Travel: Hong Kong, The Peak and The Races

I have now been to Hong Kong several times during my year and a half in Asia. What I love about touring the city with first-time visitors (such as Claire or my brother Alex) is the mix of familiar and new. I never get tired of doing some of the same old things (like the Mid-Levels Escalators or the Star Ferry across Hong Kong Harbour), but I can always find new things to do, as well.



Claire was to finish her visit in Hong Kong and would fly from there back to the US. We were scheduled to fly up on Friday night, but a typhoon hit Hong Kong, and all flights were cancelled. We ended up going up on Saturday, which gave me only 24 hours to show her some of the sights. One think I hadn't done was visit the Peak. The views are spectacular, but the ride up is half of the fun. We squeezed in with dozens of other tourists and took the five minute ride at what seemed a 45-degree angle to the top. Once there, we were treated to fantastic views of Hong Kong Harbour. And to add to the atmosphere, we got caught in a flash downpour that had everyone scurrying for shelter. It was great!




Alex and I visited the Peak, as well, but we took a taxi to the top (the queue for the tram was seemingly endless when we visited). The views again were spectacular, although Hong Kong's famous haze cut visibility a bit. Still, it is worth the trip up there.

Alex and I visited over National Day, 1 October. We stayed on the Kowloon side of the city, which gave us great access to the night markets and a perfect vista to watch the fireworks show at the Peninsula Hotel (featured in two James Bond movies and right next to our hotel). The fireworks were a fitting end to a day that began at Sha Tin, the horse racing track in the northern part of the city.

When you say "horse racing" and "Hong Kong" together, most immediately think of Happy Valley, the racing facility in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island. It has great views of the city, and races are held there on Wednesday nights. We timed our trip to be there on Wednesday, but since that was National Day, the races were held during the day at the newer facility up north, Sha Tin. So, that's where we went. It was a warm and hazy day for the first of October, but it didn't seem to bother the horses (and it didn't really bother us, either!). We won some early, and then I proceeded to give most of it back. But, the action was fun, and it was interesting to see the horses run backwards (well, not backwards, but in a clockwise direction).




The rest of the time during my visits with Claire and Alex were spent seeing the sights that have become familiar to me from my previous journeys to Hong Kong. Every time I go, I am reminded how it is my favorite city in Asia.

Travel: Angkor Wat to Bangkok

Siem Reap means “The Defeat of Siam”. The city was the once the capital of Cambodia (now Phnom Penh). But, I didn't see much evidence of this (either a capital city or animosity towards Thailand) while I as there, as for many visiting tourists, the city is a location to unwind after a long day at the temples. So we headed out to the aptly-named Club Street in search of dinner. This after I took a swim in the pool, the temperature of which made it resemble more closely a bath. It wasn’t quite the refreshing dip I had hoped for, but it worked.

We found local cuisine at Khmer Family Restaurant (Khmer denoting the local people of Cambodia, who actually call their country Kampuchea). Like my lunch, the food was delicious.

While Club Street wasn’t the raucous place I had anticipated, we were drawn into one establishment, mainly from the strains of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” coming from the house band. It was fun, with a mix of old and new music, but it never quite lived up to the promise of the John Denver tune.


We had an early afternoon flight, so we had to leave around noon. That left us a couple of hours in the morning for one last trip to Angkor Wat. Guideless, we took a tuk-tuk to the temple complex and set out for our own bit of exploring. It is a different place in the morning (and I’ll bet even moreso at dawn – we arrived after 9 am). It was already hot in the sun, so I sought the shade, which is plentiful inside the temples. With fewer visitors at that time, it is nice to be able to explore nooks and crannies with little company. The complex really merits at least a full day and probably two or three for a proper visit. There are so many stories there just waiting to come out of the stones, if you just give them enough time. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough of it.





We sat in the quaint Siem Reap airport waiting for the bus to take us across the tarmac to our Bangkok Airways flight when the rain came down. We were lucky to avoid it during our temple visits, so I wasn’t going to complain. And the tarmac workers even set up a canopy with two umbrellas that allowed us to board without getting (too) wet.

Bangkok Airways (self-billed as Asia’s Boutique Airline) is the only carrier that offers direct service from Siem Reap to Bangkok. This seems odd, but they enjoy it, charging monopoly prices for the hour plus flight to the Thai capital. It was pleasant enough, and even with the interminable and packed bus ride from plane to terminal, journey through Immigration, baggage claim, and Customs, and ride to the hotel, we arrived while the sun was still up. We were beat, however, so after the nicest dinner of the trip, it was time to retire for the night.


There are a few things one has to do in Bangkok, and I have now done them three times with different visitors – ride on the Chao Phraya, visit Wat Arun, and tour the National Palace grounds. This time offered one difference, as Claire had to buy a new blouse to cover her shoulders in the National Palace, a requirement neither of us realized. I also took a different view of the detailed model of Angkor Wat, dated to 1922 and housed within the palace grounds. This shows the complex as it was in its heyday (or at least planned), with nine complete towers.




It had been a whirlwind five days - Singapore to KL to Siem Reap to Bangkok. We would get a few days back in Singapore (work for me, touring for her) before we were off to Hong Kong at the week's end.

Travel: Angkor Wat, Part 3

We only had about an hour and a half at Angkor Wat, which is a very short time to really explore the vast complex. We would return there on our third day, unaccompanied by our guide, to do some final exploring.

Upon the end of our first day (it was hard to believe we had been out only five hours!), we were beat. We had thought about exploring the central market or Pub Street, the places most visitors head for after a day at the temples, but the hotel was too comfortable. We sat outside by the pool, even as the rain came down, listening to the sounds of local music played on a roneat ek, a wooden instrument resembling a xylophone. The following day was to be a long one.


We started the next day with a morning view of Angkor Wat, from the opposite side of the main entrance. This stop was only for photo-taking from a distance, as our guide had a full agenda and wanted to make sure we covered everything on it. So, off we were, to Prasat Kravan, Pre Rup, Mebon, Banteay Srei, Banteay Samre, Ta Prohm, and Phnom Bakheng. Got all that?

Each temple was distinct in some way – in its architecture, its surroundings, its ornate-ness (is that a word?). Some were remote and peaceful, others were ringed with hawkers selling all kinds of souvenirs, complete with kids who would surround the car as soon as it came to a stop, selling postcards and books and all kinds of crafts. These boys and girls were persistent! And quite savvy, too. Claire tried to bargain with one little boy, and he replied that he wouldn't earn any profit at the price she wanted.

Following is a short summary of each temple we visited during our full day in the area.

Prasat Kravan: this peaceful temple is a small structure with the remnants of five towers, each of which holds a chamber or sanctuary within. While small relative to the other temple complexes, Prasat Kravan is significant for the bas reliefs on the inside each of the chambers, apparently the only example of this type of Khmer artwork in the area. I enjoyed the quiet setting - we were joined by only two other visitors during our time there.




Pre Rup: this large complex has towers arising from two distinct levels, which are accessed via long stairways. The ground level features large elephant statues at the corners and grassy spaces that separate the outer wall from the inner structures. From the top level, you looked out over miles and miles of lush jungle. This is another quiet space, even with dozens of other tourists around, and it provides a perfect atmosphere for peaceful contemplation.




Mebon: This temple is very similar to Pre Rup, and we viewed it only from the car. It is in a bit worse state of disrepair. I would have liked to visit a bit more closely, but we had a 30+ minute drive to our next destination, Banteay Srei.

Banteay Srei: This beautiful complex is compact enough to make it feel like an island (it is surrounded by a moat). It was built with a different type of stone, which gives it a reddish-gold color, and the level of detail and intricacy of the carvings is amazing. Its name means "Citadel of the Women", presumably referring to the delicacy of its decoration. What is striking about this temple is its miniature size relative to the other temples we saw, and that every inch of surface is covered with highly intricate carvings.








The area around Banteay Srei is bustling with hawkers and restaurants, so we stopped there for lunch. I had an excellent local dish, chicken amok, which is chicken and vegetables (spinach, I think) steamed with savory coconut rice and served in a coconut shell. With a cold Bayon beer, it was the perfect respite from the hot noonday sun.




After lunch, we headed back towards Siem Reap (Banteay Srei is about 20 kilometres north of the city). Our next stop was to become my favorite.

Banteay Samre: This remote complex has a distinct coloring, a striking gray and black that reminded me strongly of Minas Tirith from the Peter Jackson's film version of Return of the King. The interior of the complex and all the structures are accessed by elevated walkways, about six feet off the ground. Apparently, the grounds fill with water after heavy rains, giving the complex a Venice-like feel (which I would have loved to see!). Clouds fought with the sun during our stay there, giving us intermittent periods of light and shade. It was very peaceful inside the complex, with few visitors. I could have stayed there all day. We also found an interesting piece of history there, as well - a clip from an AK-47, left over from the bloody Khmer Rouge campaign in the 1970s.





Our next stop was the "Lara Croft Temple". The climactic scene of one of the Tomb Raider movies was filmed at a complex called Ta Prohm. A defining feature of this complex is that huge strangler fig and silk cotton trees have grown over and through the stones, creating an eerie scene that looks as if the jungle is going to claim the temples. This has caused a great deal of deterioration in the structure, and there are numerous areas where walls have been fortified with new supports to keep them from collapsing. It had a much more claustrophic atmosphere, as if the jungle were growing inwards on it.





Our last stop involved a 20 minute hike up a hill to Phnom Bakeng (phnom means hill in Khmer). This is a popular spot for sunset, and it gives a bird's eye view of Angkor Wat. Once you reach the top of the hill via the "elephant path" (the steep stairs that go straight up the hillside are now closed for safety reasons), you still have to climb another 100 feet up to the summit of the structure, which is in pretty poor shape. It is the views that are important here, though, and as you can see from the picture, the vista of Angkor Wat is pretty nice. We didn't wait for sunset, as it was getting too crowded, and Sam (our guide) warned us against it. After coming down the very steep steps in the daylight, and then hiking down the elephant path against the crush of people ascending for the sunset, I am glad we didn't do that.



Wow, what a day!

Travel: Angkor Wat, Part 2

Elephants play a large symbolic role throughout the temples of the Angkor. The gate at Angkor Thom features three-headed elephants. The north gate to the complex is called the Elephant Gate. And one of the most awe-inspiring sights is the Elephant Terrace, a viewing platform overlooking a vast field, where King Jayavarman would review his troops returning from a glorious victory. The stone platforms stand 10 feet above the plain and face a series of towers in the distance that served as a forum for accused criminals to prove their innocence (I don’t remember the exact story, but it is reminiscent of how accused witches would prove their innocence in England and America hundred of years ago by being dumped into a pool of water – if they floated, they were deemed a witch; if they drowned, they were innocent).



To the west of the Elephant Terrace stands a large palace, accessed from each of the four sides by steep staircases, reminding me of pictures of Mayan temples. (Just to the north of the temple was a large man-made pool – lake, really – created hundreds of years ago, which was being enjoyed by two local boys doing back flips into the water.) While an intriguing sight, we skipped the interior of the palace to go to the crown jewel of Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple.



The iconic Bayon Temple is immediately recognizable from the faces carved into its stone towers. The visages, which face the four principal directions, are representations of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, although the face itself apparently is of King Jayavarman. The smiling faces have been referred to as the “Mona Lisa of the East”, and they are spectacular. The temple itself is quite a structure, with numerous levels, platforms, and dark hallways opening up to quiet chambers. When French explorers discovered the temple in the early 20th Century, jungle overgrowth had covered it and scattered its stones. A great amount of work has gone into reconstructing the temple, although you still see big stones piled around the perimeter, a testament to the difficulty of rebuilding the entire structure without instructions.






What I found particularly amazing was that you could climb pretty much wherever you wanted, with few railings or stairways. Those few stairways and ladders were pretty steep and not for the faint of heart. I can’t imagine something like that in the US. Of course, there isn’t anything like Angkor Thom in the US, so I guess the comparison doesn’t really fit.

The temple is surrounded by a wall decorated with a bas relief of various scenes from local history and legend. The wall is more than one kilometre long and contains 11,000 carved figures. One could spend hours just examining the intricacies of the wall.


The day was coming to an end, however, and we wanted to see Angkor Wat during sunset, so we took the short drive just down the road to the temple complex. It is a 500 metre walk from the road across the moat to the gate of Angkor Wat and another 500 metres to the temples. Along the way from the gate to the temple, you pass elegant libraries and a lily pond that offers a reflected view of the temples. We walked around the pond, past the hawkers with their t-shirts and books and paintings towards one of the corner towers on the outside wall of the temple.





As we approached, we could hear loud banging coming from scaffolding on the tower (many of the temples are being repaired through joint ventures with different countries – Germany, France, Japan, and the US, to name a few). This was the work of a monkey, either agitated or claiming his territory. We didn’t think much of it and approached the tower, where Claire sat down on the steps to rest and fix one of her shoes. As she sat with her shoe off, however, our monkey friend decided it was time to descend and investigate. He dropped off the scaffolding onto the stairs, 25 steps and two landings above Claire. But, he spared no time in coming down. By the time I realized that the monkey was actually making a bee-line for Claire, he was only a few steps away. I yelled, “Claire, the monkey’s coming to get you!” or something similar, and she sprang up and out of the way just in time as the aggressor scurried past. It was clear he wasn't cowed by us, as he made it a point to take his own route directly through the three of us, not go around. That was one bullying monkey.


With the near-attack behind us, we decided it was time to head into the temple for a quick tour before sunset.