In a new Dabbler travel mini-series, writer and seasoned globetrotter Valerie McTavish offers Snapshots from her current travels in Cambodia and Vietnam. First stop: Angkor Wat, the 12th century temple in Angkor depicted on the national flag of Cambodia and made famous by Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider.
The rain came as we began our descent. Big drops on a dusty forest trail, welcome after a day of dry thirty-eight degree heat. We join the herd of tourists heading down in the dusk. All the stereotypes are present. Us; independent travellers (not tourists!) be-decked in MEC clothes, fully prepared with flashlight in hand. We’re focused on a mission as we negotiate our way past shuffling slipper-footed girls huddled under umbrellas and pasty-legged retirees struggling with the physical demand challenged by their girth. We move in stealth silence. The quiet might be confused with sacred reverence on this mound at the heart of Cambodia – home to the world’s largest temple. In truth, our mood is more of disappointment. In the final moments of the sunset, blooming clouds destroyed our hopes of seeing the golden temple. Angkor Wat illuminated at sunset is a trophy shot sought by all visitors.
The sounds of the amputee orchestra tell us we have almost made it to the elephant loading zone, and hence the car park. At the bottom, the serenade of cicadas reaches a crescendo, drowning out the traditional one string bowed instruments and multiple drums and gongs. The shower departs along with our disappointment – the symphony of the forest, the smell of rain startled flowers, and the embrace of the vine canopy are soul soothing. Tomorrow is another day in Angkor, another day in Cambodia. Our tuk-tuk driver waves us over and we follow him to his strategically parked motorcycle chariot. Our moment of traveller bliss is gone as fast as it came. A young Khmer girl dressed in a dirty dress follows us relentlessly. “Wann cold beer? Wann Coke? one-dollar-one-beer-sir-one- dollar-one-beer. Wann Beer? Yes? One-dollar-one-beer-lady- one-dollar…her whining song of sale masked by the belch of the motorcycle as it coughs exhaust and lurches on the road back to Siem Reap.
The rain came as we began our descent. Big drops on a dusty forest trail, welcome after a day of dry thirty-eight degree heat. We join the herd of tourists heading down in the dusk. All the stereotypes are present. Us; independent travellers (not tourists!) be-decked in MEC clothes, fully prepared with flashlight in hand. We’re focused on a mission as we negotiate our way past shuffling slipper-footed girls huddled under umbrellas and pasty-legged retirees struggling with the physical demand challenged by their girth. We move in stealth silence. The quiet might be confused with sacred reverence on this mound at the heart of Cambodia – home to the world’s largest temple. In truth, our mood is more of disappointment. In the final moments of the sunset, blooming clouds destroyed our hopes of seeing the golden temple. Angkor Wat illuminated at sunset is a trophy shot sought by all visitors.
The sounds of the amputee orchestra tell us we have almost made it to the elephant loading zone, and hence the car park. At the bottom, the serenade of cicadas reaches a crescendo, drowning out the traditional one string bowed instruments and multiple drums and gongs. The shower departs along with our disappointment – the symphony of the forest, the smell of rain startled flowers, and the embrace of the vine canopy are soul soothing. Tomorrow is another day in Angkor, another day in Cambodia. Our tuk-tuk driver waves us over and we follow him to his strategically parked motorcycle chariot. Our moment of traveller bliss is gone as fast as it came. A young Khmer girl dressed in a dirty dress follows us relentlessly. “Wann cold beer? Wann Coke? one-dollar-one-beer-sir-one- dollar-one-beer. Wann Beer? Yes? One-dollar-one-beer-lady- one-dollar…her whining song of sale masked by the belch of the motorcycle as it coughs exhaust and lurches on the road back to Siem Reap.
