Getting to Angkor, what?

The unspeakable will have to be said: Forget Disneyland, the empire of American culture. There is something better in our neighborhood – and empire of nymphs, battles, kings, and religion. If you are saving money for a trip somewhere in the region and your budget is just enough, do it right. Think big and majestic. Think ancient civilization. Think Angkor Wat. (And please don't say, Angkor what?) Let Google or National Geographic give you a run of its history. I will tell you how to get there and what to see. I can’t tell you enough of how it looks, because at first glance, you might ask: Why go there just to see hunks of grey stones? I am telling you now that after the second day of walking through those sandstone temples, you will find yourself on a high and will want to see more despite the torrid heat. And after more than two weeks of having been back from that visit, I still watch a laptop slideshow of my Angkor Wat pictures night after night. And to think, it's cheaper than going to Disneyland. You can get there either from Bangkok or Phnom Penh. Bangkok might be more of a reprieve because of accessibility and hygiene and the shopping. From there you can take a short flight to the town of Siem Reap, where the Angkor Wat complex is located. I would not advice you to take the road — unless you are looking for adventure and can spare nine hours. Once you cross the border from Thailand into Cambodia, you might be in for a shock. The border town of Poipet is a sleazy haven for traffickers, and the buses taking you into town are fit for backpackers. From Phnom Penh, you can take the no-smoking Mekong Express coach for about $15. It’s a comfy ride of about five hours or so through villages of buri palm trees, with a tour guide giving you historical trivia every now and then (although you will have to strain your ears to understand her accented English.) Cambodia runs on Uncle Sam’s money. Get your small bills ready. If you don't have them, the ATMs can dispense dollars. This is a country whose economy is being spurred, rightly or wrongly, by international development agencies. So while you pay in dollars in swank restaurants, the beggars will also be asking you for a dollar on their palms. Siem Reap has a gamut of lodgings — from some backpackers’ hostel to the upscale Raffles. The Web will give you a rundown, so there's nothing to worry about. The daily entrance fee to the complex of temples goes from $20 for a day to $40 for three days to $60 for a week. We stayed for three days. To begin the day, have a good breakfast at the very minimalist, great-to-hang around-on-their-elevated-white sofa Blue Pumpkin Café in the center of town. They’ve got healthy bread and croissant and muffins of all kinds (and wi-fi too). You can take the tuktuk cab for about $10 a day from the town to the complex itself — which is about six kilometers. Our driver Bun Hak asked me to give you his phone number: (855) 1260-44-43. A nice guy who speaks English, but has an annoying habit of constantly honking his motorbike (like the Vietnamese drivers). If you have only one day to spare, there is no question that you will have to see the Angkor Wat, the holy city of the Khmer Empire that was built well in the 900s and into the 1300s, going from the influence of Hinduism to Buddhism. This will take you a good part of the afternoon until sunset, where you will see the beauty of its color. So it isn’t all that grey. Once again, you will have to be patient with your eyes. Before you know it they will be feasting on the carvings and shapes of Apsara nymphs and the Naga serpents and the giant faces of Bayon. Only then will it speak to you, the history of grandeur. If not, then get a guide – they can speak any foreign language. On your second day, visit the Banteay Samre and Banteay Srey further away. You will get a glimpse of the idyllic villages along the way. The temples here are smaller and more intimate, one of which was discovered only in the early 1900s and was made famous by Andre Malraux’s La Voie Royale. (I heard one guide pointing out which sculpture he had stolen.) It's a given that the French "discovered" the Angkor Wat, but as to which French is a matter of discussion. Naturally, "Indochine" was theirs at the height of their colonial power. If you decide to stay for a third day, you can go back to your favorites or take it leisurely with the smaller temples. Usually most tourists make the Phnom Bakheng as their finale, taking an elephant ride up the hill to wait for sunset and have a picture-taking view of the Angkor Wat at a distance. If you want to be with a horde, that’s fine. We climbed down before the sun did. At the end of the day, it's good to have a quiet dinner at the NGO-run Singing Tree restaurant in one of the quiet streets, across the river, of Siem Reap. You will need distance to take in all that you will see.