Holiday in Cambodia Day 3: Siem Reap

I should have wrapped up my previous post with the affirmation that I am still a fortunate traveller. That I am one of a minority in the world who can earn both enough money and enough time to hop on a plane or two in order to be a Goldilocks. So there, me, take that.

Today was aiming for a take it easy day, as the previous day I clocked over 35,000 steps. How hard would it be to just have a quiet meander around the museum, grab some food, and maybe a good foot massage? 23,000 steps later, I think I missed the point.

The museum at Siem Reap is full of interesting things, and I even learnt a few things about Buddha, Hindu gods, and about Cambodian history. Before you’re allowed to take yourself around the museum, there’s a short multimedia presentation in the “Briefing Room” that’s really just a virtual tour of the place.

Then it’s onto the room with 1,000 Buddhas. While the name gives it away, it was interesting to see both the changes in interpretation of his image over time, and also get the lowdown on the different poses he’s shown in. So here’s the lowdown. Pose number 1, legs crossed, palms upright, sitting on three layers of snake coils and with what looks like a crown of snake heads; this is Buddha being sheltered by the naga, a mythical snake with an odd number of heads who fanned out and protected Buddha during a storm. Pose number 2: the reclining Buddha; this is Buddha attaining Nirvana, that state when you’ve done everything, and are basically bored of existing and re-existing and you’ve passed all the tests so you ascend. Pose number 3 (my favourite): sitting, cross legged, left hand in lap facing upwards, right hand pointing downwards; this is the Buddha arse-kicking pose, from when the hordes of Mara tried to take his name, only for Buddha to touch the earth to let the gods know the score, and in return they did him a solid by taking down the hordes. There are some other poses too, but those are the ones I understood best.

Then there were rooms devoted to different periods of history, focusing on stone carvings of gods and “divinity figures”. I felt a bit sorry for Shiva, as he is frequently depicted basically as a phallus — no actual features, just a knob pointing straight up. It did then spare him the indignity that seems to have befallen a lot of Cambodian sculptures, having had their heads removed at worst, or their faces removed at best. I haven’t really worked out if the facial desecration dates back to the Khmer Rouge or earlier, or if it’s related to normal wear and tear or structural soundness/the passing of time. Certainly poor Vishnu has copped it, rarely a head in sight and generally lucky if he’s kept two of his four arms.

The exhibits also note the general trend that many of the sculptures that have kept their faces tend to resemble the King’s family of the same time, probably a mix of both deliberate policy as well as stonemasons doing their bit to keep in the monarchs’ good books.

So overall the museum is good: according to some folks I’ve done things the wrong way around, and I should have gone to the museum before going to Angkor Wat. And while on reflection I might have got more out of the temple experience this way, I don’t think it would have been a lot more.

And travel tip: when your tuk-tuk driver tells you that you have to buy a ticket to the museum elsewhere, that’s bullshit, not even the wacky Cambodians are crazy enough not to sell tickets at the venue. However it did cost me the same price from the place I got taken as it does at the museum, so I’m not sure what the actual scam is.

Next door to the museum is a decent sized DFS outlet (the Singapore duty free shop) with a bunch of stuff. I had a look, bought nothing, but enjoyed the airconditioning. I also saw that they had souvenir t-shirts for $4/5 each.

Then I walked. And walked. And walked. With the occasional stop for snacks, including Grandma rice cake, which were yummy rice pikelets with coconut cream on top. The area I walked was an interesting mix of tourist and local: regular places of accommodation dotted the landscape, while also many shops had prices in riel, rather than USD. And of course there were many tuk-tuks, but generally not as insistent.

Siem Reap seemed to have a bit of a busier feel today, a few more people around, so I thought I could spend the evening at least experiencing some of the nightlife. I had a couple of mojitos and games of pool at X Bar, the rooftop bar that does indeed have a skateboard ramp on the roof even though there are tables on it so probably not ideal for skateboarding, a bit of a wander around the neighbourhood looking for interesting snacks, before heading back to the hotel to crash out. I did score a couple of souvenir t-shirts, which thanks to seeing the prices at DFS was able to acquire for a total of US$6. Bargain.