Angkor Wat and newhopecambodia

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Day 26 - Angkor Wat and New Hope Cambodia

What a day! We got up at 4.30am. Our big hope today is to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat.

Pros picked us up in his tuk tuk, as arranged by Trevor last night. Pros lives in the New Hope Cambodia village. He is a supported family member who is now able to sustain himself, and his family, because of the support he has received.

Pros was great! He arrived in good time, guiding is through the ticket process, then getting us to the right place in Angkor Wat in time to see the sunrise.

It was a wwwooooaaawww moment! I know that it is one of those times when my words just cannot do it justice! It was unbelievable, the feeling that you get when the time, the place, and the feelings are all with you simultaneously. It doesn't happen that often in life; I consider that I am fortunate to have experienced it three times now; the Taj Majal, on the Ganges, and now at Angkor Wat. I did expect it on the Great Wall of China, it is awesome, but it just didn't make it into that category! The Fujian round houses were also close.

Angkor Thom City stretches over 400 km2, including forested area. It contains the remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations.

We started with entering through an amazing arch over the road, which led to Angkor Wat. We walked around, heads up, heads down, left, then right. It was impossible to take in the amazing works of art that have made it through the many years. There are intricate wall carvings, windows, door supports, Buddhas, so many things to look at!

On the way back to the tuk tuk we detoured for water, which grew into breakfast! Helen made me laugh, from the early days of meticulously cleaning her cutlery before even considering eating, she full on tucked into fruit and pancake at a dusty roadside shack, ignoring loads of flies and muck, and thoroughly enjoyed every last mouthful! Oh how she has changed, accepting the here and now, not worrying about the would be, and could be! It's refreshing to watch her grow.

We then jumped back into the tuk tuk to be driven to The Bayon Temple. This is the central Temple of Angkor Thom. It is a Buddhist Temple, with elements of Hinduism. Yes, it is another Temple, but it has a really different feel to it than Angkor Wat. Bayon is known for its huge stone faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, with one facing outward and keeping watch at each compass point. There are 51 smaller towers, each with the four heads on.

We moved on to the laying Buddha, but due to corrosion and damage, it was hard to make put, but the diagrams helped.

We followed the signs that took us from the structure across land, we came across huge trees that have been utilised to form part of a temple structure. A lot of this structure appears to be still underground, waiting to be unearthed.

The path then took us to the next part which was The Terrace of the Elephants. It is part of the walled city of Angkor Thom. The terrace was used by Angkor's king Jayavarman VII as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army. The huge long wall showing so many elephants in different ways.... Another amazing sight to see!

Bearing in mind that between each sighting, we had to get back on the tuk tuk due to the distances in between!

We had just about had enough at this point. We had been on the go for 5 hours. Pros did say that there where 4 more main temples to see, we were both really happy with what we had experienced, and didn't think seeing four more would enhance it any more!

We requested that Pros to drop us off at Costa Coffee, which is very close to our hotel. The cost of Pros'a services were $15, we have him $30, because he was worth it, and we could!

At Costa we started to look through our photos. I was so pleased. I have done great images of the sunrise at Angkor Wat, and do many more! It was hard knowing at the time, if you have captured it or not. Now I know that I definitely did! I am sooooo happy!

Whilst at Costa, we got an email from Trevor, inviting us to the village for the rice giving, and support graduation ceremony. Ohhhh.... I was so excited, I could have peed my pants, crude thought, but it's the only way I can put across just how excited I was!

We instantly replied with an acceptance to the invitation. We went back to the hotel for an hours sleep before setting off again. Trevor had arranged for Pros to pick us up at 1.30pm to take us to the village.

New Hope Cambodia is a grass roots, rapidly growing Non-Government Organisation (NGO) run by a dedicated individual, a local Khmer named Sot Suo (Kemsour).
The focus of New Hope is 'free education for all' as the founder's recognition of the vital role education plays in helping break the cycle of poverty.
However the organisation cannot ignore the chronic malnutrition, ill health and horrific living conditions of its community.This environment places families at high risk of falling victim to child traffickers. For this reason, New Hope Cambodia's activities and programs address the daily issues facing families in crisis situations and, at the same time, find ways to work toward a better future.

The organisation is supported through donations, and I was also really interested to learn that GAdventures have a regular support programme with them too. G have funded a restaurant build that offers cooking training to people, who can then get a job in the industry. The G tour groups attend a traditional Khymer evening meal there which also helps to generate sustainability.

We met with families that are s part of the village, coming to get their monthly supply of rice. We saw 30 families get recognition for graduating from the poverty line into a position were they can support and sustain their own family unit. Therefore making room for 30 more families from the waiting list to be supported.

It was an axing honour to be invited to skate these moments.

When it was time to leave, Pros brought his tuk tuk to the gate. The mother of the family that Trevor supports had come to collect her 50k of rice. She came on her own.... On her bike! Trevor tied her bike to the back of Ptos tuk tuk, and put her rice inside too. Pros would take to her, and her bike and rice, home beyond Angkor Wat after dropping us off at the hotel. She was really happy to share our ride, as were we!

We decided to go to Costa for a coffee, but also to write our blogs. After the coffee and a snack, we both agreed it was far too hot to be sat there. We agreed that due to the very early start, and an exhilarating packed day, we needed to relax in the hotel for a while!

Well, a while turned into the rest of the evening. We are both so tired, we got showered, into the push hotel dressing gowns, and relaxed with the TV on!

Helen ordered room service for herself, I think I'm too tired to even eat!

So an early night it is! We are up early again tomorrow for the countryside bike tour! It's all go!

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