Siem Riep

Getting to Siem Riep (home of Angkor Wat) from Bangkok is no small feat. Obviously, if you're a pussy you can fly in a girly she-plane, but Fiona and I have true grit. We travel overland.

We caught a 6AM bus from Bangkok to the border, where we arrived at about 1PM. After going through the requisite Thai exit stamping process, we stepped up to the Cambodian immigration window. A 30 day visa for Cambodia costs $20, but the Poipet border is apparently the only place in the country that does not accept US Dollars. They would only take 1000 baht (Thai currency). This works out decidedly well for the Cambodian border guards because 1000 baht = $25 USD. So I guess every person that crosses the border contributes directly to the Support Cambodian Border Guards Fund.

After walking through the big archway to Kampuchea, we met up with a German guy and decided to share a taxi from Poipet to Siem Riep. The four of us (me, Fiona, Olaf, and the driver) loaded our crap into the trunk (with the help of about 10 other tip-hungry Cambodians) and headed out of town.

Last time I came to Cambodia I remembered this drive being one of the worst in a succession of long and arduous roads. It has not been improved. It took about three and a half hours to go less than 150km. The potholes defy description. There are actually stretches of road where you wind up driving in the ditches along the sides of the street because they're in better condition than the actual road. It's almost as bad as M St. in Washington DC.

We made it to Siem Riep at around 5PM, and I was/am amazed at the amount of change this town has undergone over three years. Last time I was here there were loads of guesthouses charging between $1 and $40 per night. I remember two or three big hotels, but even they weren't that big. Now there are more than 10 MASSIVE hotels here, some of which charge $2000 per night for the most expensive room.

To me, that is an absolutely retarded amount of money to spend on a hotel room. I'm fairly sure it sounds pretty outrageous to you as well. Now try to imagine how it sounds to a Cambodian who makes $15 dollars per month. "Retarded" does not begin to describe it. A girl who works at our guesthouse told us last night that $2000 is the price of tuition for four years of university at the best school in Cambodia.

We've spent the last two days reading up on Angkor Wat and the history of Cambodia. Last time I came I went into the temple not knowing anything about it, and I didn't really know what I was looking at. I'm lucky enough to get a second chance at seeing the largest religious complex in the world, and I don't want to blow it. I may not get a third time around.

Tomorrow morning we're going to go to Ta Prohm at sunrise. If you're a connoisseur of bad movies and beautiful women, you'd know this temple as the setting of the first Tomb Raider movie. It's the only temple at the Angkor Wat complex that's been left alone without any reconstruction at all. The jungle is slowly reclaiming it, and it's some of the most magnificent destruction I've ever seen. I'm looking forward to seeing it at sunrise.

Finally, I've posted some pictures of our first few days in Cambodia. This is a double rainbow I was lucky enough to see from the rooftop bar of our guesthouse:

(click for more)

Posted by flow Frazao on June 5, 2005 at 10:27 AM in Photos, Southeast Asia | Permalink