The first time I visited Angkor was in 1995, after the peace agreement with the Khmer Rouge but before the clash between the two prime ministers in 1996. Major parts of Cambodia were still under control by the Khmer Rouge and Angkor was not 100% safe. Just 15 km outside Angkor the Khmer Rouge was still active.
However, much of the country was living in peace after years of turmoil, chaos, destruction and fear. I had arrived in Phnom Penh by flight from Bangkok. At the time it was the only save way to come to Cambodia I was told although I leaned the overland route from Vietnam was supposedly open too.
Phnom Penh was a surprisingly interesting and relaxed city at the time, especially considering the hectic previous years. I had come at the right moment, it was festival days with dragon boat races at the Mekong.
But I had not come for the dragon boats, this was just the cream on the pie, so to say. I had come to learn more about the recent and not so recent history of Cambodia. Cambodia has such a history that no one in the world can ignore. The pictures of Angkor Wat had always made a huge impression on me and now it was possible to visit them.
To understand the present and the past of Cambodia, I felt I had to see the Killing Fields too. And I was happy I did that, considering what happened later in Siem Reap. Cambodia has many Killing Fields, I went to visit and pay respect to the victims to a Killing Field near Phnom Penh. It was a horrifying experience only to be compared with the German concentration camps of World War II in Europe. At the Killing Fields site I saw photos showing people in such fear I could not imagine. It's hard to understand to what cruelty humanity is able to create. And at the site one could still find broken teeth remains.
I left to visit an even more macabre place: Tuol Sleng, in the city of Phnom Penh. Here the atmosphere was so dense. It was as if the guards and prisoners had just left. Chains were on the sandy floor and I saw the dormitories of the prisoners. The most impressive and scary part of Tuol Sleng was the room with thousands of portrait photos of prisoners, all with fear in their eyes, knowing they would not have to live long. Few prisoners have left Tuol Sleng alive.
Siem Reap and Angkor
I had a boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. In 1995 even the Ton Le Sap lake was at points not safe and the boats carried a soldier with a gun. At several docking points the military had machine guns ready to fire. But during the journey we experienced no problems.
Siem Reap turned out to be a small mellow town consisting in principle of the street. There were some hotels and restaurants. It was clear the Cambodians were picking up the increasing amounts of tourists but it was all still mellow.
The first night (after visiting Phnom Bakheng on the western hill top) I had my dinner in a local restaurant. At a certain moment we heard a lot of noise outside. The staff screamed..."attack, attack... hide".. We heard a lot of what the staff called machine gun fire. Everyone was under the table. It turned out to be fireworks for opening a new shop. The situation showed how deep the fear at the time was embedded in the minds of the people.
The next day I rented a bicycle and went to see Angkor. I bought a 3 days pass and went in. In the next days I visited many of the important temples including Angkor Wat (just outside the Angkor Thom city walls), the magnificent Bayon temple, the terraces and many other smaller temples. Of course the Bayon temple was the highlight, but Ta Phrom was probably as impressive. At the time you couldn't visit the outer temples of the complex as the Khmer Rouge was still controlling large parts of the country.
Back on bicycle
Some years later I came back. By then Cambodia was at peace. I cycled from the Thai border to Siem Reap, a mostly dust road. At arrival in Siem Reap I was totally covered in red sand. But when I went into the Angkor area the next day I saw it was as impressive as I have seen it a few years earlier. This time I was able to visit some other further away temples including the Beng Melea.
Beng Melea is maybe one of the most interesting temples because it is not restored. Here you can get an idea what the explorers in the mid 19th century saw when they came (I purposely do not say "discover" because it was never really lost, not even for the western world).
Angkor is such a widespread area, there are so many sites to visit. A three day pass gives you only the possibility to visit the most spectacular temples. For most people that is enough but as I am interested in a little more then average, I went back. I visited Angkor three times, and I can assure you, every time I came back, I was as knock out as the previous time. Angkor is one of the architectural wonders of Asia, if not one of the world and only a few sights in Asia can compete with Angkor.
Peter van der Lans is a Dutchman who lives these days in Sitiawan Malaysia. After years of traveling, he cycled from Holland to Malaysia, stayed a months in the Middle East, a year on the Indian Subcontinent and 2 years in China plus a year in the UK, he settled himself in Malaysia.
Sitiawan was the perfect place to write a website about Pangkor Island. He also wrote a website about Yangshuo: http://www.yangshuo-travel-guide.com A more extensive set of pages he wrote for his bicycle adventures website, start reading here
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