The call of the ruins

Travel tales

My wife, Rekha, and I had always wanted to visit the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia. It had been our dream for close to 20 years. Being government employees, we had to save up for a long time before we could finally take the plunge. But the interesting part is that we had planned our travel only to Singapore first. We were invited on the trip by a friend whose son stays there.

So when we reached Singapore, we had no idea that Cambodia would soon become a part of the list too. So we did the usual sightseeing in Singapore with the clean roads, shopping malls and the nightlife of the city completely impressing us.

But the real surprise was yet to come. Our son’s friend had planned a trip to Cambodia without our knowledge. We were completely taken aback when we realised that the trip was planned for just the two of us! On top of that, it was not an organised tour. We had to do everything on our own, which also added to the excitement. Soon as we reached the place, we were amused to find out that fried insects were a part of the regular cuisine. We couldn’t help but compare it to the fried groundnuts that we eat here! 

Since it was not an organised tour, we were quite confused initially. But the locals were really friendly and helped us. We reached our hotel, a beautiful one named Mekong Palace, which we had booked online.

The next day, we went to our dream destination — the Angkor Wat Temple. We took a rickshaw (popularly known as tuk-tuk there) to reach the man-made wonder.

The temple is housed in a huge complex and we were struck by the beauty of the place even before we entered. To think that such a wonder exists in the world and that it was actually built by a South Indian king was something that awed us. It is definitely a jewel in the crown of Asia.

We went everywhere in the tuk-tuk. But later, we realised that a day is just not enough to see the huge marvel. We were extremely pleased to see the Indian flag on the board and learn that our government was providing funds for the renovation of the Temple.

 As we entered the Temple, we were greeted by a huge serpent (Samudra Mantahan) on both the sides.

The ‘gopuram’ at the entrance of the temple depicts Lord Brahma’s head, and as we went inside, we saw many chambers with different stories. There were no idols of Hindu gods and most of the temple is in ruins, but that lends a beauty of its own to the place.

The next day was Rekha’s birthday and our tuk-tuk took us to a hot air balloon site. It was a stationary one, which provided a view of the gorgeous Temple from the top. And it was surely a sight to behold! 

Now when I look back at the wonderful time we had, I must say that everyone should make it a point to visit this place at least once in their lifetime. And for us, it was definitely the most memorable trip ever and the best birthday my wife could have asked for