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Published: February 20th 2006
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About an hour ago (circa 6:30 am) six of us returned from our morning excursion to THE Angkor Wat...I think in my haste, and sleep deprivation two days ago, I failed to adequately explain the Temples of Angkor. Angkor, was the former capital of southeast Asia...similar to perhaps Rome. Between the 9th and 14th centuries A.D. Angkor, in the area now known as Siem Reap (the name Siem Reap means Siam defeated, thus they defeated a Thai invastion) was the epicenter for much of southeast Asia. So there were approximately 100 or so temples at one time...and we are just seeing some of the highlights.
*****
After a hiatus from this morning I am back at the computer while the others are resting. Presently it is raining, which is to be expected since this is the monsoon season. Fortunately the rain is aptly timed. I shall resume where I left off, sunset at the Angkor Wat. It was spectacular! According to our trip guide it is not the best that she has seen, yet I found it to be beautiful nevertheless. The six of us, plus our trip guide and local guide eagerly awaited the sun's appearance. Crickets chirped
and the echos of what I have been told may have been a gecko were heard periodically as the sky changed from indigo to pinks to oranges...with the sun making it's first appearance of the day over the Angkor Wat. Beautiful! During our waiting period, our local guide, Paulik, showed us one of the local fruits. A palm fruit has a dark skin which can easily be broken to find a fluroscent orange interior...stringy strands of fruit which had a pleasantly fragrant smell. The Angkor Wat is a huge sprawling funerary complex which is difficult to describe...perhaps my photos (when loaded upon my return) will more fully represent the Angkor experience.
Post the sunset viewing we returned, some of to nap or to read, while I attempted to make my entry for the past two days. The internet here is slow, simillar to my dial-up at home, and somewhat sporadic, but remarkably inexpensive (at least in my estimation). An hour costs $2 and there are six computers available in our hotel. So when there is a free moment I have been eager to record my thoughts and impressions of what I have seen and experienced. I wish there was
a feature on this blog to quickly respond to people who have made comments, but alas there is not...so I do apologize for not responding...perhaps there will be an opportunity when a faster internet connection is available.
Now, after that commercial break--back to the Temples of Angkor. The first temple of today (post Angkor Wat) was the Ta Prohm Temple, made famous via Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider (which I have not seen, being the film snob that I am...but I may have to check it out upon my return). The temple was fabulous, for many of us it was our favorite. The temple is quite jungle-esque with trees growing through the rubble...interestingly the man who is represented on the Lonely Planet guide for Cambodia sells his wares at this site and he smiled willingly for a photo. Post the Ta Prohm Temple, we went to another site, the name of which escapes me, and then off to lunch. At lunch I ordered the Prawn Amok, which was served in a coconut--and quite yummy indeed. This was my second experience with a coconut, the prior experience I will address in just a moment or two. Post lunch we headed
back to the Angkor Wat for a hour and a half of exploration.
The Angkor Wat is huge! Exploring some aspects of the Wat can be quite dangerous, as several of us, but not all, climbed up extrordinarily steep stairs up to the highest level of the complex. My excursions around the Angkor Wat, as well as some of the other temples, reinforced the fact that I am grateful to have the opportunity to explore these temples while I am relatively young, as I can see how the climbing and uneven terrain could prove to be quite cumbersome for many.
One of my favorite experiences at the Angkor Wat involved a conversation about five of us had with two young monks. In Cambodia it is common for boys/young men/men to become monks for a pre-chosen period of time (According to Lonely Planet "Socially, every Buddihist male is expected to become a monk for a short period of time in his life, optimally between the time he finishes school and starts a career or marries.") The two monks we spoke with were 21 and 15 years of age--and both had an infectious smile. Most of the monks wear a
bright orange robes, thus the contrast between the ancient temples and the robed monks is quite nice.
Prior to returning to the hotel we stopped at a Land Mine Museum, which proved to be quite depressing (but not nearly as depressing as I envision our upcoming visit to the Killing Fields). According to the information conveyed there are still approximately 6 million mines still in existence in Cambodia. The U.S. is a major contributor to this problematic condition and it is only one of three countries which have not signed an agreement to refrain from using land mines. The experience made me embarassed to be an American...wanting to remain silent for the mines have impacted the lives of so many innocent people, particularly children.
Soon we will be departing for the house of a woman who works at the hotel. She has invited to her house, and she will be cooking a traditional Cambodian meal. I am quite excited about this opportunity.
Speaking of dinner, last night we had a fabulous time. The group of people I am traveling with are fun and amazing individuals. We ate at a place called Dead Fish, and their motto is
Motorcyle
Motorcycle outside one of the many Wats "We don't serve cat, rat or worm"--fabulous, just my kind of place 😊 The restaurant also had a large collection of crocodiles of varying sizes. As we enjoyed our meals (my meal was particularly spicy, which made me quite happy...and I had coconut juice, served in a coconut--yum!) one of the more humorous moments was when Elizabeth, the woman from Memphis (although she has been spending many of her most recent years in Cambridge, MA at MIT), asked each of us what animal we would be. First I said a giraffe (perhaps partially inspired by you Nicki and Anton) and then I changed it to a hybrid of a giraffe and an ostrich...seems fitting. Ostriches seem to be goofy birds. Anyway, they all found it to be quite amusing and most of them continue to give me a hard time about this and other things I say and do (it is almost like I never left many of you behind 😊. Well, I have definately written a novella here...I must go apply insect repellant lavishly before we all depart for dinner (seems the bugs are quite fond of me, go figure). Until the next installment....
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Lawrence
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I should be there too but it feels like I am
Yeah! Glad you are having a terrific time on a much deserved journey. I am envious. I would love to see the sun rise at the Temples but alas . . . I will have to wait for photos by Wendy. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! I'm eager to hear more as the fun and spectacular views keep coming.