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Published: February 4th 2006
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We have three days to explore the temples of Angkor and Gordon (the guy who runs the guesthouse) suggests we get going early and hit Angkor Wat first. Most people like to see it for the first time at sunrise. While we are eating breakfast an American guy with a beard like Abraham Lincoln also suggests we get out there early and go to Angkor Wat first. He claims that Angkor Wat "kicks ass". He then takes one look at our sandals and tells us we are mad if we don't change into more appropriate footwear. The Busters take all this advice on board and after our breakfast, a few cokes, a banana or two and an extended wait for Joe and Tez to have a bowel movement we are ready to go. We have hired a tuktuk driver for the day and we hit the road at bang on 11.00am, defiantly wearing our inappropriate footwear and deciding to leave Angkor Wat to our last day.
Tickets for the temples are US$20 a day or US$40 for three days - however you need a passport sized photo for the 3 day pass. I have a passport photo but Joe and
Tez do not. There is a place right next door to get photos taken but J & T are worried that it will be too expensive. Somehow they talk me into getting a one day pass like them. Later we will discover that the photo place next door gives you the photos for free. We have managed to pay an extra US$20 for no real reason. This nearly kills Tez.
All the tuktuk drivers wear a numbered jacket and ours has a big "1990" on the back. He drives us along a thin and winding road with forest growing right up to the tarmac. Every now and then we get a glimpse of a ruin through the trees. I am as excited as when I saw The Great Wall Of China for the first time (1986).
The first temple is called Ta Prohm - overgrown, silent, tumble-down and vast. The Busters enter and are enthralled by it's
unrestored quality. We explore left, right and centre, climbing over walls, through passageways and along precipices. There is no limit on where you can go and what you can touch. Every now and then a small sign warns of some kind
Lunch
All was pretty bloody right with the world. of danger but it's like The Busters have gone blind. Surely such warnings are only for the lower grades! Time flies and we are lost in Ta Prohm for hours. During our time there we would have been lucky to see a dozen other people.
1990 takes us to Angkor Thom next but first we must stop for lunch. There are roadside stalls everywhere and so we sit at a table in the middle of a shaded field with ruins all around us while chickens peck at our feet and dogs sleep on the ground. It was one of those perfect "Buster Moments"© when all seemed pretty bloody right with the world.
A few locals come over to try and sell us postcards, sarongs, bangles, t-shirts, books and other assorted crap. Little do they realize that they have come up against "Haggle-Master Tez". There is a t-shirt that Tez is interested in and it is illuminating to watch the old master at work.
SELLER: You like? I give you good price? 5 dollars.
Tez lets his glance fall oh-so briefly on the t-shirt in question. He then leisurely searches the horizon through slitted eyes for I don't know
Tired Buster
It was quite a climb to get to this unrestored section. what.
SELLER: Okay 4 dollars. Here I fold it up for you.
The seller starts bustling around, folding the t-shirt, pulling out a plastic bag, and juggling his other merchandise.
Tez takes out a packet of Drum and slooooowly rolls himself a cigarette.
SELLER: Okay, three dollars. Here, here!
The seller is thrusting the shirt towards Tez.
Tez draws deeply on his ciggie and searches the sky for any soaring eagles.
TEZ: 50 cents.
SELLER: (aghast) No. No profit. No profit.
TEZ: 60 cents.
SELLER: (freaking) No profit. No profit.
Tez appears to have briefly fallen asleep.
TEZ: Well, at what point does the profit margin cut in and maybe we can discuss a figure 8 percent above that.
SELLER: Okay, two shirts for 2 dollars.
Tez opens up his wallet and the almost pristine leather cracks at such an unusual movement. He pulls out two single dollar bills. The seller is smiling for the first time.
JOE: Hang on Tez, I might buy a few t-shirts as well.
Tez's wallet is back in his pocket too quickly for the eye to follow. The seller practically faints as a whole new round of negotiations start. Eventually Tez ends up with
The Terrace Of The Leper King
As you can see, a few lepers were still present. 15 t-shirts, three bottles of water, a gross of bangles, 2kilos of postcards and the sellers own watch for 3 US dollars, an expired Sydney Ferry ticket and a promise of an English lesson the next time Tez is in town.
Eventually, we eat our fried vegies and rice and drink our cokes and smoke our Marlboros and then head into The Terrace of the Leper King. Later we also visit the temples of Baphoun and finally Bayon. We climb and explore and embrace the culture in a way that the lower grades can only dream. At the last stupa we light sticks of incense in front of a golden Buddha and an old monk blesses us with good luck. The blessing fails almost immediately as I lose my camera case before I've even left the temple.
The sun is setting as we head back to The Two Dragons and we lose all impetus to hit the town. We order food and beer and sit in the courtyard eating and drinking and chilling in the company of our fellow G1s. Another one of those golden "Buster Moments"©. Abe Lincoln comes over and approves of us eating at the
Two Dragons because the food here also "kicks ass".
Tez plans to skip a day of temples tomorrow and get himself a big, long massage. Joe and I are tempted to join him but decide, instead, to continue the busting.
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vl
non-member comment
What a bunch of ruins
Had no idea that the latest Tears for Fears film clip for the over 60 market was being shot in Cambodia! What a amazing coincidence. Glad to see the the food reviewing has taken a back seat to the bustering for a change. Please don't let this facinating saga ever end. ATB VL