The collected writings of a Renegade Tourist

Month December 2016

Kampong Khleang 2:30-ish pm

The main street, if it can even be called that, is a long, orange brown dirt road running the entire length of village and lies just a foot or two above the water level. In the wet season I am sure it becomes flooded, turning from street to canal. The sides are lined with simple wooden houses on stilts several meters high. Along the side of road and in the spaces between the stilts are all manner of things in a huge jumble, round bottom boats with cracked sides, motorbikes,  tuk tuks, piles of fish traps, nets hung out to … Read the rest

Kampong Khleang 11:55 am

The reddish brown dirt road is on an embankment, the sides sloping steeply down to the river a few meters below. Both sides of the road are lined with houses sitting on tall stilts, their floor often a foot or two above the street, with wooden gangways up to the door. The houses are simple wooden things, often looking like they’ve been cobbled together randomly. Wooden, round bottom boats are drawn up on land or float lazily in the shallow waters at the banks. The space beneath the houses, in between the stilts, is cluttered with nets, fish traps and … Read the rest

The Big Indochina Trip: the temples of Angkor, the last day. 

After our sunrise excursion yesterday we decided to let ourselves sleep as long as we wanted. We spent the morning shopping for handicrafts and taking care of various other things. 

After lunch we called up our tuk tuk driver and set off to the temples one last time. We started with one called Preah Khan which is just north of Angkor Thom. It is in much worse shape than the others, with large piles of rubble, and whole rooms that are inaccessible. The parts that are still standing however have some beautiful carvings.

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Angkor Wat 4:10 pm

This place is absolutely massive, in fact it’s the largest building in the world, so it should be able to swallow massive amounts of visitors. Yet here I am, in the longest queue I’ve seen in more than two months of traveling. From the stairs leading up to the main stupa, it goes around the corner all the way along the north wall, down to the opposite side of the stupa. I don’t like standing in line but I can’t come to the most famous temple ruin in south east Asia and skip the main shrine, so here I stand…… Read the rest

Angkor Wat, 3:55 pm 

The entire wall, probably a hundred meters long or more, is covered in bas relief figures. It is something like the Bayeux tapestry, a depiction of a battle with multitudes of armed soldiers on foot, and commanders in their chariots. I’ve seen carvings before but the scale of this is something else. Looking down the corridor and just knowing that the carved scene continues all the way to corner is fascinating.… Read the rest

The Big Indochina Trip: the temples of Angkor day 2

I’ve heard from several sources that you should see Angkor Wat at sunrise, so this morning we forced ourselves out of our comfortable bed at four o’clock. Our Tuk Tuk driver picked us up and we set off into the cold, starry night. 

When we arrived at the temple there were already some people waiting but we managed to claim a spot right at the edge of the pool facing the temple. Soon there was a veritable crowd, three rows deep lining the edge of the pool, we were lucky to be so early. After a while we started seeing … Read the rest

Angkor Wat, 5:21 am

The sky is growing imperceptibly lighter, it’s just possible to make out the black silhouette of the temple against dark grey sky, and the perfect reflections in the still waters of the pool in front of it. Up above, myriad stars twinkle in the sky. The only thing to dampen the mood is the mass of people pressing in on me from behind and from the sides.… Read the rest

The Big Indochina Trip: temples of Angkor day 1

From Sihanoukville we took a night bus to Siem Reap. The bus was surprisingly good and we were both able to sleep most of the way. When we arrived we were lucky enough to be able to check in right away. After resting up for a little while we headed out to what is bound to be an important part of any trip to Cambodia, the temples of Angkor. 

Our original plan was to rent a motorbike but I read that there is some kind of ban on renting motorbikes for use in the city and apparently there are a … Read the rest

Ta Prom temple, 2:49 pm

To the left and in front of me is an L-shaped wall about three meters high. It is built by large, square blocks of dark grey stone, the top and bottom decorated with geometric carvings. To the right it is connected to a stone tower with a sort of stepped dome and a passage right through it, the door posts decorated with bas relief figures of Hindu gods. After nearly a thousand years of neglect, the stones are covered in moss and lichen, giving it a copper green hue. A gigantic tree, its roots as large as the trunk of … Read the rest

Ta Prom temple, 2:35 pm

There’s a large tree straddling the top of the ancient building. The roots, as big as a man’s leg or bigger, come spilling down the walls like a mass of grey tentacles over the dark, moss covered stone. From the top of the roof, the trunk shoots up towards the blue sky, to the green crown high above. In front of the building is a small wooden platform, on it, two Chinese women posing for a photo and in front of the platform, a long line of tourists, all waiting for their chance to take a picture. The place is … Read the rest

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