Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, and The Dread

I've realized I've completely forgotten to write about the tourist mecca of Angkor Wat. It is the largest religious structure in the world, and undeniably one of the largest tourist attractions as well. I suppose it does warrant my attention.

Please do pardon me, but before we even set eyes upon this ancient city of temples I was filled with a sort of dread. It's the Dread that tells you that you won't actually be that impressed by something that should very well impress you.

The Dread is caused by the gradual dulling of your impressability by the parade of temples, wats, churches, cathedrals, stellae, museums, mountains, monuments, and mausoleums that you've spent the last three months looking at.

Now forgive me for sounding so cynical and jaded - I know you're probably reading this from a fluorescent-lit cubicle somewhere - but as Joe Walsh said, "I can't complain, but sometimes I still do."

Before our tuktuk driver even got within viewing distance of the ancient city of Angkor, before we got off the bus in Siem Reap even, my brain began to come up with a metaphor for Angkor, and Angkor Wat specifically:

I saw an ornate cake of ridiculous proportions and gaudy decoration. It was abandoned and forgotten in a jungle and teeming millions of ants crawled all over it, taking picture in flip-flops and sunglasses.

The Dread was not without reason, but it wasn't terrible either. I was impressed by the ruined temples and cities of Angkor - it's difficult not to be - but I wasn't awestruck by it. Everyone has seen pictures of it, and the closer you physically get to it - from America to Asia, Asia to southeast Asia, to Cambodia, to Siem Reap - the more you hear about it from other travelers. It would be hard to be surprised by the place.

The tourists were out in droves, no doubt about that. Siem Reap, being nuzzled right up to Angkor, is the place where everyone stays, and there are all sorts of everyones there: scrubby backpackers like us, couples on vacation, young families showing the kids something to forget before they get old enough to appreciate it, French checking out the old empire, Koreans in massive group tours, et cetera, et cetera.

Siem Reap is a town built on tourists, and the city handles it well. The dining and drinking district is great, with close alleys warmly lit and lined with open air restaurants to watch people from, and beer so cheap you can pass out on five dollars.

I'm glad I went to Angkor and Siem Reap, no way I couldn't be, but it was not the solemn holy experience I hoped it might be, under those crumbling towers and shady stone hallways. It was a great experience sneaking into the temple itself before dawn, and having an hour or so of solitude and quiet while the hordes were snapping photos in front Angkor Wat's reflection on the pool, but mostly it was a trip on the ultratourist bandwagon.

Fortunately there was enough great cheap food to eat, cheap cold beer to drink, and plenty of sun-scorched temples to scramble over and pick at and inspect along with everyone else. In fact I even learned something about the history that would come as no surprise to Jared Diamond. The whole kingdom collapsed due to environmental factors, specifically to some abnormally dry monsoon seasons that their advanced water management systems couldn't cope with. Among minor contributing outside factors, of course. I learned this after the fact of my three day visit, naturally.