0530. It is an early departure out of Siem Reap. We have a lot of ground to cover. But my driver is late.
His name is Chamnam. He’s actually a certified Tour Guide, but I’ve only asked to be driven around. The addition of tour guiding fees costs nearly $100 and for a single traveller, I wasn’t willing to pay that much.
The car he’s using is very beat up, dusty, a little rattly. Sitting in the car, I think that on this trip, I’ve been really careless. I’ve made appointments with drivers (all men), do not know them, travelled to far and remote places with them, leaving at early hours, in the dark, so dark that sometimes I don’t even get to see their faces till much later, and really, no one knows who they are because I’ve not informed anyone whom I’m meeting.
But all these thoughts coming fast and furious as Chamnam drives fast and furiously further from Siem Reap are useless. The street lamps, already sparse in parts of Siem Reap disappear completely. It’s only the car headlamps on the road now.
0740 and we are in Anglong Veng. Chamnam stops to buy some breakfast. He does not ask if I want any. It’s a strange way of doing business if you’re looking for a tip.
That’s Chamnam waiting for his noodles. It’s taking longer than I’m expecting and I get off to look at what he’s getting. I decide to get some too.
The noodle is sweetish. The sauce is spicy-ish. It looks better than it tastes. Overall, it’s just oily and starchy. But the thing that strikes me is how fresh the vegetables taste.
We stop at Ta Mok’s house. He’s “The Butcher” of the Khmer Rouge.
Apparently, he likes Cambodian art and life and his walls are full of murals depicting Cambodian life.
It’s free for locals to visit, but not for foreigners. I insisted on a ticket, and I got a very used one.
Then we headed up toward Chong Sa Ngam where the Thai border is.
Nearby there is a casino being built up. The rest of the place looks pretty poor and muddy.
Heading on to Pol Pot’s cremation site and where his ashes were left. Again, a foreigner needs to pay to get in. And this is really not worth a visit at all. It’s not just worth the US$2 to get in, it isn’t even worthy of a photo.
Oh, all right.
Yes, that really is it.
Passing through Anlong Veng again, Chamnam has borrows US$10 for petrol because he’s run out of LPG for his car.
From there, we head toward Preah Vihear temple, which is really the point of this whole trip. The Mountain of the Sacred Temple sits on disputed territory. The Thais want it. The Cambodians are the ones that have it.
To visit it, you need to register your visit with a passport. It’s free. But to get to the temple requires a $5 ride on the back of the motorbike. There’s also a 4WD option, but that is more expensive I think and requires more people.
On the way up, you’ll see soldiers en route. I’m assuming they’re all Cambodians, but who knows? This could be a case of Cambodians on one side of the road and Thais on the other.
The temple is quite amazing and I’d say dump Angkor Wat for this. It’s perched on a hill. The air is cooler. There are fewer tourists. There are different levels as you make your way further and higher into the temple.
At the top of the Monumental Staircase, which you don’t have to climb now because you enter from a different direction, if you look across you can see the Thai flag flying on another mountain. The Cambodian flag flies on this side of the temple.
At the top you get a view of Cambodia below and the winding road you came up on.
As recently as 2011, there was still fighting in the region. The prosperous village at the base of Preah Vihear were moved away and now they live in poor villages made of wood.
Apparently, early morning on Preah Vihear is quite spectacular when the mists are still upon the temple. If you wish to visit early in the day, then a stay at the town of Sa Em is required. I think this is worth it if you can also cross the Thai border at Chong Sa Ngam for a bit of a look see. But bear in mind most Cambodians do not have a passport. You might not be able to stay with your driver. From what I understand, there is also some sort of market at the Chaong Sa Ngam border crossing on certain days where Cambodians and Thais cross over and have a joint market.
The drive from Preah Vihear to Koh Ker is long and boring. You drive through National Park. And most of the trees are dried up and burnt up. and you think has there been a forest fire? Actually no. The locals start the fires so that they can get turtles out and catch them for a meal. There is no enforcement of the preservation of National Park forests.
It takes us 2 hours to get to Koh Ker. It’s a US$10 entry. It’s already 1430 and I still have Beng Mealea to visit.
Very quickly I have a quick overview of three temples. I practically run up the stairs of Prang, heart beating wildly, I think: why the hell do I feel compelled to climb every temple? Especially these ruins, where someone has spoilt it with a modern shrine. I make my way down.
Onward to Beng Mealea. Entry US$5. It’s 1620. This is a wonderful place. Because it was late in the day, it wasn’t jam packed with tourists. The sun was setting. Some of it caught on the walls. There’s blocks of brick laying in ruins. It’s a concrete jungle where I got lost. At some point, I found myself in places where I shouldn’t have been. I ended up crawling around on hands and feet.
I had fun here. I think it was more fun than Ta Prohm.
1720 I leave Beng Mealea.
I haven’t eaten the whole day since those awful noodles with fantastic vegetables. I was starving. I wanted to get a kralan, but Chamnam was driving so fast, he passed three and said there’d be another. Guess what? There wasn’t.
By the time we arrived in Siem Reap at 1900, I was past my hunger. But I thought I’d better try the much touted Cambodian BBQ since it’s my last night in Siem Reap. The hotel’s receptionist recommended the one on Wat Bo Road called Hansa. I asked Chamnam to drop me off there instead of the hotel. As I posted before, I was unimpressed by it. But for US$4.50, you can eat as much as you want.