Yes, I’ve been there at last. I’ve joined the throngs of
visitors from around the world coming to admire the impressive evidence in
stone of Angkor Wat’s ‘golden period’ of temple building. Such expressions of
artistic and architectural brilliance are rare in world history. And this is
one of them. I’m sure you’ve seen the marvellous photos, just as I had, but I
found that actually going there was really awe-inspiring.
The ‘golden period’ of temple building at Angkor – experts
date the ‘Angkor period’ from about 802 to 1431 AD – saw a flowering of
creative brilliance as, under royal direction, architects, artisans, builders
and sculptors created abodes on earth, firstly for the Hindu gods, and later
dedicated to Buddha, when the people embraced Mahayana Buddhism.
Please take my advice and plan to spend some time there.
Angkor is really a series of temple complexes over quite a large area of land.
I felt sorry for the people who went on one-day visits. That’s really not
enough time to take it all in.
I went with my Marisa, my daughter, and her husband, Kovit (see
photo left, at the Bayon temple), and we stayed for three days and two nights. We
found that about the right amount of time. The nights were spent at the Tara
Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap, the modern small city close to the ancient sites. The
city is clean, orderly and easy to get about, and you can take the local
version of the samlor around town. We even saw a party of visitors going out to
a temple in a convoy of samlors.
There are plenty of good hotels in Siem Reap, and more being
built. The Tara Angkor had very comfortable, attractive rooms and everything
you could want – and more – for breakfast. However, tired after walking and
sightseeing on the second day, we paid an after-lunch visit to Raffles hotel to
fortify ourselves with tea in their lovely Colonial-style establishment. They
served us excellent tea and there were even cucumber sandwiches on their refreshments
platter.
For sightseeing in Siem Reap, there’s the bright hurly-burly
of Pub Street and the quieter elegance of the small French quarter. We found an
excellent bookshop with both Angkor-period and modern history books. The food
offerings for lunch and dinner were of uneven quality. But I do have one strong
recommendation: dinner at Palate Restaurant & Bar at Lyn Naya (www.lynnaya.com). Every course of our dinner
was delicious and meticulously prepared as, our waiter said, their chef has
worked for 20 years in a five-star hotel. Very believable claim.
We were lucky to have a wonderful guide in Mr Keo (one of
their registered guides) who was very thoughtful and kind, as well as
knowledgeable. And having hired our own car was a real bonus, giving us the
option of both getting about conveniently and avoiding ‘the rush’ of other
visitors (most of the time). Do consider this ‘guide and car’ option. It really
is a good investment.
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