SOUTHEAST ASIA 2024—MARCH 8 – 9, SIEM REAP TO PHNOM PENH

MARCH 8:  Still ruing the inadequate guided tour of the main Angkor Wat temple, and remembering that our tuk-tuk driver had encouraged us to buy the 3-day Angkor Archaeological Park ticket, we decided to use the ticket for a return to the temple on our last day in Siem Reap.  We would find our own guide.

His name was Hen Phyrak, and here is his license.  

Hen said he had taught mathematics in Siem Reap, but he left that job to become a guide so he could earn more money.  He explained that the Khmer Rouge had destroyed the professional class and that, as a result, the public schools were so bad, he had to put his daughters in private school.  Hence, his need to increase his earnings.

Hen proved to be an eager, informed guide.  We had gleaned from our first tour that the bas relief carvings on the interior walls of the exterior temple galleries depicted important Hindu epics, but those stories had not been explained.  Hen filled in the gaps. 

Hello Angkor has a list of the various bas reliefs, with brief descriptions (below) and a map (above) locating them.

1. Battle of Kurukshetra – South Wing of West Gallery – coming from the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. The Kauravas are advancing from the left and the Pandavas from the right both heading to their mutual destruction.
2. Historic procession of Suryavarman II – West Wing of South Gallery – it is here you can see a depiction of Angkor Wat’s founder, King Suryavarman II with a small inscription in the elephant’s tail revealing his posthumous name, Paramavishnouloka. There are several other hidden inscriptions in this section.
3. 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hinduism – East Wing of South Gallery – Consisting of three tiers with Yama (the judge) atop a bull at the center. The lowest tier depicts those in hell receiving their punishments while the upper two tiers to the left of Yama head towards judgment, the upper tier to the right are those dwelling in heaven held up by a row of garudas below which hell continues on.
4. Churning of the Sea of Milk – South Wing of East Gallery – the classic of Hindu mythology, showing Vishnu atop a tortoise with 92 asuras on the left and 88 devas on the right using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea in a great battle to release the elixir of life.
5. Victory of Vishnu over Asuras – North Wing of East Gallery – Asuras move from one side with Vishnu atop a garuda (mythical bird) and his army behind him.
6. Victory of Krishna over Bana – East Wing of North Gallery – Krishna is depicted with eight arms riding the garuda and after defeating Bana, in another scene, then ponders sparing his life at the request of a pantheon of gods.
7. Battle of Devas and Asuras (or Battle of the Gods) – West Wing of North Gallery – here in a busy scene, all 21 gods are recorded, battling Asuras.
8.  Battle of Lanka – North Wing of West Gallery – shows the famous scene from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana, one of the busiest scenes that Cœdes (a legend of Angkor research) described as an “inextricable entanglement of monkeys and rakshasas.”

Hen walked us around all four temple galleries, showing us the statue of Vishnu and apsaras (above) and spending time at the Battle of Kurukshetra, the final episode of the Mahabharata epic.

 

Hen also told us the story of the Churning of the Sea of Milk, another important Hindu epic.  Here is a synopsis, along with some images. 

All in all, we were very glad to have spent the day delving into the details at Angkor Wat.  The visit now felt complete and we were ready to leave it to memory.

We decided to spend our last evening along the river, eating Cambodian street food.  On the way into downtown Siem Reap, not far from Dontrei Villa, we passed a tent set up in the middle of the street, music blaring and well-turned-out guests gathered in front.  We had watched the tent being erected over the previous two days, not knowing what its purpose was.  That was now clear:  a wedding party.  We couldn’t resist snapping photos of the bridal party and the proud parents.

We braved the traffic, found a place to park, bought some grilled meat skewers and pickled salads, and found a table.   

At the table next to us were two young women; they heard us speaking English and they struck up a conversation.  The women were work colleagues, the boss and her assistant, who worked for a property development company.  After exchanging introductions, one of the women offered us a delicacy:  fried water bugs!  We’re pretty adventuresome eaters, but we drew the line at a insect whose wings we were advised to remove before crunching.  They assured us the bugs were delicious.  We took their word for it.

The next morning, our faithful tuk-tuk driver (below) deposited us at the Larryta Express downtown, where we caught the 9:05 a.m. 10-person van to Phnom Penh.  

We were seated right behind the van driver and had a full view of the dashboard.   

Every warning light that could be illuminated was.  Despite the threat of an imminent breakdown, we completed the 6-hour drive through the Cambodian countryside without incident, arriving safely in Phnom Penh in mid-afternoon. 

Along the way, we stopped for lunch.  I had a mango smoothie; we did not try the Krud.

If you’re thinking of visiting Phnom Penh, we cannot wholeheartedly (or even halfheartedly) recommend it.  Sex tourism is ubiquitous and obvious; the capital has that dictatorship feel to it; lots of poor people hanging out; lots of trash; lots of festooned electrical and phone lines; lots of billboards featuring the current communist prime minister, Hun Manet (third from the left below).

We had only an afternoon and evening in Phnom Penh.  We were staying near the center and wandered off toward the Mekong River esplanade, where we were approached by a tuk-tuk driver in a "Lamborghini," who offered to give us a tour of the main sights near our hotel.  We accepted and he squired us around the back streets of the capital, stopping so we could visit several temples. 

 

He dropped us off at the Juniper Gin Bar, a rooftop cocktail bar with a panoramic view of the Mekong and a helluva gin and tonic.  The neon lights outlining the skyscrapers twinkled into view as dusk fell. 

We had a reservation at Romdeng Phnom Penh, a Khmer restaurant located in a French colonial building recommended by our neighbors M and H. The courtyard setting was lovely and the food was too.

MARCH  9:  We were happy to leave Phnom Penh the next day to catch our 10:55 a.m. flight to Bangkok and a connection to the island of Koh Chang, our Southeast Asian splurge.

Keep it real!

Marilyn