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Published: September 27th 2007
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Reflections on the lake
You can't see it, but there were a few hundred people on plastic chairs on the shore of that lake. I can't be sure, but have a feeling that Siem Reap is one of my favourite places in the world. Why? Not only does it have amazing temple ruins to explore only a few minutes drive away, but it has THE quirkiest restaurant and bar scene. Ever. I've mentioned Dead Fish before, the restaurant with a crocodile pit in it; I've mentioned the Warehouse with A4 sized playing cards. I may have even mentioned 'Angkor What?' which is the best pun in a bar name I've come across. Well I revisited all these fantastic places, plus added Goodysaurus Bar, Blue Pumpkin and a random Mexican restaurant to my list. Oh, and I saw the sunrise on Angkor Wat.
The first day after arriving was simply spent exploring Siem Reap. I didn't realise it last time I was there, but there's actually some decent stuff to buy: the best was probably 'the boom boom room' a bar which had a clothes shop attached with really quirky stuff. But yeh, other than that the day was spent arguing with Cambodian ladies over what the price of silk should be. Good fun.
The next day we went to check out the temples.
Sky stained pink
My arty shots started after quite a while of sitting and watching, just before the sun showed it's face. Having done a pretty full day of it only a month previously, I thought I'd be simply retracing my steps. The first temple we went to proved me wrong. It was about 40 minutes away from Angkor Wat, so obviously I hadn't bothered with it when I was trying to fit as many temples as possible into one day. It's nickname is the 'Women's Temple'. This is because it is almost a miniature version compared to the other temples, and is made from pink sandstone rather than the standard grey. After 1000 years of ageing though, I found it a little hard to tell the difference. Oh, and no, even though the temple was small and made of pink sandstone it was in fact built by MEN just like all the others thank you very much.
After that, it was off to the 'Tomb Raider temple', made particularly famous when it featured in the Tomb Raider movies (never would have guessed from the name would you?). This was the one with the large tree roots growing all through the walls, which I reckon look like dripping wax. Still as beautiful the second time around. The rest of the day,
The sun has risen...
And I don't reckon my camera did it justice. with the exception of one pretty standard temple I hadn't seen before, was spent in Angkor Thom. I really liked the Bayon temple (the one with the faces coming out of the walls), but having seen it all before, I was kind of glad that everyone was getting tired of the heat, and after a quick look around we escaped back to the pool.
The third morning was an early rise, like early early. Like 4am early. To see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. In fact, when we arrived it was still pitch black. Torches guided us to the old library, which afforded a good place to sit, while also having a good view of the lake, and thus the reflection of Angkor Wat in it. There was a boy going around selling tea, and I had a packet of Oreos. Once awake, it was actually enjoyable, even before the sun started rising. It took quite a while (about an hour and a half from sitting down to the sunrise being in full swing) but it was pretty amazing. The colouration perhaps wasn't as intense as I'd anticipated, but really, the bright orange of the sun when it did
Those damn steps.
So steep. Apparently so you'll look at your feet while going up: inadvertantly showing respect by bowing your head come up, and the pink tinge of the clouds was incredibly beautiful, and according to our guide, it was the kind of good quality sunrise you only get once a month. It was a great experience, and now I can say I've seen the sun rise over Angkor Wat. That's even worth getting up at 4am for.
After that we went exploring Angkor Wat, and I discovered that there was actually a set of stairs with a handrail for coming down, thus I risked slipping and falling to my death last time I was there for nothing. We went back into town for breakfast, and had the option of going to visit the lake, but opted instead for lazing by the pool. Most of that day was whiled away with sleeping and swimming. There was a moment where I thought I had gotten bitten by a spider, just turns out I had grazed my leg getting out of the pool. I decided to be melodramatic about it nonetheless.
The last morning was, once again, a relatively early one, to take a bus along the 'Dancing Road' to cross over into Thailand, and back into Bangkok. I'm pretty sure
The Warehouse
Us attempting to play s**thead with A4 sized cards. I mentioned the Dancing Road last time: the one which in a bus took about 5 hours to cross, and was pretty much a really long, dodgy version of a rollercoaster. Yeh, and I sat on the back wheels. And I get motion sickness. I actually fared quite well though considering, I think the trick is just to close your eyes, make sure your stomach has some food to digest, and if necessary, take an anti-nausea pill. But gosh, it was a bumpy ride.
We made it though, transferred into Thailand, and found our minivan to take us to Bangkok. And by minivan, I really mean pimp mobile. This thing had multi coloured lights, mirrors made of reflective fake gold, and a logo written in fluoro pink and yellow written at the front. It was also supposed to have a DVD player. Which was exciting considering all the great DVDs everyone had bought in Saigon. But no, the DVD player was broken. Which would have been alright, but Marty got bored and started putting tissues and hats onto Kerri who had fallen asleep. Poor Kerri. Anyway, about 4.30pm we had finally arrived in Bangkok...
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