Places You Dream Of

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Today I had a breakfast of the best bread I've had in years and an omelet seasoned heavily with garlic and other delicious seasonings. We were out the door by 8am.

We saw four temples today:
Ankor Thom
Ta Prohm
Bayon
Angkor Wat

When we arrived through the main gate the lines for tickets and passes were long, leaving me grateful that we'd purchased ours the night before. We flashed our three-day passes and drove right in.


At the first temple I somehow got an impromptu guide to chase after. It was really fun racing over the ruins of stones and in and out of door ways and seemingly secret halls. He was able to show me lots of images and explain them to me, as well as point out some really great photo opportunities. The echo room was fascinating. As you stand on the sides next to the walls and thump your chest there is an echo. If you stand anywhere else (like in the middle of the tiny room) or pound any other body cavity (my guide demonstrated with his head) there is nothing. Of course--as I should have realized--after about fifteen minutes he told me I needed to pay him. He tried to get $10 from me (I was offering $4) but I told him that if I did that I wouldn't eat lunch today. Which was true since I hadn't brought much cash with me in case I were to get pickpocketed. He accepted my money and disappeared into the ruins.

While I was walking back out of the ruins to our tuk-tuk, I nearly walked right into a Japanese tourist's shot. I apologized and ducked back. He said, "no, no," and gestured for me to come back out so I could be in the photo. I struck the traditional Asian pose of smiling with my fingers in a V (a la "victory", "peace", or "yeah!!"). This move brought much laughter from the man and his fellow travelers. Ahh, the things you learn living in China.


Our next temple was the "one with the trees" that was made famous in Tomb Raider a few years back. (I've yet to see it.) Trying to figure out how the trees grew over the ruins boggles the mind. It almost looks like the trees were there first and then the buildings rose out of the ground from beneath them. I would have liked to spent more time there but the mass influx of Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese tourists made photography nearly impossible. Particularly since not all nationalities are fond of waiting their turn to take photos in front of impressive things, nor are they familiar with the concept of not walking through your photo shoot. When they moved on to head back to the city for lunch, Julie and I ran for our tuk-tuk hoping to get a head start on the next temple or two.


Our third temple turned out to be the "one with the awesome faces" as I called it. So many faces in all directions, in excellent condition. This was easily one of my favorite temples. I would have liked to wandered more, but on top the temple (where you're supposed to go) it got really hot since the stones are black. We headed back to the tuk-tuk, determined to hit the jackpot of them all while everyone was still lunching.


Our driver was baffled by our desire to go to the main temple (Angkor Wat) rather than eat lunch. Sure, it's after noon, but the most famous and popular temple will not be filled with tourists! It seemed logical.
And it was.

We were almost the only people in the vast complex known as Angkor Wat. The sheer magnitude of the place was overwhelming. It dwarfed everything we'd seen so far. It's fun and difficult trying to imagine people living and visiting the temples and climbing up and down the steep stairs over 800 years ago. On really hot days an elevator most likely would have been appreciated.

I wasn't allowed to go up to the top because my shoulders weren't covered. Julie had worn two tank tops and took off the second one, draping it over her shoulders. This was apparently good enough for inspection. She took some photos for me with my camera, for which I am grateful.

We wandered around until we suspected the tour buses would be returning. On our way out, the masses started to arrive. It was two o'clock, time for lunch and then a long nap.

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Photos

Angkor Thom
My "guide" helped me see how the statue should look.

Julie makes a friend
This kid is the best salesperson I have ever seen. And he even hammed it up for the camera.