Siem Reap and Angkor Wat (written from Phnom Penh, Saturday 14th April)

From ruthless destruction to inspired creation...

Bright and early on Tuesday morning (5am to be precise) I crept out of my guesthouse into the dark streets of Siem Reap where my motor driver was waiting for me.
He'd managed to secure my business the day before on our way from the bus station when he stopped suddenly in the middle of no where and tried to wheedle a job for the following day. For God's sake. "Guest house, now!" I stormed, I won't talk about it until you we get there." But he had such a sweet smile that I forgave him and agreed to take him on.
When arrived at Angkor it was still dark. Unable to see a thing, I followed the shuffling feet of other die-hards, and we felt our way up some steps and settled ourselves down in front of a big black mass and waited. Gradually, as the sun crept up, the outline of Angkor Wat began to emerge. It is supposed to be the largest religious monument in the world and it really was quite staggering as it loomed up in the early morning light, robust and imposing.
I left the crowd and climbed up to the top, watching the stone begin to glow in the warming light. I entertained myself for an hour or so scrambling in and out of a labyrinth of stone corridors and crumbling courtyards before I rejoined my motor driver and went off to Wat Thom where Bayon, the temple bedecked with enigmatic smiling faces, baring a strong resemblance to King Suryavarman II peer out of the jungle. Then on to Ta Phrom, a temple deeply embedded in the jungle. So deep in fact, that the jungle has taken over and the entanglement of of tree roots and crumbling stone are so inter weaved that it is hard to see where the jungle stops and man begins. This wonderful fusion made it the most impressive of all.
After scrambling up and down a few more temples and getting trapped between tree roots by several bus loads of French and Japanese tourists, I decided that I was watted out for the day and motored back to Siem Ream for a snooze and reflect.
The following day, feeling a little fragile after a night of sampling the Siem Reap night life, I took a tuk-tuk to Banteay Srei, 35km out of Siem Reap. Its name means "Women's Temple" because it was believed that the exquisite stone carvings were too delicate to have been done by a man. My good friend the Lonely Planet informs me that they might be the finest in the world. Quite a claim! But they really are beautiful.
And so I had a happy few days in Siem Reap, which is a nice town although, like Angkor, is not improved by the hoards of travellers. Noisy bars and restaurants offer happy hours and thump merrily into the early morning. I found myself sipping as elegantly as you can out of a bucket at 5am having a heated discussion about the demise of places that pander to the whims of the fun loving travellers and tried not to feel like too much of a hypocrite, which, of course, I was. Again.
Today is Khmer New Year and I am back in Phnom Penh and getting myself ready for some festive cheer...