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Published: April 3rd 2010
Getting to out spot
very tricky to go up such steep stairs in the dark.Whose idea was it to get up 4:30? Ugh. Silly o’clock that is. It was for a good reason though. We were going to see the sunrise over the Angkor Wat! With 100s of others. Oh goodie. Well, there would be 100s of people there, but not where we were going to be. Most people sit/stand outside the main entrance and watch the sunrise over the Wat, but not us. We watched from the east side of it so that we had the outer wall then the jungle before us. So not the traditional photo people get, but we would actually be inside sitting somewhere to watch it. Not many people get to do that. There certainly was no one around us or even near us when we watch it.
To get there the Rotuks parked just outside the far Eastern entrance, so we had a trek through the Jungle to get to the entrance first. That was a little scary. I’m not scared of the dark before you ask, just the snakes that like hid where you are walking. Thankfully we didn’t see them. You have to brave and like everything when you are a nanny - mmmm I
love mushrooms, they are tasty is what I may say to a child, but what I am probably thinking is: would they notice if I spat this in the bin? So for the sack of HB this was the biggest adventure ever and there are obviously no snakes that live in Cambodia. For the first set of stairs HB was carried up them, I wish I was, as it was still pitch dark. Entering through the East gate I felt more like Lara Croft than yesterday, only I don’t look as good in hot pants as she does. Plus I’m not as great with guns as she is. Once inside the complex we had to pass across a very long and very dark corridor. I did try to get a picture, but the group were moving away quickly, and I didn’t fancy getting lost in here in the dark. That would have been very creepy. As I went to take the photo there was this loud strange noise, it frightened the life out of me. I honestly thought it was a tiger, and I am not even sure if they get tigers in Cambodia. I ran out of there so
Deep in thought
or actually asleep with his eyes open. very quickly. It turns out that noise (promise you won’t laugh) was a gecko. Not just any gecko - a man eating gecko. Only joking. The louder the noise the gecko makes the smaller it really is. So this one must have been about the size of my nail. Yes folks, I was scared out of my wits by a lizard that was probably the size of a finger nail. The family thought this was very hilarious, it caused much joking. Every time we heard a Gecko they would laugh and say Anita your friend is here. Or watch out Anita a Tiger. I don’t know how many of you know what a Gecko sounds like, but trust me it doesn’t sound like a Tiger. When it “talks” it says Gec-ko, on two distinct notes, the first being a higher pitch than the second. But as we all know our minds can play funny tricks on us when we are on edge.
Once across the passage wall (which was 2 steps) it brought us out into a wonderful grassy courtyard. This went the whole way around between the outer wall and the inner wall. The next set of steps
was so steep that HB had to climb them as it was far too tricky for her to be carried up. This lead to 1st upper level of the Wat. It was at the top of the stairs that we watched the sunrise. Our guide (the same one as yesterday) would have talked the whole time if Mrs G hadn’t asked him to stop. It was remarkable how still and peaceful everything was. The only things making noise was us. We tried to stay as quiet as possible (which was easier for some than other (not including myself in that)) so that we could listen to the animals waking up. There really was an explosion of colour, we didn’t wait to the sun appear as that would have taken too long. But it certainly was a magical moment watching the sunrise, while listening to the birds and the geckos and every now and then having a bat swoop over your head. Fascinating stuff. The sky began so dark then turned to a pale glow for the dawn. That glow became more defined with colours of pink, orange, red, green and blue. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes. Once the
morning had broken (as that awful song says, if you don’t know what song I am talking about Google Morning has broken - that song with Kumbaya should be banned. Horrid nasty crappy songs) we went off to explore the Wat with the 100s of people that had had the “normal” experience out at the front. I couldn’t actually believe just how busy it was at 6:30 in the morning. Incredible.
Words really don’t do this place justice. Even if Cambodia doesn’t appeal to you, just to see the Angkor Wat is so totally worth it. I find it amazing to think that this whole place doesn’t have any cement. It took 40 years to build with 50,000 slaves! !0,000 of which were in the quarries to get and cut the scone. The stone was cut so precisely using sandstone rocks. The blocks were all cut to size at the quarry and then transport to the Angkor Wat and put in the right place. Have a think, what was being built in your country 1000 years ago, and if there is something that you can see and visit, what sort of condition is it in. This place was for
800-900 years taken over by the jungle. Parts of the bottom of the columns had been eroded away as there was about a meter of bat poo around the bottoms which ate away at the stone. The French lay claim to discovering it at the turn of the 20th Century, but again depending on which history book you read the Cambodians say that it was discovered by a King in the 16th Century and that when the French came along there were people living around the edge of it. Who you believe is up to you.
As we were leaving the sun had just appeared above the building, casting a beautiful golden glow over it, which made for the perfect classic picture. So we didn’t even need to be at the front with everyone else to get it. As we crossed the moat we told HB how yesterday the moat we crossed use to have 300 crocodiles in it. She asked if there were any in this. The answer. Yes! 2 of them. Apparently last year in the typhoons 2 crocodiles escaped from certain death from the crocodile farm and ended up in the moat around the Wat. They
Cwock decides to sing...
...Morning has broken, like the first morning. Blackbirds have spoken, like the first birds. Praise for the singing, praise for the morning. Praise for the springing, fresh from the word. decided to leave them there. People still swim in the moat, and as of yet nobody has been eating, or at least no one worth reporting.
Wow what a start to the day! And it was only 7am. There is still so much more to come. Back at out hotel we had an early breakfast and went to bed. I’m not sure what F did, I was aware of him coming and going from the room which was dreadfully annoying as it kept waking me up. The rest of us had a 3 hour kip before heading out to the Temple in the Jungle. Some of you may be thinking why has she put so many references to Lara Croft and Tomb Raider in here and yesterday’s blogs. Well, in the first Tomb Raider movie they filmed right here in Siem Reap! Not only that but they filmed in the temple we were about to go to! Both F and I were very excited about going to see this. We shared a Rutuk and everyone else went in the other one. F has a habit of trying to play hit and punch and basically get in my face. Well,
he managed to knock of his sunglasses which flew out of the Rutuk. I almost died laughing. His face was priceless. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera handy to share the special moment. Serves him right for annoying me.
This temple was a little further away than the other ones; we went even further as we didn’t use the main entrance. I think the hotel do this to give you a little bit of a different experience than everyone else, because it is a huge tourist magnet. Anyway that is skipping ahead. To get to the temple from where we parked we had to trek through the jungle. To keep HB happy so she didn’t moan about the walk (I now tell her if she complains that she walks further in the Disney Parks without complaining so this shouldn’t be a problem - that normally works) we pretended that this is where King Louie lives from the Jungle Book. Never mind that the book and film is set in India and not Cambodia. Shhhh don’t tell her. I told her to keep an ear open to listen out for him singing I Want to be Like You. Which I
then proceeded to sing at full volume. I bet not many people can say that they have walked through the jungle to get to this temple while singing that song. The story of it being King Louie’s jungle palace became a bit of an issue when HB started asking where he was. Ermm - he doesn’t like all the noise that all these people are making and has gone away until they have all gone. But Anita why doesn’t he like the noise? Ermmm he has a headache. Why does he have a headache Anita? Ermmm because he had part of the palace fall on it when he was fighting with Baloo. Anita, why did it fall down? Agh! It was old; oh look a stick, that’ll distract her.
I am so very glad that I decided not to wear flip flops on this trip, as the floor was c-o-v-e-r-e-d in insects. Hugemugus love bugs, colourful spiders and beetles. It was like the scene from the Indiana Jones movie Temple of Doom, where they have to go down the bug filled corridor. Nasty.
This temple was left undiscovered for so long that the jungle has really taken over
Cwock gets punished
for singing such a nasty song. it. They can’t remove the trees as they are keeping everything together so it won’t fall down. Nature will always win. The outcome is the most incredible sites of the tree roots curling around things. Never the less it was a very touristy place and is full from opening at 6:30 till closing at 5pm. F was rather upset that it was so commercialised by everyone. So you couldn’t take as much time as you wanted to in going round. As every time someone stops to take a photo everyone else gets in the way and starts busying them along.
Back at the hotel is in is time to go to bed early so that we are ready for adventures, the next day.
to be continued...
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