Cambodia Again! A story from Chris - Angkor

Hello Again!

My thanks to Chris for these wonderful photographs. Chris and her husband Paul left Arcadia at Laem Chabang in Thailand and travelled up to Bangkok. Form there they flew to Seim Reap in Cambodia! You see there is so much you can do on a Grand Voyage - we can arrange excursions to meet your needs. They rejoined us again at Singapore.

My thanks to Chris for her story...........................................

Driving through the teeming streets of Siem Reap in Cambodia does not prepare you for the first sight of Angkor.

For six centuries it was the capital of Cambodia but this role ended in 1432. Its remains cover over 77 square miles. The old wooden houses have rotted away but the 70 stone temples and tombs which remain are breathtakingly beautiful and awesome in scale. Angkor Wat is in fact the world’s largest single religious complex.

Our guide saved the best till last. Early morning saw us at south gate into Angkor Thom. It is still possible to travel there by elephant (from the car park!) but the causeway across, richly decorated and carrying 154 statues of gods and demons is well worth the walk. We boggled at the craftsmanship, beauty and size of the terrace of elephants from which the kings would have watched parades and sporting events and marvelled at the carvings of benign and not so benign gods.

The majority of organised tours visit Angkor Wat first and most people leave at 1.00pm to return to Siem Reap for a 2 hour lunch break to avoid the intense heat. Fortunately for us our guide elected to take us to Angkor Wat at just after 1.00pm and for almost 2 hours we had it all to ourselves.

Originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the entire layout is surrounded by a moat which marks the boundaries but also symbolises the ocean of the universe. Alongside the Hindu gods, battle scenes and dancing girls are also later Buddhist influences all of which are beautifully preserved.

Over a million people lived in Angkor Thom at its peak but the thirteenth century Angkor was already in decline and the jungle quickly claimed it. It was not until the nineteenth century that European explorers “discovered” it and restoration and clearing the jungle cleared until the Vietnam War.

The most striking thing about any visit to Cambodia is number of amputees. One in 350 lost at least one limb. Land mines are no respecters of these gentle forgiving people and it will be at least 2020 before the last unexploded ordinance has been cleared. An estimated two million Cambodians died in one of the worst acts of genocide in history. They do not forget but they do forgive.

Angkor and tourism in general is bringing millions of visitors to the region, giving a much needed boost to the economy. We were thrilled to see Angkor when we did. There could soon be restrictions on numbers, so if you pass that way soon – take the P&O excursion!

My thanks to Chris for this report on what was a truly amazing excursion. I have shared some wonderful times with Paul and Chris on this Grand Voyage and I hope it will not be too long until our paths cross again. Thank you for the good times!

All for now,

James.

The wonder of it all