there are dozens of other temples, many sizable and interesting in their own right. For instance, to give a sense of the size of the area: it takes half an hour of driving (at admittedly not a high speed) to go from the park's entrance, to and around Angkor Wat, through the gates of Angkor Thom, and around its central temple to the rows of temples and terraces on the far side. (And this is the densest part of the archaeological park--there are temples farther afield then these.)
Given the size and history of the Angkor area, I can certainly understand why the Cambodian government chose to put images of the temples on its flag and on its money: it gives the country an aura of historical depth and of size and formidability that it perhaps lacks in the modern world.
Both Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom have stone reliefs worth highlighting in this post. I'm not referring to the numerous reliefs of aspara dancers--I guess artists everywhere like portraying images of semi-nude women--; rather, I'm referring to the hundreds of meters of continuous reliefs covering a surprising variety of topics. Many reliefs present images of wars, but they also show sports (e.g., cock fighting, dog fighting, boxing) and scenes from normal life (e.g., the market, the zoo, a barbecue). One guidebook says there's a "real sense of humanity to these images."
Other Highlights
I greatly enjoyed my rickshaw ride to the floating village and the floating village itself. It provided an attractive, interesting peek at the daily life of these sub-urban and rural Cambodians. (I wonder how similar their lives are to people living in rural China. Though I'm living in China, I haven't visited rural China so I can't make the comparison.)
Package Tour / Guide
I enjoyed traveling as part of a package tour. (I selected this three-day tour but stayed an extra day.) This tour was private--just Di Yin and I--which meant we could stay as long (or as short) as we wanted at every site. No waiting for or being hurried by people I don't know!
The great benefit of the tour was that they arranged everything, and arranged everything well. We liked the hotel they picked for us; we enjoyed the selection of restaurants; I appreciated not having to do research to decide which sights to visit and when (e.g., which temples to see and what time of day to see them at) and where to eat and what to order; we liked having an air-conditioned car and driver and a trunk-full of bottles of water that were there for us whenever we wanted.
The only feature Di Yin and I didn't like about our package tour was the guide. It was clear he doesn't like his job, which he does rather perfunctorily. By listening sporadically to other guides (when we were within earshot), I can say definitively that he knows less than them.
Di Yin says even if the guide did nothing else, he's worth it for pointing out where good photo opportunities are and for his willingness to take pictures of us.
Also, as a meta-observation, I enjoyed paying in a lump-sum and not having to deal with or think about money on a per-expense basis. We had vouchers for all our meals, shows, and entrance fees. We could decide what to eat without feeling guilty: "maybe I shouldn't order that; it's likely over-priced." Indeed, in most of the restaurants we visited, we weren't even given menus with prices. Also, the hotel we stayed in was nicer than what I would've likely booked myself had I needed to think about its price individually, but I don't regret in the least paying for a package that put us in a nice hotel.
Other Observations
- Many businesses advertised themselves as "run by the Japanese." One could take this as an indication of respect for Japanese management culture or as a lack of respect for Cambodian management. Some may also take it as an indication--I don't--that all the profits from developing Cambodia are going to people in other countries.
- We saw a large number of (tame) stray dogs.
- Cambodia, at least the part around Siem Reap, is remarkably flat.
- It's probably some combination of the temperature and the humidity, but Cambodia does good things to my hair. :)
- Before being ruled by the Khmer Rouge (which I'm sure everyone has heard of), Cambodia was a French colony (like Vietnam). I can't believe I didn't know that previously!
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