Rollin', rollin', rollin to Roluos!

First of all, you may (or may not) have noticed that the picture banner above has changed a little - I added my own collection of photos to the montage of shots I'd collected off Google. The top row is completely made up of photos of my own adventures :)

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Sally and I decided we needed a bit of exercise this weekend and did a day trip to Roluos, a collection of Angkorian temples about 10km from Siem Reap, and the actual town of Roluos a further 3km along. We took the NH6 highway, which goes from Siem Reap all the way to Phnom Penh.

Siem Reap is a strange microcosm of a town; it's sole reason for being as far as the West is concerned is the access point to Angkor Wat and the historical park. There is a concentrated downtown area covering about 3 blocks (2-3 main streets) where all the tourists hang out - the main artery is actually called Pub Street - which includes the Old Market (read: a collection of a million tiny stalls selling Angkorian statues, silk scarves and beer brand t-shirts). If you dare to venture 2 or 3 blocks in any direction you'll find yourself in a completely different world - not a souvenir shop or beer t-shirt to be seen, only mobile phone shops, motorbike mechanics and carts selling baguettes stuffed with pork floss and the ubiquitous "La vache qui rit" cheese (note to other travellers - it's nuclear holocaust-withstanding, indestructible and actually quite nice-tasting cream cheese that doesn't need to be kept cold. Make sure you have it in your pack at all times.)

Yesterday's ride was no different. Even the route to Green Gecko only takes 5 minutes before you're in veritable countryside; water buffaloes, rice paddies and little naked children everywhere. Within minutes of leaving the hostel we were in a different world and people were starting to stare. The highway itself was busy for about 15 minutes before it too succumbed to the pressure of being countryside, and tour buses and SUVs were replaced with motorbikes packed with pigs and trucks chock-full of chickens.

This little piggy went to market

It's a nice, easy flat road all the way to Roluos so we simply kept rolling until we got there. The Roluos group consists of 3 main temples, 2 of which are still active Buddhist monasteries. We didn't have Angkor park tickets so we couldn't go in, but we could see plenty from the entranceways. At Preah Ko, the first temple you hit after the turnoff from NH6, there is a large collection of local artisans. You can wander around their open-air workshops and check out what they're making; some are making apsara carvings out of cement, some are making shadow puppets by punching patterns into leather and some are weaving silk scarves (of course). Many of them are kids; it's an orphanage programme that teaches the kids craft skills as well as providing a home, food and schooling. And of course it means they can make a bit of cash from tourists - I have to admit it's nice to meet the person who made your particular souvenir, it gives it more meaning, but apart from that the quality of what they're producing is just superb.

This is the little guy who made my garuda shadow puppet :)

I also bought the smaller lotus-bud tealight candle holder

This is what shadow puppets look like when used in a show:


After Preah Ko we continued on to Bakong, where we stopped for lunch. We've become addicted to iced coffee - basically just hot coffee with condensed milk, poured over a cupful of ice. DELICIOUS (and only 50c at our usual dinner joint in town). Bakong looked like quite a cool temple but neither of use dared to bribe the guard into letting us in, plus we didn't have any packs of cigarettes to sweeten the deal (I'm sure that's how it works in this part of the world...) so we were content to look from the outside, and snoop around some of the random ruins in the surrounding jungle. We were the only tourists there.

The actual town of Roluos is a hole. The Lonely Planet says "it may be worth venturing into the genuine Cambodian town of Roluos for a refreshing drink." Here's what Roluos looks like:

Take a good look at the billboard.

But despite the disappointing and rather scummy town, the ride between the Roluos temples and Roluos town was just spectacular, exactly what we came out here to see. Gorgeous lush green jungle, earthy red dirt roads, haystacks, cows and lots of curious villagers. All the kids screamed out "hello" as we rode past, while the parents looked on in quiet bemusement. We made a lot of stops, at first just to photograph all the cute kids, but then we started venturing a bit further into people's yards where they happily invited us in and showed us what they were doing. We met a family weaving palm leaves together for roofing and walls, and later on there was a family pounding rice into rice flour using a see-saw and all the neighbourhood kids as weights. They showed us their rice field and where they grind the raw husks - they even let me have a go at grinding the rice! Tough work.






We headed back to Siem Reap and as is normal for this time of year, got absolutely drenched in a tropical downpour at about 4pm. Luckily we had our plastic ponchos with us (thanks Laura, the purple one was awesome) and only got moderately drenched. Back at the hostel we ordered burgers & chips which we inhaled in 3 seconds flat, and promptly went upstairs for a nap. A hugely satisfying day!

Until next time!

ML x