Angkor Wat, Cambodia
The Kymer Rouge days are over and Angkor Wat now welcomes visitors
Pol Pot's killing fields may have been eradicated, but the new threat to Cambodia's Angkor Wat is mounting visitor numbers but hotels are there to cope with this.
Having survived the stranglehold of the jungle, occupation by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge guerilla fighters, and pillaging and looting by international vandals, Angkor Wat in Cambodia is faced with another problem – visitor numbers. Anyone considering a trip to this magnificent 200-acre temple complex - the most visited in S.E. Asia – should to think about doing it soon.
Fortunately, you can make a short trip to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, from almost any of the S.E. Asian hubs, and it makes an attractive add-on to a holiday in that region. The town of Siem Reap is experiencing chaotic growth at the moment but it has hotels dedicated to soothing and pampering the seeker after culture.
Raffles is a byword in Hotel sophistication and the Grand Hotel d’Angkor, the French Colonial hotel built in 1932 and now restored to its former glory offers spacious gardens heavy with the scent of frangipani, as well as the restaurants and bars that you would expect from a Raffles hotel.
The Sofitel Royal Angkor Hotel has strikingly lush grounds dotted with red and cream pavilions with the dining area, pool area and spa linked to the bedrooms and suites by cool verandas. A magnificent pool winds through the flower-filled gardens.
The Pansea in Siem Reap is a traditionally styled Kymer hotel built entirely of teak. The swimming-pool is lined with dark tiles to better catch the reflection of the moon. Tthe soft reddish-brown of the wooden balconies that overhang the pool area, lend the area an air of timeless charm.
Two days will give you time to visit all the important Temples from the majestic Angkor Wat itself to the Bayon Complex with the 216 gigantic carved faces on 54 temples and the lesser known but exquisite Prasat Banteay Samre. And don’t miss the sprawling Ta Prohm where huge banyan trees still grow out of the ruins. Some of the more dangerous walls are being secured but the restorers have decided to leave this much as it was found in the mid-19th century. These trees too, are part of Cambodia’s heritage.
You can also join the locals one evening in the short climb to view the evening sunset on Phnom Bakheng, and to take a boat trip on Lake Tonle Sap to visit the floating villages and photograph the traditional Khymer way of life.
