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Published: December 1st 2009
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WELL. Apologies in advance, it's Lewis' birthday and we are too hungover to use good words....good words.
When we last updated, we were about to leave for the sunset over Angkor Wat, our first encounter with the temples. We got a taxi with our Dutch friends, Wacco (pronounced Varco) and Dim, and climbed a massive hill for about 15 minutes and found ourselves at the base of a temple, on the only hill in Siem Reap. Us and about 1000 other sweaty tourists, climbing ALL OVER 800 year-old ruins. We couldn't believe they let people do it at all. The sunset was absolutely spectacular, and then we had to climb back down and through the jungle in the dark. As we predicted (and it must happen every day) an old Japanese lady fell and was taken away by ambulance (she "broke her head" according to the taxi driver).
We got dropped at the Night Market and bought some trinkets and whatnot, then all went for pizza at a place near our guesthouse.
The next day, we were picked up at 8:30 by our tuk-tuk driver, who took us on the "Grand Circuit" of the Angkor Wat complex.
Angkor Wat
was essentially a kingdom that was built over 800 years ago. Millions of people lived there, and the temples that remain were built in the name of each of the kings of the days. Each king wanted to one-up the last, and so each temple built was grander than the one before it. The civilians, their shops and other official buildings were made of wood as stone was saved for the "king-gods", and so disappeared centuries ago. All that remains are the temples made of stone, brick and limestone. There's a bit of history for you.
There are hundreds of sites around the area, and we decided to buy a three-day pass (for $US40 - apparently ticket sales to Angkor Wat make up about 25% of Cambodia's GDP) and take the larger circuit first, and the smaller circuit the next day- the idea being that if we saw Angkor Wat itself first, all the other temples would look unimpressive by comparison (which turned out to be a good move).
The temples were breathtaking. The detail in every carving and brick is so intricate, and the fact that they were all built in the 11-13th centuries makes it even more
amazing.
We spent the day exploring 5 temples, with a long lunch break at a delicious Khmer restaurant in the middle.
That night we went to the night market with Wocco and Dim again, and out for dinner at a Khmer restaurant where MICK JAGGER once ate. So, we're pretty much famous now.
We decided the next day to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat itself (along with about 100 buses full of Japanese tourists - surprise surprise). It was well worth the 4am start - we sat down by a pond just in front of the temple, and saw the sun rise over the 5 towers. A Cambodian man was singing traditional songs as the sun rose, and the moment one we'll remember for a long time.
We then explored the temple, stopping every now and then to just sit and look - the place is so so peaceful.
Breakfast followed (at a particularly dodgy "restaurant" - aka a shack with chairs), so we took the lowest risk option of jam and bread.
The next few temples were all so different to each other - Bayon (our favourite) looked more like something you would see in South
America at Maccu Picchu - amazing.
And of course, Ta Prohm - the temples used for filming Tomb Raider. These were the most stunning - the temples were mostly in ruins, but over the years the roots of massive strangler figs grew over them, and the result is seriously beautiful. Plus, we've pretty much met Angelina Jolie now.
By the end of the day, we were officially "templed out". The last temple looked just like the ones on our first day, and we pretty much walked straight through it to get back to our driver. We can see why the term "Same Same but Different" is used so much over here!
A massive part of the Angkor Wat experience is saying "No thank you" about 150 times an hour. Every entrance and exit to each temple is covered with little kids selling bracelets and trinkets - they look at you with their big sad brown eyes and just repeat over and over "3 for one dow-ler". It's so hard to say no, because we both know how much a dollar would mean to them, it's hard not to get emotional about it. Some of the kids ask where
you're from and then say a spiel that they've all rote-learned about the country. It's possibly the cutest thing ever. The Australian one went something like "Capital Canberra. 20 million people. Kangaroo. G'day mate!". Very impressive, especially when five kids say the whole thing in complete unison. The women yell out "Hey lady you want scarf for your sister?" or "Sir you buy somesing sir?". Saying no looks like it will be a pretty prominent part of our trip. Megan did give in and buy a bracelet though (children are her weak point). The saddest part is that primary school in Cambodia is free, and still these families can't afford to not have their children selling bracelets all day in the hope of getting $1.
The afternoon was spent sleeping in preparation for our countdown to Lewis' birthday (Wocco's idea). We went back to the Mick Jagger restaurant (the food was amazing) and began with our $2 cocktails and $0.75 beers, then moved onto Angkor What? - a pub run by British expats. It was like walking into Third Class (except more of a bar), and it was full of Westerners (and thus clean toilets - bonus!).
There were
$5 buckets, and when you bought two at once you got a free t-shirt. Lewis said as a joke that we should aim to get everyone a t-shirt, aka drink 8 buckets....we decided after a shot and two buckets that that would be the aim of the night... And we did it!! The countdown to midnight happened, and Megan forced a table full of New Zealanders to come over to sing to him. Awesome awesome night!
The night had a sad end though- on the way out at 3am we were bombarded by children begging. First they said they wanted food, and so did we so we went to buy them some, then more came, then more, then their mothers, and we all had no idea what was going on - they were climbing all over us and hugging us (not stealing though which is what we thought might be happening - don't worry mums and dads, we kept a tight hold on the zips to our bags the whole time!). These kids were literally staving, and wanted $US money from us, which we didn't have and couldn't possibly have given to all of them. After a massive night, the
magnitude of the situation really hit home. We left these children crying on the street because we couldn't give them $1. Horrible.
BUT apart from that, the night was seriously awesome. Although our drinking games may have killed the Dutch! It's 3pm and they haven't come out of their room....
So today we're just resting, maybe having a massage and going out for dinner for Lewis' birthday (Happy Birthday Lewis!!)
Tomorrow we set off by bus for Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
Stay classy SanDiego,
Xx
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wendy lowe
non-member comment
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday Lewis sounds like you had a great day!!!!!!!!!!!! Megan-nice dress,watch and bracelet. Love the history lesson. Thanks All well in aussie land. Love Mum