Traffic jam ... tourist-laden cyclos line up at the entrance to Cambodia's most famous monument. Picture: AFPBy Suy Se
The Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
KHUN Sokha looks on while camera flashes pop in the pre-dawn haze. Hundreds of tourists perch along the outer wall of Cambodia's Angkor Wat waiting to catch that moment when the sun rises over the temple's distinctive towering spires.
Over the next few hours, those hundreds will multiply to thousands, largely free to wander in and out of the temple ruins, probing dark corners, climbing over fallen stones or tracing the delicate bas reliefs with their bare hands.
"The ancients built the temples for religious purposes, not for such crowds of tourists to climb on," says Khun Sokha, a tour guide whose job depends on the vast crowds swarming Cambodia's Angkor National Park.
"The harm is obvious. We are worried, but the people's livelihood depends on these tourists," he adds.
TOURISM BOOM THREATENING ICON
Like Khun Sokha, Cambodia's government is at odds over what to do with its most famous landmark. Angkor is at the very heart of Cambodia's identity, and with nearly two million tourists coming to the country last year – more than half of them visiting Angkor – the Government is recognising the need to keep these precious ruins intact.
"The harm to the temples is unavoidable when many people walk in and out of them," says Soeung Kong, deputy director-general of the Apsara Authority, which oversees Angkor's upkeep.
But at the same time, it is also hard to ignore the nearly $1.85 billion in revenue that tourism brought to the impoverished country last year, forcing officials into a delicate balancing act.
"We are trying to keep that harm at a minimal level," Soeung Kong says.
More than 7600 visitors ventured to Angkor in 1993, when it was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Since then, tourist arrivals have risen meteorically, with the Government hoping for three million visitors to Cambodia by 2010.
The intimacy offered by Angkor – the close interaction with its historic stones – is a large part of its appeal.
But when multiplied over millions of visitors, the effects can be alarming.
"When you have such a huge mass of tourists visiting, then we are concerned about damage to the heritage site and the temples and the monuments," says
Teruo Jinnai, UNESCO's top official in Cambodia.
SACRED TEMPLES DESERVE RESPECT
"Many temples are very fragile," he says, adding that the agency is working with the Government to minimise the impact of the tourism boom.
Names and other graffiti are gouged into temple walls and unsightly wooden steps have been constructed over some stone staircases that have become worn with overuse.
In some temples, visitors have been prevented completely from coming into contact with delicate wall carvings.
However, the battle to preserve Cambodia's temples won't necessarily be fought in their stone breezeways and intricately carved sanctuaries.
SIEM RIEP'S GROWTH THREATENS WATER SUPPLIES
Rather, the bigger threat comes kilometres away, along Siem Reap town's increasingly congested thoroughfares, where more than 250 guesthouses and hotels, including several sprawling resorts, have sprung up in recent years.
Some 500 years after a failing irrigation system forced Angkor's rulers to abandon the sprawling Khmer capital, a lack of water is again threatening Cambodia's most famous temple complex.
Just as the ancient city's waterways collapsed under the demands of a population of as many as a million, an unprecedented tourism boom is again sucking the area dry and risking the collapse of many of Angkor's temples.
The sinking foundation and widening cracks between the carefully carved stones of Bayon temple, famous for the serene faces carved on its 54 towers, confirm what experts have long feared: one of Angkor's best-known monuments is collapsing into the sandy ground around it.
This is caused by the unrestricted consumption of groundwater by Siem Reap's hotels, whose enormous demand is destabilising the ground beneath the Angkor complex.
The coming dry season, when temperatures can hover at a blistering 40C for days, is only going to make things worse.
"As long as the number of tourists increases, the use of water increases. This is our concern, but we are not standing still – we are trying to make a balance between use of water and tourists," he adds.
Japan is developing a plan to supply the area with nearly half of the 15,000 cubic metres a day needed, but questions remain about whether the total supply will keep pace with the town's relentless expansion.
"The construction of hotels is booming. We cannot ban the rich people from building accommodations," said Kuy Song, director of Siem Reap's tourism office.
But, he adds: "The future of the temples is really worrisome."
More: www.angkorwat.org
Over the next few hours, those hundreds will multiply to thousands, largely free to wander in and out of the temple ruins, probing dark corners, climbing over fallen stones or tracing the delicate bas reliefs with their bare hands.
"The ancients built the temples for religious purposes, not for such crowds of tourists to climb on," says Khun Sokha, a tour guide whose job depends on the vast crowds swarming Cambodia's Angkor National Park.
"The harm is obvious. We are worried, but the people's livelihood depends on these tourists," he adds.
TOURISM BOOM THREATENING ICON
Like Khun Sokha, Cambodia's government is at odds over what to do with its most famous landmark. Angkor is at the very heart of Cambodia's identity, and with nearly two million tourists coming to the country last year – more than half of them visiting Angkor – the Government is recognising the need to keep these precious ruins intact.
"The harm to the temples is unavoidable when many people walk in and out of them," says Soeung Kong, deputy director-general of the Apsara Authority, which oversees Angkor's upkeep.
But at the same time, it is also hard to ignore the nearly $1.85 billion in revenue that tourism brought to the impoverished country last year, forcing officials into a delicate balancing act.
"We are trying to keep that harm at a minimal level," Soeung Kong says.
More than 7600 visitors ventured to Angkor in 1993, when it was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Since then, tourist arrivals have risen meteorically, with the Government hoping for three million visitors to Cambodia by 2010.
The intimacy offered by Angkor – the close interaction with its historic stones – is a large part of its appeal.
But when multiplied over millions of visitors, the effects can be alarming.
"When you have such a huge mass of tourists visiting, then we are concerned about damage to the heritage site and the temples and the monuments," says
Teruo Jinnai, UNESCO's top official in Cambodia.
SACRED TEMPLES DESERVE RESPECT
"Many temples are very fragile," he says, adding that the agency is working with the Government to minimise the impact of the tourism boom.
Names and other graffiti are gouged into temple walls and unsightly wooden steps have been constructed over some stone staircases that have become worn with overuse.
In some temples, visitors have been prevented completely from coming into contact with delicate wall carvings.
However, the battle to preserve Cambodia's temples won't necessarily be fought in their stone breezeways and intricately carved sanctuaries.
SIEM RIEP'S GROWTH THREATENS WATER SUPPLIES
Rather, the bigger threat comes kilometres away, along Siem Reap town's increasingly congested thoroughfares, where more than 250 guesthouses and hotels, including several sprawling resorts, have sprung up in recent years.
Some 500 years after a failing irrigation system forced Angkor's rulers to abandon the sprawling Khmer capital, a lack of water is again threatening Cambodia's most famous temple complex.
Just as the ancient city's waterways collapsed under the demands of a population of as many as a million, an unprecedented tourism boom is again sucking the area dry and risking the collapse of many of Angkor's temples.
The sinking foundation and widening cracks between the carefully carved stones of Bayon temple, famous for the serene faces carved on its 54 towers, confirm what experts have long feared: one of Angkor's best-known monuments is collapsing into the sandy ground around it.
This is caused by the unrestricted consumption of groundwater by Siem Reap's hotels, whose enormous demand is destabilising the ground beneath the Angkor complex.
The coming dry season, when temperatures can hover at a blistering 40C for days, is only going to make things worse.
"As long as the number of tourists increases, the use of water increases. This is our concern, but we are not standing still – we are trying to make a balance between use of water and tourists," he adds.
Japan is developing a plan to supply the area with nearly half of the 15,000 cubic metres a day needed, but questions remain about whether the total supply will keep pace with the town's relentless expansion.
"The construction of hotels is booming. We cannot ban the rich people from building accommodations," said Kuy Song, director of Siem Reap's tourism office.
But, he adds: "The future of the temples is really worrisome."
More: www.angkorwat.org
6 comments:
Oh good, it looks like our tourists
sector will do as expected.
Jayavaraman 7.5 instead of builds the temples, he's destroying them for money. King father Sihanouk, your admiration has came true... Come from China to see the crowness with your own eyes.
Hey, who's going to stop the real
Ankorian (Somdach Hun Sen) from
building a better Ankor ever? That
one was abandon because of poor
planning, remember?
Everyone should always keep in mind that Angkor Wat is not Disney Land that should be milk for every last dollars.
It is Jayavaraman 7.5's Disney Land right now. Collecting money as much as they can before they get crumbled.
So when will that be, when they
crumble?
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