THE ROAD TO SIEM RIEP

Angkor Wat is the pride and joy of Cambodia, but is probably one of the lesser known wonders of the world. Built first in the 1100's as a Hindu temple, Angkor Wat remained essentially unknown to the Western world until the late 19th century. It fairly recently gained notority by being the location where Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed. Angelina Jolie; that's right, people... she's everywhere you want to be.

Personally, I have my own theories about WHY this place remained a mysetery to the West for so long. Basically, I believe that anyone who attempted to get there chose to block the whole experience out of their permanent memory forever! Angkor Wat is located in the second largest city in Cambodia, Siem Riep. You may have noted that this blog is titled, "THE road to Siem Riep". There is only one road into the city, and as writer I am using the word 'road' in it's loosest possible sense.

Just across the Thai/Cambodian border there are fleets of personal driver's whose mission it is to take tourists down this road and into the city of Siem Riep. These brave men, these noble heroes, these modest paladins deliever passengers twice a day to Cambodia's main tourist attraction for the nominal fee of $30 each way. For an extra $5 they will cease and disist continuously repeating the ONE cassette of Cambodian music they play relentlessly without mercy.

Without benefit of SUV, tourists set off from the border in aging sedans for the 'about six hour' drive to Siem Riep. The fact that the city is 180 miles away should give some testimony as to the condition of the road. Unpaved, unlit, and totally without marking of any kind it is essentially just a well worn path through the Cambodian countryside.

Defying verbal description, potholes the size of landfills swallow whole cars and spit them back out. The bouncing up and down gives the impression of being on the world's bumpiest roller coaster. At 5'0, and the shortest in the car, even I hit my head on the roof several times. I had bruises on my arms from banging into the door handle!

We set off on the trip at 5 in the evening, and within the hour our adventurous spirit had been quelled. Battered, nautious and thristy the Cambodian countryside at least partially gave reprieve from our predicament. The most interesting thing I noticed were tiny wooden stands with what looked like shelves of old time pop bottles in various colors lined up along the side of the road. What was in them? We asked our driver and the answer was obvious... the most valubale commodity one can have on the side of a road in the middle of the countryside. Petrol!

Our driver had to stop twice on the way there to change tires (and on the way back we had to actually switch cars after a particularly nasty pothole. All this remained blase to our driver, who simply stopped the next car and piled our bags in.) The evening, and the music droned on and on. As night fell, the only light came from the headlights of our car. In what I can only describe as 'eerie', every so often the lights would catch a shadowy figure dressed in white walking along the road slowly. These were commuters, walking from one village to another. They chose the night to avoid the heat and the white clothes acted as reflectors for the drivers.

At 1am we made it to Siem Riep, and although poverty in Cambodia is an understatement, Siem Riep has hotels to rival Las Vegas. Lavish, gorgeous, spacious hotels have been built by the French, Dutch, and Swiss to accomedate Cambodia's livlihood, Western tourists. They haven't quite got it though, because Cambodia is the only country I've ever been in that does not even have one McDonald's. I saw the hotel that Angeliena Jolie and her crew stayed in while they were filming. Their rooms went for upwards of $2,000 a night. With all the extravagance, one can't help but wonder why some of the money didn't go towards making the trip TO the fantastic hotels a little more comfortable...

There are actually two ways that tourists can visit Angora Wat. You can hire a car, as we did, and drive. Or, you can fly from Bangkok directly into Siem Riep once a day. Bangkok Airways has the exclusive rights to fly into Cambodia, and for this they charge $120 per person. In order to keep business up, and dissuade tourists from the cheaper (if not more interesting) alternative, Bangkok Airways actually PAYS the Cambodian government NOT to fix the road. Their hopes, I assume, are to first: to punish those who choose not to fly with them, and second: to have the word spread that the experience is so horrific, it's better to shell out the money.

I have to sum up by saying, I would not trade that car trip for anything. I have experienced something that only other people who have done it can possibly understand. Descriptions are impossible, and the experience cannot be relived vicariously. It is a memory that epitomizes the joy of travel, and one I will cherish. PLEASE, anyone going to Angkor Wat, take the car!

Thus proving, Angelina Jolie has a private plane, but she's probably pretty boring to talk to.