The Best of Cambodia & Laos

A Dance for the Divine
The royal classical dancing of the Khmers was the moving spirit of Angkor and
many cite it as the purest form of classical dance in Asia, although the reality is
that the French had a hand in adapting it to their needs. The dance forms
originated in India and came to Cambodia over 1,000 years ago as re-creations
of Hindu epics. Thailand’s form is a copy dating from the days when the empire
of Ayutthaya sacked Angkor, when the Khmers were seen as the guardians of
the purest forms of culture by the Siamese. The reality today is that experts say
that the Thai version is purer “Khmer” than the Khmer version, since it didn’t
suffer from the meddling of the French in their attempts to reconstruct a
Khmer identity in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In ancient Angkor the ballet
dancers were considered heavenly apsaras come to earth. Only the deva-raj
or god-king could touch them. When the Khmer Rouge took over, most of the
dancers and musicians were murdered, and with them died centuries of accumulated
poise and grace.
After the Khmer Rouge was evicted, there were attempts to reconstruct
these nearly lost arts from the minds of the few survivors. The Royal Ballet is
now, once again, world famous. To watch one of these performances is to see
something so exquisitely graceful it is enough to stop your breath. Slow, contorted
movements of immense refinement and exquisite beauty are performed
by dancers in elegant silks and gold (they actually have to be sewed
into these elaborate costumes). It reaches a point of tension and crescendo all
in incredible slow motion. When visiting Angkor, taking in a classical dance
performance is an unmissable experience and will help bring history alive. See
p. 131 for performance information.
north of the Old Market, it’s open nightly, but usually hosts special events that you’ll see
promoted all around town.
Linga (North of Old Market; & 012/246-912) is a gay bar that attracts a decent
mixed crowd to its two-story corner location overlooking the small side street and the
traffic on Mundul 1 Village St. The walls have psychedelic paintings of Buddhist monks.
Molly Malone’s (Pub St., across the street and west of Red Piano Bar; & 063/965-
576) is the hippest pub in town. They’ve got local expats playing live music, a mix of
original songs and covers of crowd pleasers like old Beatles and Roberta Flack numbers.
The bar is fully stocked with a fine selection of Irish whiskey and they’ve got a good stock
of imported beer.
Temple Club (Central Pub St.; & 063/965-570) is many things to many people.
During the day it is an open-air bar and restaurant. They have traditional Apsara dance
performances between 7:30 and 9:30pm. Then, at around 10pm the sound system kicks
in, blasting out techno pop at maximum volume. If you want to boogie until 4am, you
can do it here. They also have live sports on TV and three pool tables.
Funky Munky (corner of Pub St. near the Old Market; & 092/276-751). It’s open
from noon until the wee hours of the morning, there are over 50 cocktails to choose from
here, and during high season the place is packed.
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SIEM REAP 6
NIGHTLIFE