angkor....wat!?

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So after a short but reflective time in Phnom Penh I headed to Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious site. It’s basically a lot of stone temples spread over quite a distance. The temples themselves are amazing and truly a must see.

When I got into town I grabbed a bite to eat and went straight to bed, I had to wake up at 5am for sunrise. At minutes to 5 I waited outside for my tuk tuk that I had arranged the night prior to take me to the temples. The only thing is he didn’t show, I was a bit peeved as I was missing precious sun rising time but these things happen when travelling. I caught another tuk tuk that took me there for the same price ($12) but he didn’t speak much English so it was a bit of a challenge telling him which temples I wanted to see.

The first one I headed to was Angkor Wat, caught a bit of the sunrise but ... It’s a moated temple so you have to walk through a bridge/walkway surrounded by water on both sides to get to the temple. It’s pretty massive, as you walk through the rooms and hallways (more like get lost) you wonder what went on in these rooms.

I went to a few other temples that day and then like most people I was templed out. Something about waking up at 5am and walking through massive temples that just makes you tired. I decided to catch the bus to Bangkok, when I mean catch I mean I was late for the bus and hadn’t purchased a ticket or packed yet. I got to my hotel asked if I could still make it and obvi they said yes as its money earned. I ran upstairs to pack and then my moto driver came in to help me. I’m telling you catching buses, planes, trains are just not my thing. I was in such a rush that when I got on the moto my shorts ripped. But managed to catch the bus, actually had to wait for them to sort out the seats but everyone got abroad and as per use the VIP bus turned into a regular bus. Despite what the ‘bible’ said it was a pretty comfy ride as they just paved the road. Got the border did all the formalities and got on a mini-bus to Bangkok.

Met some Canadians on the bus and it being June 30, we decided to have some pre-Canada day celebrations. After a proper nap I met them and we had a few, funny story we played this game called ‘People Bingo’ where basically it’s like i-spy but with people so we had - old western man and asian woman, fashion faux pas, fanny pack, Canadian, tourist shirt (tubing in vv, same same but different, Vietnam star etc)... So after a while we found all but a Canadian... then we found one invited him to have a drink with us - he glady accepted but said he had to go upstairs and get changed etc.... He comes back but is across from us getting food. One of the Canadians we were with, Lauren (I think) went up to him and told him we were going to Khao San after etc etc, you know just to make sure he didn’t feel it was a dare invite or something. He’s like he’s gonna eat and then join us. So he eats across from us with his back turned then leaves , we were quite devastated and saddened.

The next day after doing some much needed laundry and visa procurement I headed to Chiang Mai, a bloody 12 hour bus! Happy Canada Day everyone!

xx

kris

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