Temples and Tuk Tuk Derby Mania

Asia
September 6th 2006

Published: September 7th 2006

What a day...

Well it began with a hangover, a missed sunrise and copious gigling (inevitably still a little tipsy after my 2 drinks, Mum) and ended up in hospital (for treatment of a few minor injuries).

Christopher woke us with a gentle ''ýour tuk-tuk's here'' at about 6am (Booked for 4:45) and we dragged ourselves out of bed begrudgingly. No doubt he was off to Battambang.

Knocked for about 20 mins on Monty's door, surely waking everyone else but him.

Went down and apologised to our tuk-tuk driver again waking the night watchman at the hotel who was amazed that we he had seen us twice in the space of three hours, and we were off, first for some breaky and then to Banteay Samre - the first of our temples for the morning.

After a brief breakky during which we were approached by about 15 kids each selling a different version of the same guidebook. The kids were pretty funny though and had a couple of standard questions - your name? Where you from? Once you mentioned Australia they'd rattle off statistics willy nilly "Äustralia - capital Canberra, John Howard, Gday mate, Kangaroo, Emu,

Angkor

East gate of Angkor

pop. 21 million" as fast as they could - pretty impressive. However Mont and I formulated a devious plan to combat the persistence of the kiddies at future sites. Yep. "No speaka English" - that should throw 'em.

Arrived at the first temple of the grand tour for the day to find that we had it to ourselves which was very nice. On the way deciding that our chosen language would be Russian and trying to come up with vague russian words. "Glasnost, Stolichnaya, Kashlinkov, Gorbechov". Mont was Boris and I was Josef - cos they remember you names too - so they can try to sell you the same stuff on the way out. Well it at least worked for about 3 mins before someone (no names) said ''No thanks, I'm sorry'' in English and the game was up.

Wandered around the temple for about 45 mins - the whole time Nunny was clenching her cheeks and wondering whether she could get away with some relief in the deserted ruins?? 😉 Toilet, next temple we were told.

Then we were off to Banteay Srei about 40km away, just as the lack of sleep etc. started to

Angkor

some temple

kick in and we were dozing off in the back of the tuk tuk. Suddenly I was awoken from my slumber by the driver applying the brakes rather sharply. I opened my eyes just in time to see a motorbike hurtling at me. Crunch. It slammed into the side of the tuk tuk smashing up the front of the bike and sending us off balance. The tuktuk rocked to Nunnys side, then mine then back again. Mont meanwhile was facing backwards and turned his head just in time to see him hurtling towards the roof of the carriage.

Nunnys foot got stuck under the tuk tuk as it keeled over, and I flew through the air only to land on a very soft Mont shaped air bag. Assessed the damage. Hey no skin off me. Meanwhile Nunny was screaming its on my foot rather urgently as her legs and knees were twisted underneath the carriage and no doubt had the weight of Ricko and Mont on top of her as well. So in a state of adrenalised speed and agility SuperRicko leapt from the carriage and picked up the carriage to put it back on its wheels, only to

Angkor

The beauracracy of having a traffic accident

hear more screams from Nunny. "Not that way" Meanwhile Monty was crying like a girl.

Changing tact I approached it from a different angle and eventually got the damn thing on its wheels again and stood back to take stock. Hmm there's a bit of blood from a gravel wound on Mont's elbow. Nunny's got some grazed knees and what looks like a twisted ankle or knee. The tuk tuk driver has a bit of a nasty gash on the top of his foot where you could see the bone. I'm alright. We're all in the middle of the road, there's cars and bikes still coming at us and suddenly the whole village is there watching the show.

Hobble Nunny and Mont over to the nearby chairs (Don't know why Mont was limping?) and sat them down urgently requesting ice from kids that didn't speak English, so hence the urgency was kind of lost on them. Meanwhile Mont is sweating like a fountain and has gone a ghostly shade of white. Asked the little girl for a coke (which she understood) and was just about to crack it and scull it when I realised perhaps Mont needs it

Angkor

The wounded being treated by the resident nurse

more than I do. All he'd had all morning was a chocolate milk... plus he looked a little shocked to boot.

Meanwhile Nunny is starting to go a little pale as well. Luckily she started getting fanned and massaged by one of the local village women. I left the two of them there with their sugary beverages and decided it was best if I went to capture the moment on camera.

By this stage the police had arrived and began interrogating everyone, rather thoroughly for a good hour or so. Meanwhile two tourist police approached us (one that didn't speak any English - how ironic?) and asked whether we'd like any compensation off the drivers for the accident. "Nah mate we'll be right, they all look pretty poor"

We were asked if we wanted to go to the hospital and assuming it was all the way back ion Siem Reap, both Nunny and Mont declined saying that they just wanted to sit where they were for a bit (incidentally it was about 20m down the road). Meanwhile the police prepared our statements in Khmer, in triplicate for us and we were asked to fingerprint the bottoms of

Angkor

The driver in question that decided to take on a tuk tuk

the pages and write our names underneath.

After about another hour it was decided that we were free to go but our tuk tuk driver had to stay and get 'interrogated' some more (ie. pay of the coppers). So he's back on the bike that kicked him (not before I checked that the brake pedal that looked like it was bent at a 45 degree angle was still functioning. Looking uneasily at him we said you sure you're OK to drive mate. Yeah no problem temple only 500 m away. Well we nearly made it...

So with police nodding enthusiastically at us we're back in the carriage and he's off, putting along at a snails pace (thank god) with his bleeding foot (the one he changes gears with) dangling over the side, and a look of pain on his face. The things you do for your $20 tuk tuk fee (we hadn't paid him yet).

Dropping us at the temple he said I'll be back in an hour and went back to the scene of the accident. Meanwhile Nunny (still clenching from the last temple), unbeknownst to us disappears to the toilet block while Mont and I

Angkor

The wounded Mont signing his life away

look around a very ornate set of ruins with many lintels (stone carvings) and some cool structures. (Nunny would describe this better - but I guess the photos will do).

After a minor search party is sent out looking for Nunny (has she collapsed?) She finally rocks up - the toilets were half a km away. The driver picks us up again in an hour and we're back on the road passing the scene of the crime where the police were still at work this time with a tape measure and chalk - Geez they're thorough...

After 1/2 an hour at snails pace we arrive at the next temple - Ta Prohm - the one with all the trees from the Tombraider movies. Old mate's foot has swollen to an enormous size, but refuses to let us take him to the hospital for fear of missing out on his fee. So we insist that he stay put and put some ice on the wound while we do a fleeting visit of the temple - we won't be long- we promise.

But hey this one was easily the best of the day. Shade, trees growing out of the

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Andrew's finger prints are now on Cambodian police records.. oh o

ruins, and we even got a mute tour guide to escort us around the site (Yes, a lot of hand gestures were used) and much to our surprise he was great value! There was a chamber where you could beat your chest and it would reverberate through the whole structure surrounding you, heaps of cool strangler figs including one at a 45 degree angle, a sarificial table, a butterfly that befriended me and stayed on my hat then shoulder for a good 100m walk, and even a stegasaurus carved into the rock. Wat the...?
Surely there were no dinosaurs around in the 11th Century...

Took heaps of photos and time and returned to the tuk tuk to find old mate not looking so good. "OK I go to the hospital" he said.

Arriving at the clinic ("hospital") I picked him up off the bike and carried him over my shoulder into the operating room where he got sewn up with no anesthetic (it looked like it hurt) and Nunny and Mont got cleaned up and a few bandaids put on their wounds. The bill was presented to us... $40?? What? It finally emerged that Mr Saren was on

Angkor

Smashed up tuk tuk. Monty's head created that whole

our bill and his sutres and Xray had cost $20. So we ended up paying for him and ourselves and it was quite an expensive day really - for bugger all of Angkor.

So that concluded our day in the temples, 3 in all, but a bloody good story to tell.

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