After getting fed up of rump-deadening bus journeys, we adopted the humble pushbike as our new favourite mode of transport.
Which is why we had no qualms about setting off on a 20-mile round-trip to see some ancient temples. Getting to the site involved taking the main road from Siem Reap towards Phnom Penh - national route 6.
That's probably the equivalent of cycling up Britain's M6, only without cones or Spaghetti Junction and instead with countless tuk-tuks, farm vehicles and, indeed, bicycles. Oh, yes, and instead of Keele services we passed probably the busiest market I've ever seen, with traffic criss-crossing in all directions.
At this point, The One With The Common Sense wishes me to point out to any fretting parents that it's not really as dangerous as a motorway. (Although at one point I did turn around to see her overtaking two girls on bikes as a coach roared past, horn blaring, what seemed like inches from her left shoulder.)
Cycling in Cambodia is proving to be surprisingly easy.
The procedure at busy junctions is to pick a line, stick to it and - in the event of someone driving head-on towards you - just grin. Chances are the bloke on the moped will give way with a laugh. The worst thing you can do is stop, which brings everyone around you to a halt and risks not so much a pile-up as a mass falling off.
It's been nice to get some exercise after an energy-sapping day-long bus ride from Kampot to Siem Reap. That said, my rear end is now twice as numb and I have symptoms of the miners' illness vibration white finger from trying to control the juddering handlebars on these ancient-looking contraptions.
The highlight of our bus journey was when a middle-aged local lady became apoplectic with the driver about something (possibly trying to drive off when she was still in the loo) and continued to argue with him at full volume from her seat at the back for a good 20 minutes.
Another local woman sitting next to us thought the whole thing was hilarious.
We gained a friend for life when we both burst into fits of giggles as the angry woman got so enraged she spat a big bit of flob onto her chin in mid-rant.
Siem Reap is a must-see because of its amazing temples at Angkor, former kingdom of the Khmers - who ruled most of the area we're travelling through between about 800 and 1400ad.
According to my guide book, its crowning glory - Angkor Wat - is the eighth wonder of the world.
If you were thinking there should only be seven, it's fair to say those lists are a bit like the "Best 50 pop singles ever" features. They vary according to the magazine's criteria but the usual suspects keep popping up.
I guess this makes Angkor Wat a bit like Bohemian Rhapsody. The largest religious structure in the world - even bigger than Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral - it is fabulously constructed and few could fail to be impressed by its mighty towers in the form of closed lotus flowers.
But perhaps it's just a bit too popular, making it hard to be special to the individual.
I was more taken with the lesser lights. Ta Prohm, a monastery crumbling under the slow march of the jungle, has the roots of huge silk cotton trees and strangler figs prising apart its stone walls.
It's reassuring to note all mighty regimes eventually succumb to the forces of nature (which is why football fans can look forward to Man Utd's downfall).
It was just possible to stand in silent awe, listening to the birdsong around you, for a few moments before the next busload of Japanese tourists crashed around the corner to take photos of themselves in front of every fallen rock.
The form of another temple, Bakong, is similar to Angkor Wat in replicating the mythical home of the Hindu gods, Mount Meru, but was completed around 300 years earlier, in 881.
Wandering around this quieter, but still imposing, site was all the more atmospheric for the traditional music drifting up a band of landmine victims playing in the grounds below. It was well worth that 20-mile round trip.
Meanwhile, our culinary adventures have continued - pineapple smeared with chilli and salt is a surprisingly good combination - but the three frogs on a stick are probably the best efforts so far.
It's apparently a bit of local a delicacy to cut off the heads, mince the meat and mix it with herb paste before stuffing the carcasses. Barbecued, they really were delicious.
Disappointingly, though, I can report that the old joke about any unusual food "tasting a bit like chicken" rings true in the case of these frogs at least.
The leg meat was much like the nicest bits you get on a fried chicken wing.
Still, it's more fun when you can suck on a flipper.
No comments:
Post a Comment