Five months in Cambodia: Siem Reap

I have traveled quite a bit in Europe and in Asia, and my favourite thing to see has rarely been famous buildings. Maybe because of the hype, the other tourists, the heat, the annoying guides, I’m not sure. I prefer walking the streets with no tourists, sitting in cafés where I can’t understand the menu and look at people going by. If I come across a tourist even in this setting, I’m often a bit irritated, as I’m sure they are too when they spot me. (Hey compadre, this café isn’t big enough for two pretend-locals!) Anyways, if you read about Cambodia on the internet, the one tourist sight everyone talks about is the Angkor Wat.

This is a temple outside Siem Reap, the largest and most famous one among the so called Angkorian temples. I will honestly admit that I didn’t have very high expectations of these sights when I ventured out on a three day trip to see them. The first one I saw was the Angkor Wat, and I was impressed by the size of it and the nice atmosphere there. But then came all the others. I was astonished by all this beauty, never before have physical buldings made such an impression on me. We had long tuktuk rides in between the temples, which were nice breaks to have in between all the stories and stone carvings. When I think back on it, it almost seem like one long, meditative journey through history and art :)

Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire until the 15^th century, and was then most likely unpopulated for 300 years until French archaeologists re-discovered the area in 1860. In the meantime the jungle had been able to grow freely around the temples, and some places huge, 300 year old trees have grown straight through stone floors and walls. It’s fascinating! Monks usually wrote down important things on palm leafs through history, and these have mostly disappeared and perished. So the best historical sources we have today over the Khmer Empire, are the texts carved into the stone walls in the different temples. They’re mostly about the emperors at the time, and current wars. I will post some of my many photos from the temples here: