Day 4 - Siem Reap
This morning we were up pretty early thanks in part to the incessant Gregorian chanting coming from a Hindu temple literally outside Fatpap’s window. Kicking off at 3:00am they did little to advance their cause with this godless heathen. After our habitual hotel breakfast we all took a short walk across the river to the headquarters of Soksabike, a socially responsible eco-friendly cycle tour company based in Battambang. Here we met our leaders and fitted out with a bike for a half day tour of the rural villages surrounding the city learning about their way of life and seeing various industries of the communities.
Thankfully Battambang is virtually flat but the heat of the morning was already intense and sweat soon filled the back of our shirts. Cycling about 7km through back roads and cycleways lined by tall trees and shrubs, our first stop was at a small village in the Aek Phnum region renowned for making rice paper. This is the fascinating, entirely hand made process of spreading out a thin starch based liquid over a steamed canvas, and when hardened the disc is removed and rolled carefully onto a woven bamboo mat for drying. These mats are then placed in the sun and the reason we all know rice paper to have a checker-plated imprint. It’s a laborious procedure undertaken thousands of times a day for very little compensation. Families derive their livelihood from the trade and their entire houses are built around the equipment needed to make these rice papers. Perhaps though the most heartening aspect of the village is that the fires are fed by residual rice husk bought from neighbours, and the ashes from those fires sold as fertiliser to neighbouring vegetable growers. Perfect harmony.
We remounted and continued further into the Aek Phnum district finding another village specialising in the growing of bananas and production of banana based products. Under the shade of their humble home we sat surrounded by plantations learning the unique craft of these skilled women. Small lady-finger bananas are thinly sliced and laid out onto a bamboo drying board. Once dried they are then used to produce banana crisps, cereal or crackers. Even the skin doesn’t go unloved and regularly used to rejuvenate the skin after hours toiling in the hot plantation sun. The banana chips were particularly moorish and something we were introduced to nights ago in Phnom Penh.
Battambang bike tour, Cambodia
Next we visited a small home hidden almost invisibly from the road specialising in the production of rice wine. Another traditional craft passed down from the ancient Khmer ancestors, the skill is not so much in the process by rather in the mastery of those processes. Yeast is firstly carefully prepared from natural fruits such as cardamom, chili, galangal and ginger and left to ferment for three days, then dried for an additional seven before being ground into a powder. The rice is cooked and subsequently cooled with the yeast added and mixed throughout. This mixture is preserved for a further period of four days forming the liquid ultimately refined into what the Cambodians call Sra Sor. Of course we sample many varieties which to be brutally honest, were terrible.
Our final stop on this culinary riding tour was to the village of Samrong Khnong and a small shed literally by the side of the road to learn how bamboo sticky rice is made. Locally called Kralan, it is produced by roasting a mixture of glutinous rice, black-eyed beans, coconut milk, grated coconut and palm sugar in bamboo tubes over a fire for around 90 minutes. Often eaten during Khmer New Year, archeological evidence indicates the rice was cooked during the Khmer Empire during the turn of the first millennia and used as military rations. Once cooked, one tears away the bamboo sheathing almost like a banana to reach the sweet, doughy mixture which was surprisingly delicious.
Before heading back to town and a quick visit to the Wat Preah Moha Kuntakod Buddhist temple along the way, we welcomed some respite from the heat and riding at a traditional Khmer house. Here we were treated to fresh seasonal fruit and coconut milk direct from the source while chatting with the family and playing with their young children. It was a wonderfully wholesome experience with the coconut perhaps just a little too warm for certain tastes. The final short leg to the hotel finished off the 22km journey in just over 4 hrs and with a prearranged late checkout, we literally jumped straight into the pool to cool down. We took what time we had to relax and get ready for our onward journey to Siam Reap about a 3 hour trek northwest.
Siem Reap is the second largest city of Cambodia and filled with French Colonial and Chinese style architecture in the Old Quarter. With museums and cultural Cambodian experiences, the city has developed a cosmopolitan drinking and dining scene, however is most commonly known as the home of the nearby ancient Angkor Wat Temples. Translated to mean “defeat of Siam", Siem Reap was founded in the early 9th century and named by King Ang Chan after he repulsed an army sent to invade Cambodia by the Thai king Maha Chakkraphat in 1549. It and the surrounding province once again came under the control of the Thai kingdom in 1795 but was later returned to Cambodia rule in 1907 through French inspired treaties.
Siem Reap was little more than a village when French explorers rediscovered Angkor in the 19th century but by 1901 a French lead coalition took responsibility for clearing and restoring the entire site. Angkor had been rescued from the jungle and assumed its place in the modern world, and western tourists arrived shortly after. Siem Reap soon began to grow, The Grand Hotel d'Angkor opened in 1929 and the temples of Angkor became one of Asia's leading tourist attractions until the late 1960’s when civil war erupted. Siem Reap's recent history is colored by the horror of the Khmer Rouge regime however since the death of Pol Pot in 1998 relative stability and a rejuvenated tourist industry have revitalised the city and province. Siem Reap now serves as the gateway to the world heritage site of Angkor Wat and in recent years regularly been ranked in the top ten for best Southeast Asian destinations.
We arrived in town mid afternoon and headed straight to the Ankgor Wat visitor centre to secure our 3 day passes for the temple complex. Checking into the Sonolong Boutique Hotel just a short walk from the centre of town, we marvelled at the quaint Colonial French inspired bungalows hidden among the gardens of palms, ferns and water features. Pretty much just lobbing our bags into said bungalows we jumped into the pool and ordered a Pina Colada or 6. Of course Toneth had other things in mind so after a few hours downtime we met for a little city walking tour and some dinner.
Siem Reap is situated on a river of the same name with many bridges joining the old and new parts of town. Our first stop was Wat Preah Prom Rath, a functioning Buddhist monastery featuring a typical Khmer style pagoda, a courtyard with statues depicting different Buddhist beliefs, and a hall surrounded by hand painted picture walls containing giant statues of Buddha. Dating back to the turn of the 16th century it has over time become a beacon of Cambodia’s cultural and religious heritage. As with many temples visited, statues of the 4 omens adorned the courtyard. Legend states that when Buddha sighted an aging, a sick, a dead person and a monk, they where the omens sending him on his path of enlightenment. The most visual of these is by far the vultures gorging on the entrails of the dead man.
After all that temple action it was straight into town to find the famed Pub Street. Only 100 metres long it is speckled with neon lit bars, nightclubs, restaurants and karaoke clubs. Heavily renovated during the covid period, the new signage and pavements really lift the image of an area otherwise holding a chequered past. We found ourselves a funky little restaurant mid way down the strip where we enjoyed a few cocktails and as always a delicious dinner. With an early start tomorrow we didn’t want to linger too long so walking back to our hotel we dawdled through the street markets of souvenirs and clothing hoping to pick up some “elephant pants” to make out temple pictures look that much more authentic. We had a few poolside drinks before bed but called it an early night (for this tour anyway), for tomorrow we were to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat.
Pub Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia