Escape to rural countryside and as expected everything is not so glamorous but down to earth. The basic things of dust and hot sun and food. Simple pleasures of the common folk. Seeing me around trying to buy a drink or just stopping the bike seam to pique interest from the locals.
I forgot how to do this for a long time now. Watching the locals just sitting down staring, pondering, doing nothing and wasting/enjoying their life away. The carefree life some say, but it can be boring mostly and sometimes when observed longer its like a state of meditation so deep that one has to blank their mind to pass the days else like the city folks, we will go crazy.
So I stayed at little Town Sra’am which is the nearest form of accommodation to the temple ruins Preah Vihear which has been in dispute for many years if its part of Cambodia or Thailand. Who knows but its friendly now yet the road map shows the way to the temple cutting into Thailand border and land just to snake in and out again to reach the temple.
My cousin said with much vigor that these Cambodians built the road illegally using Thailand land to get to the temple and I should not go and boycott their bad behavior. The traveler in me however, finds border lines as just another fun skipping rope to hop around and play with the kids so it was quite impossible to pass this up and have a look.
The ride from Sra’am to the ticket booth at the base of the mountain was boring. No beautiful plateau nor any signs of man made monuments to spice things up. Cambodia countryside was as such .... the plains and some rice fields with lots of pot holes .
At the ticket booth to Preah Vihear I got the ticket for foreigner price at USD 10. Then was the decision to either ride up myself or pay another USD5 to get a local motorbike taxi up.
I decided to parked Bluey ... let him sit this one out and support the motor-taxi. The initial road was well paved and although steep it was still good to go up but at the final stretch, it was hell.
Tourist in Cambodia are like a flock of birds. They only go where there are things to see which are marked on the map. Hence for everywhere else that I go, there are no one around, such as the ancient steps near the Preah Vihear temple.
Traveled on: November 2018
I forgot how to do this for a long time now. Watching the locals just sitting down staring, pondering, doing nothing and wasting/enjoying their life away. The carefree life some say, but it can be boring mostly and sometimes when observed longer its like a state of meditation so deep that one has to blank their mind to pass the days else like the city folks, we will go crazy.
So I stayed at little Town Sra’am which is the nearest form of accommodation to the temple ruins Preah Vihear which has been in dispute for many years if its part of Cambodia or Thailand. Who knows but its friendly now yet the road map shows the way to the temple cutting into Thailand border and land just to snake in and out again to reach the temple.
My cousin said with much vigor that these Cambodians built the road illegally using Thailand land to get to the temple and I should not go and boycott their bad behavior. The traveler in me however, finds border lines as just another fun skipping rope to hop around and play with the kids so it was quite impossible to pass this up and have a look.
The ride from Sra’am to the ticket booth at the base of the mountain was boring. No beautiful plateau nor any signs of man made monuments to spice things up. Cambodia countryside was as such .... the plains and some rice fields with lots of pot holes .
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| The Ride to Sra'am |
At the ticket booth to Preah Vihear I got the ticket for foreigner price at USD 10. Then was the decision to either ride up myself or pay another USD5 to get a local motorbike taxi up.
I decided to parked Bluey ... let him sit this one out and support the motor-taxi. The initial road was well paved and although steep it was still good to go up but at the final stretch, it was hell.
It was so damn steep that I thought if at any point we stopped there was only one solution ... jump off and lie down flat on tummy and hope I don't roll downhill. I doubt even trying to walk up was possible. It was a good thing I did not ride Bluey up for there was no f*cking way I would reach the top.
The small bike with small tires was screaming at full power and we barely made it. These guys are skilled in taking people up and down everyday to the temple and the USD5 ride was well worth the money. The motor-taxi ride beats most thrill ride in an amusement park.
The small bike with small tires was screaming at full power and we barely made it. These guys are skilled in taking people up and down everyday to the temple and the USD5 ride was well worth the money. The motor-taxi ride beats most thrill ride in an amusement park.
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| My Motor-Taxi Ride |
Preah Vihear Temple
The temple was perch on a cliff high up in the mountains which gave a beautiful view of the vast flatness of Cambodia landscape. The fact that the mountain range sits at the border with Thailand means Cambodia is really flat.
No guide or any markers to give knowledge to this temple, a walk around was all I could do. Wikitravel says Preah Vihear predates Angkor Wat by 100 years and is a temple dedicated to Shiva.
The temple was perch on a cliff high up in the mountains which gave a beautiful view of the vast flatness of Cambodia landscape. The fact that the mountain range sits at the border with Thailand means Cambodia is really flat.
No guide or any markers to give knowledge to this temple, a walk around was all I could do. Wikitravel says Preah Vihear predates Angkor Wat by 100 years and is a temple dedicated to Shiva.
The significant of Preah Vihear as a historical landmark seam to be overlooked by the tourism it attracts. The people, local and foreigners alike visit the monument as it is a place to visit in Cambodia and nothing else.
Tourist in Cambodia are like a flock of birds. They only go where there are things to see which are marked on the map. Hence for everywhere else that I go, there are no one around, such as the ancient steps near the Preah Vihear temple.
Not marked on the internet and not marketed well hence the isolation of a UNESCO heritage site.
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| Poorly Maintained Wooden Steps next to the ruins of Ancient Steps Heritage |
Traveled on: November 2018
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