Cambodia Day 6 Thursday

Thursday morning we awoke early enough to sleepily stumble downstairs and have a delicious Rosy's Guesthouse breakfast; scrambled eggs, coffee and bacon, it was glorious. At 8am Brian arrived with the tuk tuk driver, it was a different man than the one we'd arranged to have pick us up the night before, but no matter. We told the driver we didn't have specific plans for Angkor Wat, other than to check out the main temple and soak in as much as we could, as leisurely as we could. Our tuk tuk driver assured us he would take us anywhere we wanted to go, he had obviously taken countless amounts of people into Angkor Wat and knew the place like the back of his hand.

We set off on the road to Angkor Wat, the large temple complex once the highlight of the Khmer Republic hundreds of years ago. Brian had a tour book in hand that a Professor had recommended to him and he let us know that when London only had 50,000 people in it, the Khmer civilization had over million. No one knows why the prosperous people died out, but they believe it had something to do with the loss of a water source. In Cambodia there are two seasons, wet and dry. When its wet, it rains all day. But when its dry, it is hot and there is not a cloud in the sky. The water lines on the lakes of Cambodia swell and retract to an extreme amount because of this so perhaps a climate change caused a loss of a lake. The historical debate is still on.

Angkor Wat is only about 12 kilometers outside of Siem Reap and thus our tuk tuk journey took only about 15 minutes. The ride was pleasant, taking us down a road lined with tall, wispy trees that shaded our path. We had to stop to buy tickets before we entered the historical park, and after that, we were in.

I didn't know quite what to expect out of Angkor Wat, I'd heard great things about it, that it was used to film a portion of Tomb Raider, and that it was one of the largest semi-ruined complexes in the world, without much interference by the government roping off access to areas, etc. The main road into Angkor Wat is only one lane and was filled only with tuk tuks.  At the end of the road it split right and left, while straightaway deadened into a huge moat. Beyond the moat lay the major temple of Angkor Wat itself. Our tuk tuk turned to the left, made a quick right, and we were suddenly in front of the huge complex. It was stunning from the first moment. The moat was miles long and hundreds of feet across. Surrounding the exterior of the land in the middle was a large stone wall, and beyond that you could just make out the tops of the temple complex beyond, rising into the sky, structures becoming taller and taller the further in you looked. To cross the moat a magnificent stone bridge had been built, at one time, guarded by stone lions and the giant naga, or serpent. The temple complex was originally Hindu but was later converted by Buddhists so hints of both religions marked its surfaces.

I definitely didn't take this picture, actually, I didn't take any like this! I don't know why I didn't take any of this iconic view... but that part in the front was under conservation so perhaps that's why I didn't think of it. Also, this is the wet season, when we were there, it was the dry season so there was no grass and the water was almost dried up. 

Again I didn't take this picture but its a really nice aerial view. 

Our tuk tuk driver stopped in front of the bridge, told us to go in and have fun, to take our time, and he would wait for us in the shade with the other drivers. We kept asking the driver for advise on pacing and such and he just looked at us like we were crazy saying, "you are on holiday, you do whatever you want."

Angkor Wat was overwhelming. Here we were, at only our first temple, and I felt like there was something to look at and touch and climb on everywhere I looked. Inside the huge outer wall there were some auxiliary building, a few ponds, and then the inner complex. The outside walls of the inner complex were covered in highly detailed, intricate reliefs depicting battles, gods and histories of the Khmer people. Looking at one in detail would take hours, days. Brian was armed with his book and determined to read everything step by step as we toured the complex. I realized this would be impossible if we ever wanted to move on and decided to try to take in the feel for the whole place, focusing on what I found interesting on the spot.

The first section of relief was pretty crowded and what do you know, we ran into the same couple we had seen at the taxi stand the day before! Turned out they had made it to Seim Reap via taxi no problem, so I guess it wasn't a scam. Jason and I stood and talked to them a good half an hour. Turns out they were from Canada and are taking a 6 month mini "tour of the world!" We exchanged email addresses and made plans to meet later that night.

Talking to them for so long actually helped out as by the time we moved on, many of the tourists had cleared out. It was around 10:30 or 11am by this time so it was starting to get really, really hot (It was already really hot.) so many groups were heading in to lunch. We took the opportunity to climb around the temple, following corridors, looking through windows, peering at shrines to Buddha, and ultimately climbing the steep stairs to top of the sanctuary were we had a wonderful view of the countryside around. It was filled with trees, just like a sea. I felt excited looking out at them, imagining what further temples could be hidden inside. I felt just like Indiana Jones (and still do!)

Finally we decided to head out after spending more than 3 hours at the temple.

Moat with lion on the left, naga on the right. His tail is gone.

Angkor Wat, it was hot.

Things were under construction. 

Relief work

I look frightening. But you can see the jungle and the larger complex behind me.

The juxtaposition of the magnificent Angkor Wat next to the dusty tuk tuk parking lot and "restaurant row" was hard to miss. On one side of the tiny street is the imposing, awe inspiring Angkor Wat, filled with throngs of tourists. On the other side of the street there are tall shady trees, with many shops huddled beneath them. These shops are nothing more than small stalls with a simple roof and back wall, filled with trinkets, tshirts and other such souvenirs. Next to a shop might be a "restaurant," again a simple hut with plastic lawn chairs and a few tables, they served water, soda, coconut and a variety of Cambodian dishes. Inside the stores the Cambodian people waited, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, drivers, just hoping someone would come buy something from them! As soon as you stepped off the tuk tuk they descended on you, offering guide books, bottled water... But it was as if no one ever ate at the majority of these places, or bought their wares. I think the pushy, forward attitude of the merchants may actually hurt their business because tourists become on guard. As we later learned when we did eat at one of these places, our fears were again totally misplaced. These people just wanted to sell their products, and really, what was a dollar for two large bottles of water to us? Its unfortunate in a lot of ways, that the people are so poor that this is their only form of income, that they don't make much and that we are inherently distrustful. Although most tourists were in tuk tuks, there were the occasional tour buses where the people piled out, looked around, and piled back in, never even having to get close to the people who actually lived in these historical grounds.

We found our tuk tuk driver, who was asleep on the seat (I think this is the life of these guys) and told him it was time for some nourishment. He asked where to take us and we said what do you recommend? He said he had a friend that ran a restaurant right outside the next temple we were going to check out, the "Tomb Raider Temple." We zipped off on our tuk tuk and stopped outside a crumbling stone gate. The gate was swarming with tourists and surrounded by thick tree cover. Opposite it was a row of restaurants. Our driver pointed out the restaurant of his friends. Two very friendly women greeted us and sat us down. We thought the driver might eat with us, but he headed to the back to talk with his friends and play cards. He also waited on us and made sure our meal was alright. The prices were amazing cheap again, $2 for pineapple rice. $3 for a chicken cashew dish, $1 coconuts. At this point in the trip we still hadn't tried the coconut yet so we decided this was the time. Jason and I shared one and Brian got his own. These things were awesome!! They were these huge bowling ball sized green melons. And the women that cut them up, they use a huge machete knife and just wack into the top! A few hacks later the lid is popped and a bendy stray awaits you. Unlike the coconut I was expecting, this type was not creamy milk, but watery with a hint of flavor. It was delicious! We asked what they do with the coconut when we are done and they said they eat the soft white pulp that surrounds the liquid, a smart thing to do. A young woman went to the makeshift cooking area in the back and made our food, right on the spot. It came out warm and delicious. Our lunch was very pleasant, sitting in the cool shade sipping coconut eating healthy, fresh food. The only bad part about it was the small, ragged little girls that kept begging us to buy from them. "Sir, three bracelets for $1?" "Miss, 10 postcards, $1, you like picture?" Again we felt so bad not buying from them but we didn't want to support their begging, as we were told you have to be careful where your dollar goes in Cambodia. They came back over and over but luckily since our driver knew the owners, he or they would tell the little girls to leave us alone. Finally they stopped. The shop adjoining our restaurants was filled with souvenir tshirts. At one point I saw the smallest girl, maybe four years old, peaking through them to watch us. She was just curious.

Again, I look scary and ruined this picture, but look at that coconut! 

After lunch we headed to the temple across the street. This was the temple used in the filming of Tomb Raider and is very popular. I can tell why, it as a magnificent temple! Many of the other temples have had the trees growing around or on them cleared away, in an attempt to preserve them. But this temple was purposely left in its original state so visitors can get a feel for how it would have been to "discover" the temple back in the early 1900's when European's "found" them again. Thus there were thick, tall trees surrounding its outer wall, provided much appreciated shade. In their midst lay the temple itself. it was beautiful, with vines covering its walls and trees growing right out of the stone work. Hundreds of years ago a single seed and fallen into a small crack in the wall. The crack and grown larger and the tree began to grown. That resulted in what you can see today, huge trees hundreds of feet tall, growing right out of the stone work! Some of them have toppled over, others are leaning on the building, and still more stand with their roots exposed, twisting ito the crevices, melding with the walls and pathways. Needless to say the temple was super fun to explore, again you were able to get lost in its winding interior courtyards and pathways, all while enjoying the forest cover. It was like a beautiful game of hide and seek played with the building itself.

Walking in

The first of many trees

Rumble and the outer wall

He's tired and I think a little grumpy

See how they have cut/slice marks in them? That was a bad conservation job. They cut them  up, numbered them, and rebuilt them (numbering and rebuilding is common now at least) and did a poor job rebuilding. Sad.

After a long day we finally finished up around 5pm, stopping at a very small temple on our way back. It glowed golden in the late afternoon light. We made it back to town, passing the ramshackle homes, built on nothing but stilts on the side of the river. With no outlet, garbage was thrown into the river, spoiling it. This time Jason and I agreed to meet Brian at his place this time.

Brian's hostel was in a completely different part of town, it was in the "downtown" area near Pub Street. Actually most of the streets in Cambodia didn't have names, and if they did, they were probably not official. Pub Street was one such area in downtown that started out years ago as the place where foreigners would go and hang out, and thus open their pubs. Now it has turned into Seim Reap's thriving night time district. Don't let me fool you though, its still only a few blocks, probably about 50 different establishments. But its an upbeat and happening area. We decided to eat there and stopped at a restaurant recommended in our Lonely Planet guide book, I think it was called Red Piano. Again our food was great and we enjoyed sitting in the open air patio, right next to the lively street. We were hoping to meet up with the Canadian couple we had met earlier, but they hadn't emailed by the time we left Rosy's. It must have been meant to be though because as we were sitting there, they walked by! We hollered at them and they came over. We were already eating so they said they'd eat next door and we should join them after for drinks. Half and hour later, there we all were, at a big table in another restaurant! The couple was very nice and very accomplished. An nurse and an engineer they both had been able to take off  6 months of work to travel, and keep their jobs. They were around 30 and had just bought a house. They said they had been talking for years of doing a big trip "around the world" and finally just said, we gotta do it or we never will! So inspiring! They were traveling to only third world countries with the exception of a month spent in New Zealand. It was lots of fun talking to them but I was having a hard time concentrating I was getting so tired! It had been a long day. We called it an "early nice" around 1200 and were glad to have told our tuk tuk driver to meet us at 10am instead of 8am the next day.