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Published: January 6th 2006
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Toilet Sign (and Angkor Wat).
Toilets are included in your ticket and are REALLY nice! Okay. You're all expecting the Blog to End All Blogs. We thought this would be our big chance to get on the front webpage, seeing as how Angkor Wat is one of the most photogenic sites on our trip. This isn't going to happen, for a couple of reasons.
First, there are too many wonderful photographer bloggers such as Cumberland Sausage, who consistently produces some of the most amazing travel photos we've ever seen (he must be a pro), and second, we had so much trouble deciding on which photos of Angkor to put up on the blog that we've decided to keep the gems for our friends and family. What we will offer, however, is the real skinny, the lowdown, the unedited version of Angkor Wat -- the stuff not everyone writes about.
The Practical
Siem Reap is the jump-off point for Angkor Wat. Once you've gotten yourself to Siem Reap, it's only a matter of finding a guesthouse and your own transport to the temples. There are no ATMs here at the moment (that we've found), but banks will cash traveller's cheques and there is a Western Union for credit card advances. You have the choice
History is Obscene
Even Ancient Khmer warriors knew when to give their enemies "the finger". of transport to the temples: any tuk-tuk driver will gladly take you to any temples you would like to visit, or you can rent a bicycle and cycle the 5-10 km yourself. As soon as we mentioned temples to our guesthouse front desk, they had a driver ready for us: at a cost of $10 per day (for the "small circuit" temples) and $12 per day (for the "Grand Circuit" temples), and $25 for a full day of really out-of-the-way temples. All prices are in USD.
You must buy a pass to get into the park, but that's easily done en route, since your driver (or you and your bicycle) must go through a little customs booth where they issue and check your passes upon entry. Passes are for 1 day ($20), 2-3 days ($40), or 4-7 days ($60). Because of our interests and background, we opted for the longest, but most people feel they get their money's worth with the 3-day pass.
The Historic
Everyone has a picture in their mind of what Angkor Wat looks like...you know, those funny rounded yet strangely angular spires rising up into the air. Actually Angkor is a huge area
Hot Stone Chicks
Can anyone tell us why only specific parts of their bodies are so shiny? with something like 50-60 temple structures AT LEAST. Most temple structures are within a couple kilometres of one another, though there are groups that are 30 km away from the main cluster.
The complex was built by the Khmer people between the 9th and 14th centuries....different kings added different groups of structures according to their wealth and fortunes (and whims). Just to give you a bit of world context, Europe during this time was a bit of a mess. While the Khmers were building what we think should be one of the wonders of the world, Europe was entering a feudal age, classical Greek and Roman texts were gathering dust in monasteries awaiting a revival during the Renaissance, and we now call that period in European history the Dark Ages.
Interestingly, Khmer religion and society borrowed quite a bit from India, and Hinduism and Buddhism alternated in favour at the royal court. This is why the temples are COVERED with symbolism revolving around these two religions....all your favourite Hindu and Buddhist action heros are there: Krishna? Check. Vishnu? Check. Brahma? Check....and of course, Buddha (the Big Buddha-rama). Cruising through the temples without an Angkor guidebook would be a
crime -- you get so much more out of all the motifs and symbols, friezes and carvings when they're at least partly explained in the book. They sell these books everywhere, at every market stall and nearby every temple. For example, the lotus flower is everywhere on all the temples, and figures big in all Buddhist architecture; and how else would you find out that all those hot stone chicks carved into the little niches throughout are actually "Apsaras" (female divinities, celestial nymphs, heavenly dancers).
The Wonderful
The most wonderful thing about Angkor Wat (and all the temples) is that despite a common architectural plan which is usually symmetrical and aligned on north-south, east-west axes, they show impressive variation in decoration throughout, and because they're literally covered with little details, you can walk around the same temple for a whole day and get different shots in different light, as the sun illuminates each tiny nook and cranny. It really is a photographer's dream here.
The first day we were taken to Angkor Wat via tuk-tuk for the sunrise (which they all tell you happens at 5 am but really only gets going around 6 am) and were
tired out by 2 pm. The second day we cruised around a number of different temples and managed to catch the sunset from one of the "nicest" vantage points -- a nearby temple on a hill. We put nicest in quotations because it was beautiful, but please imagine sharing a sunset with 300 other tourists crammed all together on a temple platform, pushing and weaving to get the "unique sunset shot". Fortunately we DID get unique shots and NO ONE ELSE got the same sunset shots we did. Honest. Really. We're not kidding. Well, okay, but at least the photos ARE nice. The third day we went further afield for a different taste of Angkor architectural styles.
So we've taken a break after a full three days to fill you in (and to get out of the heat), and now that we've made little notes to ourselves about which temples to go back and visit a second time for those perfect pictures, we will rent bicycles tomorrow and get a different, slower feel for Angkor.
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Nick watch out for the monkeys
Watch out for those cute though unpredictable primates. They have big teeth, which you won't notice until they are close enough to scare you and force you to flee the temple backwards, with your girlfriend trying to keep them at bay with a hat. Unfortunately, the hat will not keep you from falling off the temple, though Ted learned that a digital camera helps to break your seven foot tumble. And that landing on it after such a fall helps to break your camera. Please take pictures of the gaggles of teenage boys wearing pink sunhats before such a fate befalls you.