Advertisement
Published: March 9th 2007
Let's try this again. This time at another internet cafe.... not much better though. I just tried to upload some pictures but unfortunately, this was not possible as the internet is just too slow....
In addition to being slow, it is extremely hard to concentrate in these net cafes. I've got the fan in my face, the heat, completely open to the main street so all i hear are honking and traffic, mixed in with the cambodian kid playing in the middle of the cafe... i brought my mp3 player which might help, so let's see how this goes!
Barry, Violeta and I joined up with Dara the tuk-tuk driver and are spending 3 days touring Angkor Wat. It would be completely impossible to do this on foot... besides being so hot, it is MASSIVE. I've got to google the actual size later... but its definitely several kms! It is the world's largest religous structures or area, and has about 42 temples. I'm not sure when they were discovered, but i believe it was as recently as 1989 when they started restoring the temples and clearing away the jungle. Many are still in progress right now.
They are really impressive!!!! The moat around Angkor Wat (the main one) is 130m wide!! That's like the largest avenue in the world in Buenos Aires - maybe 8 lanes of traffic ?? The size is beyond anything you can imagine... and they built this in the 1200s (a bit of a guess, i can't remember it all) in the middle of the jungle...
Every stone of the temples are carved with cambodian designs, apsara dancers, writing, sculptures... etc...
For Day 2 at the temples (this morning), we woke up at 4:30am and started the day with the sun rising over Angkor Wat. When we first arrived you could only see the silhouette of the towers. It was so peaceful... not THAT many tourists (relatively speaking! There were quite a few, but during the day there are so many!) and none of the kids selling stuff! As the sun started to rise, the insects started waking up and all of a sudden the loud buzzing of grasshoppers (or whatever makes the sound) started up. Then the sun came... it was so beautiful. What a great way to start the day! We spent the next few hours seeing 4 or 5 more temples...
I took a million pictures and videos for you... words cannot describe them!
-- almost forgot to tell you that I saw monkeys playing on the Angkor grounds! and even one on the walkway to Angkor Wat!!
Because we started early, we avoided the massive rush of people later in the day, finished earlier, and got to enjoy the afternoon at a 5star hotel's pool!
Tomorrow is the last day at the temples, and then I'll be heading south to Phnom Penh as soon as possible. Siem Reap is really not the nicest town and I'm quite ready to leave it! It is a mess of dust, motorbikes and various other bike type vehicles, and that's about it!!
I'm thinking of going to the tropical paradise of Phi Phi and such islands on the west coast of Thailand after that... thanks for the response Emma!
Here are a few of my thoughts:
- Cambodia is not as cheap as you would think! A massage, which in Thailand is $4 or so, was $15 US here! They use US $ here (since their currency is so weak, you'd have to have a tuk-tuk just to carry the cash!) 4000 Riels = US$1.
- the kids... everywhere you go they are there trying to sell you stuff. "madam, buy postcard please, 10 for $1" and they don't leave you alone! They are so cute, and it is so sad, but you cannot give $1 to each one, and the few times I have bought something, 5 of their friends show up from out of nowhere and want me to buy from them too!
- Cambodian gas stations... basically a straw hut with wooden racks out front full of coke bottles with gasoline.
- The Angkor Police station was also a straw hut.
Some things i forgot to mention about Thailand:
- Not only did I cross the world to get there... but I actually stepped into the future! It is the year 2550 there (maybe here too??).
- I saw a MASSIVE Banyan tree in Phimai - covers and area of 35,000 square feet.... incredible!
- I saw an elephant working on the fields!
- Thai busses are decorated to the max! They look like circus vehicles!! I've got to get a picture of one!!
~~~
Everything is so different here so I will try to remember as much as possible to tell you!!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR MESSAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I REALLY LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!!!
thank you.............
Vancouver friends: the picture in front of Fish on Rice on my last night is the image that shows up everytime I start my camera... sometimes I turn on my camera just to see you.... 😉
Jessica
Advertisement
Tot: 0.127s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0484s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Karin
non-member comment
Du är så söt!
Tack för dina berättelser, det är så fint att läsa dem. Du beskriver allt så härligt att jag känner mig nästan vara med. Ser fram emot att se kort, när de kommer. Bra ide att flyga till nästa mål, lite väl långt med buss på sådana vägar.