Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Part3: Khao Lak to Siem Reap

The next morning, over breakfast in the beautiful poolside restaurant, Mr. T told Gene “The Rules” of reserving a chaise: Pool towels were taken in at sunset & put out again at 8AM, at which time guests used the blue towels to reserve their loungers. Once guests put their stuff on the chaises it was ‘the rule’ that it was reserved for the day; regardless of whether you used it or not. Mr. T let us in on his secret; he took the pool towels before they were put away at night & snuck out at 7 AM to get their favorite beachside sala. We were incredulous… We were going to have to work to get a chaise, & if we did not, then we’d be forced to lay in the sun under a palm tree with bowling ball sized coconuts (it would be too much for Jirasak to have them removed) or bake on the hot, dark wood deck by the pool.

Using the directions from the KhaoLakLovers website, we drove north on Highway 4 to the outskirts of Takua Pa, where there’s a large sign for the Koh Kho Khao Beach Resort, a left at the resort sign & police station leads you down a winding, paved road (a few miles) that passes a 40 foot, golden, standing Buddha, farms, food stands, a cement plant, a school and finally winds through a tiny fishing village with incredibly narrow streets (many western clothing stores) to the Namkhem Pier.

At present, the only way to access Koh Kho Khao Island (KKK Island) is to take the ferry. The ferry was just about to depart as we arrived (7AM to 6PM)… The ferry is never fully-docked, so you have to drive the car down a cement ramp & up a moving metal ramp… and the conductor insists that all vehicles back onto the ferry. Basically, I didn’t have time to hyperventilate about driving backwards, from the ‘wrong side of the car’, up a slippery, wet moving ramp… I just did it. The ferry holds about 6 vehicles. We were the only passengers who stayed in our car. The conductor hands you a receipt in Thai with the price on it (200 BHT), which we’d been told, by the KLL’s website was round trip. The crossing takes less than 5 minutes, we tried, in vain, to see the Namkhem Tsunami Memorial Park, which is supposedly 1 km. From the pier & right on the water, but the large black, slate wall, evaded us once again.

At Koh Kho Khao Island, if you make a left there’s a paved road that leads to 6 westward facing beach resorts, most of which cannot be seen from the road. If you go straight off the ferry, onto the main paved road, on the left, right on the road is tiny Kokai Seafood Restaurant that specializes in seafood that you choose from the tank (spiny lobster too) & Taco Time (transplanted from Khao Lak) who really do serve Mexican food… other than the owners, all the staff died in the tsunami. Being stuffed from the KLOB breakfast, we just kept driving on a road that heads NW across the island for about (7 miles?)… Other than a few farm stands, there is absolutely nothing on KKK Island but scrub brush, forested hills to the east & the worst tsunami devastation that we saw during our entire trip. I guess at one time the area along the road must have bordered a forest, but we saw a near moonscape… colorless mud with dozens of dead trees with no almost no wildlife other than kingfishers & a large snake side-winding across the road.

This area is where a Thai developer (who owns most of the land & a cement factory) wants to build an AIRPORT… yes, on a small island. Mr. Developer is being thwarted by the man who owns the ferry concession (and the land where the bridge would be built), because an airport will require that a bridge, that will bring an end to tourists driving backwards over watery ramps.

At the end of the road is a sandy road & a restaurant with 3 massage salas (Thai, oil & foot) & our first encounter with Thai squat toilets, with were ‘flushed’ by ladling water into the toilet. Unlike the bay of Khao Lak, KKK Island’s west facing beaches are on the open ocean… the surf broke right on the beach.

Along the way back, we drove into Koh Kho Khao Resort, which had traditional, individual Thai cottages along the beach, surrounded by sand & a small pool. If you want solitude, this is the place… not for families. We tried to see Koh Kho Khao Island Beach Resort, but it had a guard gate. From what we could tell, these hotels are begging for business… the area was just beginning to have tourists when the tsunami hit & it has not recovered.

We’d seen signs promising “Ancient City” & “Old Fishing Village”, so we turned off the main, nameless road & headed east across an estuary with snowy egrets, then a pavilion with a map pointed us down a dirt/sand road into the woods. We headed north into the woods. I began to get nervous because the road was sand & we were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods. The road got narrower & narrower until the brush closed in around us, the sand getting deeper all the time (Gene kept telling me that was what SUVs were for) until we saw: the “ancient city”. It was a hole in the ground (about the size of a car) with bricks in it. :-)

We stopped & looked around, but there was nothing else. Just a small hole with bricks around the side… no sign. The bricks didn’t even look like old bricks. I managed to turn the CRV around without getting stuck in the sand or driving the car into the brush, we drove out & looked at the sign/map again… that was it.

Back at the ferry, I floored it & drove across the watery gap & the ramp like a longshoreman… my dad would have been proud. The conductor gave us another receipt for an additional 200 BHT. I gave him the first one, but he gave us another one. The KhaoLakLover’s website is wrong, it’s not 100 BHT per car, it’s 200 BHT each way. During the ferry crossing, we looked for the Tsunami Memorial, but could not see it… so we decided to give up on finding it… the German corporation that funded it, needs to spring for a few more Baht & put up a sign.

That night, chess master Gene devised a plan to best the Europeans at their chaise lounge reservations game. Our British pal, Mr. T had advised Gene that the blue pool towels were put out at 8 AM & he took the towels at night, before they were put away & went out at 7 AM to reserve their favorite lawn sala.

We had a half-dozen blue pool towels (to make our bathroom floor less slippery). So, we decided to make use of the room’s straw beach bags; Gene filled them with 4 towels, his book & my Vanity Fairs… and since we were already rising @ 6 AM, Gene set the alarm for 5:45 AM. Then before it got dark, we stood on our patio & decided which prized chaises we were going to confiscate for us Yanks; we decided the two that Gene had been chased from, by Frau Shrek, were exceptionally tempting, as they had the shade of a giant palm & two umbrellas & they were at the southern end of the pool, away from the noise of the bar/restaurant & Jacuzzi… we could sit out all day & never burn, as we’d be in the shade all day.

At 5:45AM Gene made his commando run. Then, we had breakfast until 9:30, changed & leisurely strolled out to the pool past 10 AM. To our left was a German family… and within a few minutes, our neighbors about 10 feet to our right arrived… It was priceless to see the expressions on the faces of Frau Shrek & her hirsute husband. I gave them a cheery ‘hello’, Gene glared with triumph & we went back to reading… Between chain-smoking & rubbing his hairy back, the Germans went for dips in the pool & walked to the sea. Only the Scandinavian kids seemed to able to stand the arctic temperature of the pool for more than a few minutes.

Mr. T & Gene fed the resort’s stray dogs with cheese & meats from breakfast. After room service told us they charged for ice, we’d discovered that the breakfast bar had ice for free. So, Gene brought out gin & tonics in the sports bottles we’d brought from home. Later that night, we discovered that the canvas umbrellas were so thin, that although they afforded shade, we’d both sunburned in their shade. Instead of a massage, I had a white clay body wrap… which was only put on the body, then she closed the plastic sheet around me (like a burrito) & began to put towels atop the plastic. I began to get claustrophobic & asked her to remove one towel, while the clay dried. During our spa treatment, it poured for about 30 minutes, it was the only time it rained during our time in Thailand. It was Saturday night & the KLOB beachside restaurant was nearly empty all evening. The sunset was gorgeous. I had delicious sautéed salmon again… we’d wanted to try more fish, but the menu only had sea bass, salmon, prawns & sweet sour seafood medley. There was no coconut crab, fried banana blossoms or morning glory greens… Fried banana & vanilla ice cream was our dessert of choice as there was no mango & sticky rice. I think the menu at KLOB was faranged-up for us tourists.

I’d read all these wonderful descriptions of local specialities on Fodor’s & was sad not to be able to try it.

The next dawn, Gene repeated his imperial attack on the same lounge chairs.. We spent our last day hanging out with Terri & Allan on their sala, leaving our reserved loungers empty… watching the iguanas threat gesture one another; they puff their jowls, to claim territory. A wind had came up, the surf was quite big… We made our last drive into Khuk Khak (the area where KLOB is) to pick up our laundry (100 BHT per kilo) & top-off the gas tank. Like clockwork, Budget Phang-Nga came to pick up our trusty CRV @ exactly 5:45 PM. I tried calling Thai Air in Phuket three times to get a bulkhead seat, but everyone said I could get it no problem at the airport.

Our British friends had met (and married) in southern Thailand, it was their 5th anniversary, so we got a seaside table for four & watched as Terri & Allan lit 5 large, white paper lanterns on the beach. One-by-one they whispered secret vows to one another, lit each lantern & watched it drift up into the sky over the moonlit sea. The owners sent over a large, two-eyed, hideous-looking, fresh fish for Allan to choose how he wanted it cooked. It was the ugliest fish any of us had ever seen… Even though we were told what it was, we could not understand what they were saying… So, our waiter brought (unbelievably) a SEAFOOD MENU with a list of about 20 different kinds of fish (with prices per gram) on it.

Gene & I wanted to drown ourselves in the ocean. Our last night, we were to share a bizarro fish the size of a platter & NOW they show us the seafood menu!? Monster fish was yummy (muscular like parrot fish)… Allan had chose to have it steamed with veggies, garlic, etc.

We packed & wondered where our hotel bill was. The next day, since our shuttle was coming at 7 AM, I started calling for the still non-existent bill @ 5:30 AM. I called every 15 minutes. At 6:45 they decided to check the mini-bar (for the first time), past 7 AM we got the bill… It was a mess, we’d been charged for a night we’d already paid for in November. Finally, the general manager arrived to tell me that he had “no memory” of us paying one night’s deposit. The 10% discounts were missing from the spa treatments… Other than the box breakfast, it was stressful… With promises ‘he’d look into it,’ we finally left past 7:30… we had a 90 min. drive to make a 10:10 AM flight.

Security checked underneath the KLOB shuttle van with mirrors. A note, the Phuket airport terminal has daytime mosquitoes, especially in the restrooms. A wonderful, officious Thai Air supervisor, finally ‘got it’ that I had to have a bulkhead seat & she made it happen. We flew Thai Air to BKK & although we were nearly 4 hours early, the Bangkok Air clerk insisted there were no bulkhead seats on our flight to Siem Reap. I pleaded, cajoled & asked for a supervisor, but would only make a phone call… and it was obvious he did not want to assign the bulkhead seat to me. After an hour of his assurance that we ‘could have the seat behind the bulkhead’, I told him that I would not leave until he assigned us the bulkhead seat… and then explained by demonstrating how Gene could not fit in-between the rows to assist me. Suddenly, a light bulb went on in his head… I could actually SEE the expression change. He gave me the bulkhead & wrote notes into my record, so we could get the bulkhead on our return trip.

We went to Bangkok Air’s lounge, which is open to all of its passengers. It’s not overly air conditioned… there’s free finger sandwiches, soft drinks, tea & when our porter heard I’d not yet had Thai mango & sticky rice, he got the kitchen to give us two orders. I’m sure restaurant versions are even better.

The Bangkok Air stewardesses are beautiful; their uniforms a psychedelic Emilio Pucci design. We got fed again.

Flying over Siem Reap (green fields, mostly deforested & rivers filled with muddy silt from the deforestation), I was so overjoyed that I could barely comprehend that I was finally going to be in Angkor Wat, a land I’d waited 20 years to see. The feeling was so strong, it was almost as if I were ‘coming home’.

There is no wheelchair lift at the REP airport. I didn't want to risk re-injuring my leg muscle pulls walking down very steep stairs, so an ambulance at on the tarmac dispatched four ambulance drivers guys, who took me down the steep steps in a gurney that converts into a chair, which they held over their shoulders. The narrow chair has no handrails, so I closed my eyes… and hoped there were sure-footed.

Once in the terminal, we zipped through immigration in the special, short eVisa line. In baggage claim, an athletically built man in a beautiful dark suit approached me & informed us he was “Head of Security for Raffles”… and that he’d “take care” of us. He communicated with his team via walkie-talkie & called the hotel to tell them we’d arrived. His porter took our bags to the van (they’d offered a limo but I preferred a van) where a driver awaited with blasting air conditioning, cold moist towels & bottled water. More calls to the hotel.

Enroute, I shared with our Khmer escorts the tales of Allan’s friends who had visited Siem Reap. Their friends claimed that ‘their Siem Reap guide had told them that the Vietnamese OWNED Siem Reap… they insisted that the Khmer Rouge had SOLD Siem Reap to the Vietnamese after the Vietnamese had given the KR guns.”

I told the Khmer men that I’d assured our British pals that the Khmer & the Vietnamese had been fighting for thousands of years. I’d read many books of Khmer history and I knew, that the Khmer had repeatedly defeated the Vietnamese over the millennium… there were actual carvings at Angkor Wat that depicted the Khmers chopping off the heads of the Chams!

At that, the van ERUPTED into raucous laughter. The men literally howled & pounded their feet & clapped their hands. They loved it.

The head of security kept saying: We gave the Vietnamese our city for a few guns?

Next installment: Raffles Grand d’Angkor, finally meeting our guide Tek, our three hour drive through amazing countryside to Koh Ker & meeting Ta Kok, police chief, magic man & guerrilla fighter extraordinaire...

NEW INSTALLLMENT:

Raffles Grand d’Angkor was built in 1923 in the French Colonial style, fortunately the French restoration in 1998 did not destroy the beauty of the original building. The Grand is about a 5 minute walk from downtown Siem Reap, across the street from the Royal Gardens (6000 square meters) and 5 miles from Angkor Wat. The hotel is fronted by a semi-circular drive, lined with plumeria (frangipani) trees. The entrance is modest… but once you walk though the double wood & glass doors, you are transported into another century… like a time warp.

Ceilings in the Landmark building are about 25’, floors are tiled in cream-colored marble with black marble Art Deco accents throughout the hotels. Walls are paneled in dark woods.

When the front door opened, we were greeted by the staff, about 15 men in suits, stood on either side of the entrance way… The general manager was the first to clasp my hand, introducing himself to me by my name, saying he wanted to “personally welcome you to the Raffles Grand d’Angkor!

Gene later remarked that he’s always wanted to know what it felt like to be royalty.

A Khmer woman appeared with a silver tray & with silver tongs, she gave us jasmine-scented cold towels (a treatment all guests receive every time they return from an outing). Across the foyer was a central room which had an ornate Khmer table, upon which sat a huge urn that was filled with orchids, roses & Asiatic lilies, in an egg shape, so that the arrangement looked like a 5’ high Faberge egg. Behind the floral arrangement, two women in traditional Khmer outfits sat on an embroidered silk platform, playing Khmer instruments (similar to a tabla & a lute).

To the left was a patisserie; which always had an ornate display of French confections… through the bakery was the main dining are Café d’Angkor. To the right of the musicians was the entrance to the expensive Khmer-French Restaurant Le Grand. Behind the musicians was a large antique-filled Conservatory, at one end was an ebony, Baldwin grand piano and a small bar at the other. The full length of the room was lined with windows that overlooked the spectacular pool area below. At the other end of the 35 meter pool was the Apsara Terrace (a big Khmer pavilion) for lunch, traditional dance performance & poolside cocktail service.

Between the foyer & the entrance room ran a long hallway that ran the length of the Landmark building. Past reception & the restaurant, was a spiral staircase that led down to the famous Elephant Bar, which has a cocktail that was created for Jaqueline Kennedy, when she & President Kennedy stayed at the Raffles in Phnom Penh.

The opposite end of the hallway, held the concierge station (next to the antique brass elevator, replete with white suited & gloved attendant), the business center, a few shops that sold Khmer artifacts, crafts & original, locally designed haute couture & at the end of the hallway was a door which led to a water garden that was filled with water lilies, reeds, frangipani trees, palms, hibiscus and, during our stay, an special exhibit of museum quality antique Buddhas from all over SE Asia.

Up the ramp from the water garden was the annex which had been built in 1997. The standard rooms in this building are lower in cost than the canopy bed, antique rooms in the Landmark building. On the lower level of the annex, alongside the inner pool courtyard were the ‘poolside cabana rooms, which are the same price as the Landmark rooms. We choose the cabana rooms because they have separate showers from the giant tubs & because they had direct access to the pool, each cabana room had a private patio with steps that led down to the pool, which is the largest hotel swimming pool in Asia.

The annex building continues the French Colonial style, with very high ceilings, 10’ high carved, cream colored wood doors with antique black porcelain door knobs & the wonderful deco marble tiled hallways.

We were taken immediately to our room, shown the service elevator route, so that I did not have to climb stairs. The foyer had a do not disturb switch, an antique marble bar that was restocked secretly (we never saw anyone) with tropical fruit (rambutans, mangos, pineapple, water apples-yum, tangerines, tiny local bananas, oranges, grapes, pears, apples), bottles & water and two place settings.

The bathroom also had a giant wooden door, a giant bath tub on one side & a glass-enclosed, marble, waterfall shower across the room. The fixtures were all designed to look like they were circa 1920; a wooden toilet seat w/ a push button flush on the wall & a big, pedestal sink with the best toiletries of any hotel either one of us has ever stayed in. Raffles Amrita Spa brand which had cedar, lavender, almond oils in the lotion, shampoo & bath gel that smelled divine… a simple whiff transports me back to Siem Reap… I also discovered that the body lotion repels mosquitoes; we never got bit.

Our room had marble floors, the area underneath the (real) king-sized bed had a Persian rug, opposite the bed was an antique armoire with lots of space, a topnotch TV (better than the one at the Peninsula in BKK), closer to the French doors that led to our private patio was a day bed, desk adorned with fresh orchids… and to my astonishment, next to the table chairs on our patio, I discovered that Raffles had installed a ramp, so that I would not have to climb stairs to return from the pool.

Outside our room were beautiful lawns, giant palm trees, more plumeria groves on both sides of the rectangular pool. Redwood chaise loungers, each with its own attached table, green canvas umbrellas & cushions & attentive pool boys who covered the cushions with towels for you. The pool area was always tranquil, where guests read books or swam in the dark blue tiled WARM water!

We were immediately asked if we preferred feather or foam pillows, a concierge took our passports, plane tickets & credit card & returned within minutes… we were checked in without having to do anything. Next to the luggage rack was an umbrella stand with ‘golf’ umbrellas. The sheets were white, logo embossed Egyptian pima cotton… giant bath towels & we discovered that room service meals & the mini-bar had the same price as Café d’Angkor.

The phone rang, as planned Tek had waited outside the hotel for our arrival & I took great relish in telling the front desk that I wanted them to send Tek to our room (guides are not allowed in the resident area of the hotel).

After 6 months of sharing our lives with each other, I asked Tek if I could hug him… he giggled & said, “I feel like you are my sister!”, and hugged me. Tek’s wife was expecting their first child… he’d fallen in love with her, at first site, in English school in Phnom Penh, where he’d worked as a guide for 3 years. Finally unable to bear his unrequited love, he traveled to Siem Reap after 3 years of pining away for her & confessed his love & proposed marriage… she made him wait 2 more years. I gave Tek an English language children’s book, so he could read to his daughter & teach her English, two stuffed animals, a maternity blouse for his wife… in addition to the large carton of baby & toddler clothes & toiletries I’d mailed to them a few months earlier.

Tek announced that he did not want to charge us for guiding services. We told him “nonsense, we’re paying you, accept it.” We made plans for a 7:15 AM departure for our 3 hour drive to remote Koh Ker, a Hindu temple that was built by a renegade Khmer king in 938 AD. Since Tek had already advised we take a box lunch, I’d made reservations for 7 AM pickup for our lunch with the chef of catering… upon checkout we discovered the brie & baguette sandwiches (my request), juice, chips, brownies were $20pp plus tax & 10% service charge!

We dressed (business casual) for dinner for the Café d’Angkor. At night it’s candlelit, during the day the light streams in from the French doors that line the long room, where ‘residents’ can dine outside on the patio overlooking the pool… Inside table linens & cloths are pistachio & white, with high, white ceiling fans. Food is okay, prices moderate with choices typical of a French brasserie.
No matter what time we ate, the rotund, jovial, Khmer Maitre d’ was always there.

Café d’Angkor has the best breakfast buffet we’ve ever had… the food is extraordinary & the choices amazing. In addition to platters of fresh, sliced tropical fruit, 12 different fresh squeezed juices (watermelon, mango & the best orange juice I’ve had anywhere, ever), there was an array of exquisite French cheese (runny & hard & ones I’ve never heard of)… amazing blue cheese, Brie.
Warming plates kept the freshly baked pastries, breads & my favorite (pain du chocolat) warm. After the first morning, I never had western, cooked to order eggs again because the alternatives were too varied & delicious. There was always a Khmer or Thai fried noodle dish, rice, seafood or other curry, fantastic fresh broiled salmon (better than I make), filet mignon or other beef, stir fried squid, octopus, shrimp, diem sum (always different), spicy Khmer dishes, stewed lamb, broiled sea bass… there were at least 12 different dishes every morning. Who needed bacon & eggs?

Next to the eggs, pancakes & crepes to order, was my favorite; cook to order Japanese soba or Chinese noodles. A woman cooked rice, egg or wheat noodles (different every day) by lowering the noodles in a wire ladle into a huge cauldron of boiling water. There were slices of chicken breasts or beef that could be added, bean sprouts, Chinese vegetables… all custom made & mixed. Atop the counter was an array of condiments; sliced limes, fried dehydrated anchovies, shrimp, garlic, chopped peanuts, sliced, fresh & marinated chilies, soy, sliced hardboiled eggs & dehydrated, chopped celery. I created a new taste sensation every morning.

Pots of French roast coffee or English teas were brought & poured for each customer, used plates swept away before you noticed. After a day or two, all the wait staff knew which beverage you preferred. The moment you left the table to retrieve more amazing delicacies, the staff would refold the napkin.
Champagne was available for mimosas… all included in the meal plan.

Service was so attentive, that even when American newlyweds rudely demanded the bottle of champagne be brought to their table… the Maitre d’ opened a bottle for them.

Most of the guests were American or French, some were Japanese, a few Germans & Brits… from cruise ships or very wealthy travelers. Quite a few international businessmen from all over the world… it was kinda fun to watch the nerves of the hosting company (usually American or Indian) with mostly Chinese clients. There were no t-shirts or flipflops at Café d’Angkor.

After the feast, the staff put the wheelchair into our van & watched in amazement as I walked down the stairs & climbed into the van. I always sat up front with Saboon, our driver, Tek sat behind us with Gene & behind them was Phal, my handsome 22 year old porter.

Driving through the outskirts of Siem Reap in the early morning haze was a delight for the eye; hump-backed cows laden down with huge bundles of wood or crops, strolled across the main road, right in front of the van. Unlike Thailand, Khmers wore helmets when they road mopeds. Oxen pulled food carts that would sell street food. Pickup trucks loaded down with construction supplies were topped by as many as 25 people (including babies & pet dogs) Tek said it was “a Siem Reap taxi”.

Along the way, I related the ‘sale of Siem Reap to the Vietnamese’ tale to our team. Tek told us that many Thais viewed tourism to Cambodia as taking business from Thailand, so that it was not unusual to hear sordid takes of ‘terrible crime’, ‘dangerous streets’ & all sorts of horror scaring tourists away from Cambodia. We knew that the Khmers had conquered most of Thailand at one time, which is why the NE Isaan region was full of Khmer temples… Tek told us that “Siem Reap” means ‘the rape of Siam (people)’ in Khmer & it was named by a Khmer king in celebration of the Khmer conquering Siam.

Siem Reap, Angkor is the crowning jewel, the pride of Kampuchea & even the Khmer Rouge would never ‘sell it’, certainly not to their Vietnamese foes.

We drove past the Banteay Srei area (about an hour outside of REP) and turned onto another highway where we could see the Kulen mountains, which were used as rock quarries for building the ancient temples, in the distance. Certain hill tops are cut off, as if they had been chopped by a giant ax.

The countryside was green, rice paddies, water buffalo, wooden shack homes on stilts… it was clear no one had electricity or plumbing. Very young girls sold bottles of petrol in empty 1 liter glass liquor bottles by the roadside. Tek said it was the ‘Cambodian gas station’ for refueling the mopeds. Other tiny girls, too short to see into the woks they were stirring, cooked sugar cane over open fires to make sugar palm pills. Nearly every home had plastic bags & other trash around their homes. Very different from rural Thailand.

We passed cashew orchards. Tek told us the cashew produced a fruit that was delicious that tasted nothing like a nut… had we not planned on Beng Melea afterwards, we would have visited a cashew farm.

We past an enormous tree & it rained for about 20 minutes… that was the only time in rained during our entire time in Cambodia. The rain damped down the orange, iron-rich soil, making picture taking even better.

As the road became bumpy we entered an area that was in the process of deforestation, by intentional forest fires. I was horrified. Local people burned down entire forests to make farmland. Tek told us the fires got out of hand & burned more land than what was needed. Other than smoldering, charred forests, we saw nothing but landmine warning signs; red & white skull & crossbones.

Tek told us that nearly two people a day die from landmines & many more are maimed. There are still 30 million landmines in Cambodia, courtesy of the military aid that the Reagan administration (and China) sent to the Khmer Rouge.
The USA was the only western nation to give aid to the Khmer Rouge… a fact few Americans are aware of. Reagan believed that if the Khmer Rouge were fighting the Vietnamese communists, the KR must have needed our help.

We talked about Princess Diana’s visit to Cambodia, just before her death in 1996… she wanted to bring attention to the landmines that litter Cambodia.
I wondered if the Princess stayed at Raffles Grand d’Angkor.

Just before we got to Koh Ker, which is in the middle of the forested minefields, I noticed an enormous area off in the distance, which appeared that it had been bulldozed of all vegetation. Tek told us that a giant, tourist hotel was planned, with construction to begin next year.

Past minor temples in the woods, being guarded by Apsara youths who dozed in hammocks strung from trees, who cooked over campfires… we turned into a dirt parking lot. Fearing malaria or Dengue fever, Gene & I put on Deep Woods DEET before we exited the van.

Once outside we were thunderstruck by the cacophony of millions of cicadas rubbing their tiny wings together… in a jet engine volume mating call. As soon as we moved about, they got LOUDER. Having grown up in the country with cicadas, I can assure you that you have never heard cicadas until you are in remote Cambodia. We literally had to speak louder to converse over their music.

All the woods around Koh Ker are minefields, there are warning signs everywhere.

We went past the two open-air restaurant/shops & while Gene walked through the fallen down outer temple, an Apsara boy guard showed us a route around the baray… a reflecting pond (3900’ x 1800’) to access the main temple Prasat Thom, where we rendezvoused with Gene.

Having seen photos, I was prepared for the imposing 7 storey, Mayan-like Prasat Thom temple… there is nothing like it in all of Cambodia. The base of the temple is 180 feet square, with a bamboo ladder that leads to the flag at the top. Gene immediately announced (even though we’d agreed otherwise back in the states) that he could climb the ladder.

On no you don’t.

Then I told Tek, “My husband is not going to climb up that rickety ladder with your or by himself. It’s not even open for discussion. You can see the temple from down here.” The guys all laughed.

We took our time walking around the 1100 year old Hindu temple. The top of the back wall that surrounds Prasat Thom is topped with many linga (phallus). At one time it was topped by a 15’ high linga that weighed 24 tons. How the ancient Khmer hoisted a 24 ton phallus to the top of a 7 storey temple, is beyond imagination.

King Jayavarman IV moved the capitol from Siem Reap to Koh Ker & had the temple complex built. He ruled for 13 years, upon his death, his son reigned for only 3 years, until he died (for unknown reasons). Afterwards, the capitol was moved back to Siem Reap around the time Banteay Srei (also a Hindu temple) was built.

There were a few tourists, but by the time we circumnavigated the Prasat Thom, there were no other tourists. Opposite the entrance to the field is the other (back) side of the collapsed temple that Gene had walked through. Spanish moss hung from cottonwood trees over the lichen laden temple. I walked into the temple & sat down… suddenly, the cicadas quieted down… The Apsara guard took out a small, wooden flute & began to play a lilting melody.

Five of us sat in the ancient temple, listening to the man child play his haunting song for about 10 minutes, while the cicadas buzzed in the background. It doesn’t get better than this.

I was in heaven.

We didn’t want to leave… we went back to the restaurant by the parking lot (the one on the right as you face the parking lot), which is owned by someone I’d wanted to meet: Ta Kok (Grandpa Kok), who is not only the chief of police (uniform & all) but a magic man trained in spells & martial arts… a man who first fought the corrupt regime (supported by the CIA/USA) & then after its collapse he spent 15 years in the jungles fighting the Khmer Rouge.

With Tek acting as translator, we sat down to eat our boxed lunches, while our Khmer team ate delicious smelling meat & rice cooked by Ta’s wife. Gene bought beers, while I interviewed. Ta Kok explained that he’d been raised as a child to learn magic & martial arts… he claimed he had magic markings on his body.

I asked him (through Tek) to take off his shirt & show me. He did. His back had line drawing tattoos. Ta Kok was the tall & muscular like a westerner. I asked permission to photograph his tattoos. He agreed. While his wife & grown children looked, Ta Kok showed me the minor scars where he’d been shot (3 different times) by the Khmer Rouge… he also told me of stepping on a mine & being blown, unscathed, into a bush. Since Tek was not a professional translator & Ta Kok was not used to being interviewed, he talk a whole bunch with Tek translating a sentence. Being typically shy, like the Khmer are, Ta Kok did not look at me as he talked.

I got frustrated as I really wanted to hear his story… I asked him what he thought of the tribunals (for crimes against humanity of the Khmer Rouge)… and that was it, Ta Kok, talked non-stop for about 15 minutes… I will never know the full story, but I had unleashed a flood gate. I watched his face & hands & just listened.

When he finally stopped, Tek said, “The Khmer Rouge killed his two brothers, his parents.” I told Tek to tell Ta Kok that I wanted JUSTICE for his family.

Tek translated. Ta Kok looked me straight in the eye, put his palms together in a wai & said, “au khun.” Thank you in Khmer. We held each other’s eye for a few minutes.

I thanked him in Khmer, shook his hand & we left.. we had an 1 hour drive back towards Siem Reap, to reach the collapsed jungle temple of Beng Melea.

3 more days temple tours, Little Angels & Preak Toal Bird Sanctuary to come...