Cambodia has one of the world's two top attractions - and the Khmer language which you can start learning from placenames on maps

 The two top attractions in the world on many lists are Ankkor Wat in Cambodia and Halong Bay in neighboruing Vietnam. I've seen them both and loved them both.

I had wanted to visit the temples of Cambodia ever since I saw them on postage stamps when I was a child. 

You will recognize the top attraction, Angkor Wat, from Cambodia's flag.

The first word you learn from Angkor Wat is wat. Wat means temple. 

Angkor means capital city. So Angkor Wat means temple of the capital city.

Angkor Wat is only the most famous of the temples around the area north of the city. You need a tuk-tuk and driver.

Tuk-tuk and driver.

The Tuk-Tuk

Visiting Angkor Wat can take half a day or even a whole day. First your TukTuk (motorised trishaw, motorbike drawing an opensided canopy four-seater) drives you north of the country's second city Siem Reap, to the place where you buy tickets.  If you decide to buy a three day ticket, you have to join another queue.

The taxi drivers and guides are good linguists. This is part of the problem. One speaks Japanese, another Chinese, another, Thai, another French. 

They have a good grasp of some essentials, such as, 'how much is this water,? this postcard, this guidebook. Two for the price of ...' However, asking, 'Where is the toilet,' and 'where is my guide'/taxi driver?' involves finding a Japanese speaker who can understand a Vietnamese speaker who understands English who can translate into Khmer.

Angkor Wat walled city complex approached by a long walkway across the wide moat.

Angkor Wat

Then you drive to the car park at the entrance to Angkor Wat. The place is huge. 

The car park is huge. Your driver will insist that you swap phone numbers and take pictures of him and his tuk tuk with the number plate. 

When you get back later in the day, you will find twice as many tuk tuks and tourists, and maybe a second car park has opened. t

Tourists lose their tut tuks regularly, so the drivers have a system in place. If you are lost, or can't locate your driver, any other English speaking driver, will phone him for you.

You need a photo of your driver. You cannot pronounce his name, but you will rcognize him, you think. When you leave your hotel, the pale skilled Australian owner, the chinese man with almond eyes on reception, and go off with a dark skilled local driver with big diagonal eyes, a black moustache, you think you will easily recongize him. But the temple car park has a hundred tuk tuk drivers, all dark skilled, with large eyes, with black hair and a moustache.

Besides, you get back late. The temples have guards and one way systems. You are not allowed to exit through the entrance. You now need a map, a guidebook and a human guide, and local money. By the time you get back, you will be wondering if he had gone off for lunch, to the toilet, or to do another job, while waiting.

What takes so long? Look at the map and you will see a long pedestrian passage across the moat to Ankor Wat. The temple, is at the centre of the walled city. 

Miles of outside and indoor walls are adorned with statues and frescoes and carvings. Each one deserves a photo, first ot its own, then with you. What do the scenese of battles and parades celebrate. All are described in the books and maps and postcards. You either listen to a human guide or read the guidebook, or both.

Miles of the four outside walls, its sections, rooms with statues, ladders to the next floor, postcards sellers, water sllers, queues to be photographed by statues. 

You think you have had enough, but you still have to do the central temple. Again, that is a complex of several rooms, passages, queues, statues, detours, photo oportunities, plaques to read.

When you finally think you have finsihed, you have to find your way back. One way systems lead back to the north, south, east and west exits.  

Angkor Thom, South Gate.

Angkor Thom - big city

If you have a three day temple ticket, and a three day tuk tuk hire, your next temple stop or day might include Angkor Thom. Thom means terribly big. Angkor, agains, means capital city. This large one was built a century later.

Its major feature is the massive heads of ministers of the day, lining the bridge leading to the South Gate of the city. Every face different. Every expression different.  Impressive.

Bayon Tample

Inside the walls, peering out, from within the complex are numerous gigantic depictions of a serene, smiling Buddha.

Actually, watch out for these statues. Our tuk tuk parked next to a gold Buddha in a canopy outside and said, 'meet you here at the coffee kiosk beside this statue in an hour to two hours, however long it takex you.'  He promised, "I wait."

What he didn't say was that there are several more similar statues inside the complex. Also one statue is outside each of the four gates on all sides. 

I was with my husband. But he was willing to climb a vertical ladder to get a view from the top of a statue. I was not. I had to take the ground floor route. I never found him inside the complex. 

After following several conflicting instructions through the interior maze I found the exit, and statue,. But no coffee kiosk! Had it closed for the evening?

I eventually found somebody who spoke English. He said, 'The coffee kiosk is at one of the other statues.'

I had no choice. I had to run around the whole complex, four walls, half an hour or more. Would my husband and driver still be waiting? Luckily, the coffee stall was by the next statue. Beyond it!  

I had given up hope and was racing past the statue when my driver recognized me and raced out to stop me.

Ta Promh / Ta Promkei - Overgrown Ruins

A third  fascinating feature I must mention is the overgrown temple with trees growing through the outer walls and the huge temple and huge big-eyed statue in the centre.

Cambodia's temple area around Siem Reap is a highly recommended trip. 

The moral is; The more local words you can learn, the better.

Here's a start. 

Khmer - English

allo - (hello when answering the phone) 

Angkor - capital city

Angkor Thom - big capital city

Angkor Wat - Capital City Temple

(Mr/Mrs) Chey/Jey/Jay (Surname from Sanskrit Jaya) - victory or victorious

Kampung - port or harbour

(Mr/Mrs) Keo - surname meaning glass, crystal or jewel

nung - and

Phnom - hill or mountain

Soustei - hello

ta - ancestor

Thom - terribly big, huge

Wat - temple

English - Khmer

ancestor - Ta

and - nung

big capital city - Angkor Thom

capital city - angkor

capital city temple - Angkor Wat

harbour or port - kampung

Hello when answering the phone - allo

hello/hi (informal) - soustei

hill or mountain - Phnom

temple - wat

terribly big/huge - Thom

Pronunciation Tip 

Ponunciation of tuk-tuk, like the past tense of take, took-took, I took a took-took.

For more useful words and phrases

Useful Websites

Translate google

Wikivoyage Cambodia Phrasebook

For a reprise or the travel and reminder of the language, come to the languages club LILT, on Sunday March 3rd. We meet every Sunday at 1.30 pm lunchtime in London in the UK, and 9.30 pm in Singapore. Contact me or Carolyn Street.

Please share links to your favourite posts.