Part 2 of 3 of an old story to fill in the 2020 travel vacuum

We wake to a steamy, overcast Cambodian morning.  I’m excited because, today, we’re off to Angkor, the ‘lost city in the jungle’.  But first, we’re going to enjoy a relaxing breakfast in the hotel’s dining room.  That’s funny – there’s someone waving to us from the carpark!  Ah, it’s Jimmy, our enthusiastic young driver from yesterday.  He’s about an hour early, but we’d half-expected he’d take extra care to ensure no other drivers or tuk-tuk scammers try to steal ‘his’ tourists.

As we climb into the taxi about forty minutes later, Jimmy is full of questions.  “How is your hotel?  Did you enjoy your afternoon yesterday?  Where would you like to go today?”  Time to put our fate in Jimmy’s hands.  “Well”, I say, “you know the area better than we do.  What do you recommend?”

First stop – Angkor Wat – well, actually the first stop is the checkpoint where we buy our passes (and Jimmy pays the ‘taxi charge’), but let’s just say it’s Angkor Wat.

To my surprise, the massive temple doesn’t spark the feelings of awe I had anticipated.  True, there’s a sense of wonder and amazement that this huge place was ‘lost’ to the world for hundreds of years, but, on this dull rainy day, the temple feels ‘dead’.  

Apart from sounds of the intermittent rain, the site is strangely silent.  Even the small groups of tourists and occasional Buddhist priest we come across are either walking silently or just standing in quiet contemplation.   We’re reminded that beauty is in the eye, and the heart of the beholder.

When we re-join Jimmy an hour or two later, he suggests we go for a coffee as “the rain, it stop soon – I think”.  He takes us to a little café in the nearby forest.  I ask, “would you like a coffee with us Jimmy?”  He looks surprised, hesitates for a minute, then replies “I don’t drink coffee … but … I like ice cream!”  

We enter, and a strangely nervous server directs us to our table.  Jimmy glances quickly around to check no staff are within earshot, then explains – “I bring people to this café every day – but this is the first time I have ever been allowed inside…” 

Refreshed, fed and watered, it’s finally time to visit the jungle temples I had dreamed about for so long.  Jimmy takes us to an ancient gate.  “This is the entrance to Ta Phrom.  It will take you about two hours to walk through the forest and visit all the main sites.  l wait for you at the other entrance, so you don’t have to walk all the way back.”  That sounds just fine to us.  Grab the umbrellas, roll on some more insect repellent and off we go!

Wow!  This is what I was talking about!  We feel like intrepid explorers as we follow a combination of ancient pavements and broken dirt tracks through the jungle.  In fact, if we ignore the tour groups that we inevitably come across at each of the key sites, we could pretend we’re lost and alone with no hope of ever finding civilisation again.  

Like Indiana Jones on a date with Lara Croft, we clamber and creep over broken walls, through collapsed archways, across ravines (ok, ditches) and then – there it is – the iconic building trapped forever by the roots of the great trees!  Our reverie is broken by “excuse me, you take our picture please?”  “Of course, if you’ll take ours.”

As we walk the final section of jungle path, Nanette and I speculate how amazing the city of Angkor must have been way back in the days of the Khmer kingdom.  “To think”, I muse, “this was once the largest city in the world.  And now, the jungle has claimed it all back.”  Before Nanette can reply, we hear strains of strangely discordant music filtering through the trees.  We round a corner and come across a small group of musicians playing traditional instruments.  A little sign says that all these musicians are all victims of the landmines left over from the many conflicts that have ravaged Cambodia over the past decades.  The music isn’t exactly to our taste, but we decide to buy their cd anyway.

When we meet up with Jimmy a few minutes later, he says “ah, you bought a cd from those people?”  Oh no, did we just fall for one of the many scams?  “That’s good!  Those musicians buy food for many families with the money they make here each day.”  We’re relieved.  Thanks Jimmy.  Wonder what you have in store for us tomorrow!