It was always my dream to visit this splendor of architecture since few years. Finally, we managed to visit the unthinkable creation of old age human species.
Travel Facts:
Gifted being in Singapore, got cheap tickets to reach Siem Reap in Cambodia. The ticket price is less than 200 SGD (to and fro). I got this package deal of around 700 SGD per head for 4 Days vacation that includes flight (from Singapore), accommodation in 3 star hotel, food, Sight Seeing with Guide and airport transfers. The price is cheap considering we went during Christmas week.
I found its weird and funny that the people in Cambodia drive on the right side of the road. I believe it’s the only country in South East Asia having this regulation. The reason is because they were once protected by France from the invasion of other countries and the Cambodians accepted the French regulation with open hands.
The currency is officialy Rials but US dollars are accepted every where (even in small petty shops) You need to be extremely careful with what ever services or products you buy, you have to bargain almost for anything where you have to spend.
From our experience, safety doesn’t seem to be a issue there. The locals say that the city Siem Reap is quiet safe. Since the country is full of Jungles, always have your mosquito repellants. Mosquitos are biggest threat there.
Food didn’t seem to be an issue. Since we are vegetarians, we made a pre arrangement for our Lunchs and Dinners at Indian restaurants around the city. A bowl of steam rice costs about 1 USD in a decent Indian Restaurant.
History:
Let me keep it short. The king Suryavarman (the name sounds like Indian right) build the first phase of Angkor Wat making it as Vishnu Temple (Contrary to the fact that the kings of that time are Shiva devotees) with enormous sculptures and carvings around the walls. The signature settings are those 5 towers at the cardinal points of the temple. You can see 3 towers from any side of the temple which is the picture embedded in Cambodian flags. Then the country went under lots of wars and internal problems. Later, king Jayavarman VII took the throne and resumed to build other temples around Angkor Wat. Since he was a Buddhist, he changed all the hindu gods in the temple to Buddha statues. Hence, the original Hindu temple called Angkor Wat changed to Budhha temple till date.
Wow Factors:
The enormous size of the complex which is 3.2 kms long on each sides.
The numerous tower like structures that has Brahma’s 4 faces (which is scary though) in Bayon Temple.
The brilliance of Angkor Wat main temple architecture.The carvings along the walls that explains Mahabaratha, Ramayana and Churning of Milk (basically addressing the incarnations of Vishnu as Rama, Krishna and the Tortoise form).
The Top Prahm temple which is completely embedded with trees and its roots. Its nice to see both the trees and temple walls are strong enough to support each other.
The beautiful shiva temple at the top of Bakheng hill.
It took only 32 years, 30,000 elephants and 50,000 men to build the temple. The modern civil gurus still confused and not sure if they can achieve the same in this period with technically advanced world they got.
There were no Cambodian beggars we encountered in the whole Siem Reap. But, what let me down was when the airport immigration officials were asking for Tips : ( They are the first impression about the nation and this is a shame.
The look and feel of the city is not much different from Indian cities. Felt like I was in a well developed Indian Non-Metro city.
Planning:
We took the one day pass only to see 4-5 temples out of 52 temples in the Angkor Wat. This is a demanding activity as you have to walk a lot fighting the hot and humid climate in Cambodia. If you are serious about history and architecture, get a 3 day pass atleast and try to cover as much. You can even get 1 week pass if you want to know the details to point perfect.
Other Attractions of Siem Reap:
We took half a day to visit the Floating village in the Tonle Sap lake. This is the largest lake in South East Asia. This lake is full of Vietnamese immigrants. Though Cambodia doesn’t encourage the invasion of foreign immigrants, they are finding tough to control the flow of immigrants from Laos and Vietnam through the lake. The Vietnamese were primarily fisherman who lives on the boats along the banks of the lake. It is quiet devastating to see the tough life they are living. I felt a bit heavy looking at a girl who makes her living with a snake in her small bucket like boat paddling herself to attract tourists and get money. Apart from that it’s a different and nice experience boating around and get some good clicks.
There is this Cambodian cultural village where you can hang around and check out various performances from Camboidan arts group pretty much explaining their tradition. The Cambodians were once part of Thai Kingdom and you cant see much of more exclusive Cambodian tradition which is different from Thai. By the way, I felt their traditional dances a bit boring after watching complex steps that Barathanatiyams or Kuchipudis in India can make.
Verdict:
If you love history, if you like Indian achievements in the past, if you want to experience the heights of architectural wonders that old age people achieved, if you are passionate about travelling and exploring new cultures, THIS IS YOUR CUP OF TEA : )
P.S: If you visit Angkor Wat, please do take up the Balloon ride (120 USD for 1 hour) or Helicopter ride (90 USD for 15 Minutes) I regret that I haven’t added this to my itenary. The best way to enjoy the complete Angkor Wat view : )
Why Angkor Wat?
Ever since I finished reading the great tamil novel Ponniyin Selvan, I was deeply interested to research the old age south Indian kings and their achievements. Some how I encountered this place called Angkor Wat which has a lot of influence from Chola Kings both interms of Kingdom and the architecture. There are lots of research that says the kings of Khmer dynasty where once part of Cholas from South India who ruled many parts of South East Asia (including Vietnam, Malaysia (Kedah), Indonesia (Bali) etc.,) After knowing that Angkor Wat is the worlds largest Hindu temple complex, my curiosity only increased.
Travel Facts:
Gifted being in Singapore, got cheap tickets to reach Siem Reap in Cambodia. The ticket price is less than 200 SGD (to and fro). I got this package deal of around 700 SGD per head for 4 Days vacation that includes flight (from Singapore), accommodation in 3 star hotel, food, Sight Seeing with Guide and airport transfers. The price is cheap considering we went during Christmas week.
I found its weird and funny that the people in Cambodia drive on the right side of the road. I believe it’s the only country in South East Asia having this regulation. The reason is because they were once protected by France from the invasion of other countries and the Cambodians accepted the French regulation with open hands.
The currency is officialy Rials but US dollars are accepted every where (even in small petty shops) You need to be extremely careful with what ever services or products you buy, you have to bargain almost for anything where you have to spend.
From our experience, safety doesn’t seem to be a issue there. The locals say that the city Siem Reap is quiet safe. Since the country is full of Jungles, always have your mosquito repellants. Mosquitos are biggest threat there.
Food didn’t seem to be an issue. Since we are vegetarians, we made a pre arrangement for our Lunchs and Dinners at Indian restaurants around the city. A bowl of steam rice costs about 1 USD in a decent Indian Restaurant.
History:
Let me keep it short. The king Suryavarman (the name sounds like Indian right) build the first phase of Angkor Wat making it as Vishnu Temple (Contrary to the fact that the kings of that time are Shiva devotees) with enormous sculptures and carvings around the walls. The signature settings are those 5 towers at the cardinal points of the temple. You can see 3 towers from any side of the temple which is the picture embedded in Cambodian flags. Then the country went under lots of wars and internal problems. Later, king Jayavarman VII took the throne and resumed to build other temples around Angkor Wat. Since he was a Buddhist, he changed all the hindu gods in the temple to Buddha statues. Hence, the original Hindu temple called Angkor Wat changed to Budhha temple till date.Wow Factors:
The enormous size of the complex which is 3.2 kms long on each sides.
The numerous tower like structures that has Brahma’s 4 faces (which is scary though) in Bayon Temple.
The brilliance of Angkor Wat main temple architecture.The carvings along the walls that explains Mahabaratha, Ramayana and Churning of Milk (basically addressing the incarnations of Vishnu as Rama, Krishna and the Tortoise form).
The Top Prahm temple which is completely embedded with trees and its roots. Its nice to see both the trees and temple walls are strong enough to support each other.
The beautiful shiva temple at the top of Bakheng hill.
It took only 32 years, 30,000 elephants and 50,000 men to build the temple. The modern civil gurus still confused and not sure if they can achieve the same in this period with technically advanced world they got.
There were no Cambodian beggars we encountered in the whole Siem Reap. But, what let me down was when the airport immigration officials were asking for Tips : ( They are the first impression about the nation and this is a shame.
The look and feel of the city is not much different from Indian cities. Felt like I was in a well developed Indian Non-Metro city.
Planning:
We took the one day pass only to see 4-5 temples out of 52 temples in the Angkor Wat. This is a demanding activity as you have to walk a lot fighting the hot and humid climate in Cambodia. If you are serious about history and architecture, get a 3 day pass atleast and try to cover as much. You can even get 1 week pass if you want to know the details to point perfect.
Other Attractions of Siem Reap:
We took half a day to visit the Floating village in the Tonle Sap lake. This is the largest lake in South East Asia. This lake is full of Vietnamese immigrants. Though Cambodia doesn’t encourage the invasion of foreign immigrants, they are finding tough to control the flow of immigrants from Laos and Vietnam through the lake. The Vietnamese were primarily fisherman who lives on the boats along the banks of the lake. It is quiet devastating to see the tough life they are living. I felt a bit heavy looking at a girl who makes her living with a snake in her small bucket like boat paddling herself to attract tourists and get money. Apart from that it’s a different and nice experience boating around and get some good clicks.
The Night market is the best place for buying Souveniers and other handicrafts. I tested my best bargaining abilities there and partly succeeded. Fridge magnets, paintings, wall hangs, hats etc., Nice place to chill out. There is a pub street near by with full of pubs and night life.
Verdict:
If you love history, if you like Indian achievements in the past, if you want to experience the heights of architectural wonders that old age people achieved, if you are passionate about travelling and exploring new cultures, THIS IS YOUR CUP OF TEA : )
P.S: If you visit Angkor Wat, please do take up the Balloon ride (120 USD for 1 hour) or Helicopter ride (90 USD for 15 Minutes) I regret that I haven’t added this to my itenary. The best way to enjoy the complete Angkor Wat view : )
*** Happy New Year ***
2 comments:
wow! looks magnificient! definitely adding this to my list of places to visit :)
Hi, Nice to read your blog on Angkor. I will be travelling soon, with my parents also, as I want them to see the world's largest Hindu temple complex. Being in Singapore gives access to most of the South East Asian locations where the earlier Tamil kingdoms set their foot. I have also read that in Indonesia, there are lots of South Indian architecture. Hope to tour the entire SE Asia soon. By the way, Cambodia is not the only country in South East Asia to drive on the right. Laos and Vietnam vehicles also drives on the right. Happy blogging :)
Post a Comment