Supercars line up at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples

THE centuries-old temples of Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat played host to a parade of Rolls-Royces, Ferraris and Lamborghinis on Tuesday (Sep 17), although drivers were banned from revving their supercharged engines.

The event was intended to promote the environmentally sensitive Unesco-listed World Heritage site, where the ruins of the Khmer empire’s greatest monuments are surrounded by lush forests and giant trees.

Tourism is vital to the South-east Asian country and received around 6.6 million visitors a year before the Covid-19 pandemic, when numbers nosedived to below 200,000 in 2021.

Visitors rebounded to nearly 5.5 million last year, netting more than US$3 billion in revenue, but remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Asked about the apparently incongruous nature of the occasion, Cambodia’s Tourism Minister Sok Soken told AFP that strict guidelines had been imposed, with engine-revving banned “in terms of disrespect to our heritage here”.

He spoke a few metres away from a Bugatti Chiron, some models of which reportedly have list prices of more than US$3 million.

“The display of cars is an art of technology, an inclusion of technology and a modern way of travelling,” he said, adding Cambodia “will be ready to provide hospitality to all forms of travellers”.

An attempt by organisers Gumball 3000, a British lifestyle brand, to set a record for the number of supercars and hypercars at a World Heritage site fell short.

However, the vehicles saw high traffic from locals and tourists taking pictures and selfies.

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“This is the first time I have seen such modern cars at Angkor Wat,” said university student Kuy Tola, 19. “It is amazing.” AFP