Day 13: A sunrise at Angkor Wat and a school visit

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Geo: 13.4691, 104.041

OMG. One of those touristy days that is just the best. I am a confessed Angkor Wat groupie. How can I help you to understand that despite the horses, the elephants, the monkeys, the dogs, the birds, the buses, the tuk tuks, the cars, the vendors, the police, the children and the 10 000 other sunrise tourists, this was a moment of personal peace and solitude. This was a moment that inspired awe and that refreshed the soul. This just was!

You found a spot. You planted your feet. And then you watched. The clouds provided the perfect backdrop for the sun to splash its oranges, reds, pinks and golds and for the silhouette of Angkor Wat to pop out of the horizon. I actually can't believe how "personally" quiet it was given the hordes who were there lining the banks of the reflective pool for the same reason as us. The picture perfect reflection popped right on queue into the lake and hovered in all its majesty and beauty for about 30 minutes. Leo's 2000+ visits had delivered us to exactly the right vantage point.

And then the silence broke and it seemed as if someone had pushed the "on" button and everyone and everything started moving again. We headed towards our champagne glasses, the vendors resumed their hawking and the tourist dispersed to the nooks and crannies of the temple.

We did rise st 4 am for this one and had to negotiate the dusty track to the west gate via torch light but combined with the good humour from the group the early start just added to the treat. Can't believe that on the bus ride in to the temple I was on Messenger and What's App updating and sharing stories with Mindy in Whistler, Von at Lake Titicaca in Peru, Julie in Caboolture and Michael in Brisbane - all connected and live while heading towards the 7th Wonder of the World built in the 12 th Century. Gotta love technology.

Loved Von's advice about having the camera ready. It was spot on and Leo had prepared us well for the majesty of the moment with his now familiar 5 minutes and 29 second briefing.

Angkor Wat is the best preserved of the temples and is one of the largest religious monuments ever constructed. Originally built as a Hindu temple in the early part of the 12 century it was converted to a Buddhist temple in the 14th century. Its central tower stands at 63 metres tall and it is surrounded by four smaller towers. And again, we scrambled and walked over all the ruins. Unfortunately it was a holy Buddhist day and the steps to the top tower were closed. Will need to plan a sunset visit later in the week to complete this ascent.

The research around the construction of the moat and temple, its importance in understanding the movement of the stars and the moon, the history captured in the bass relief on the wallls, the purpose and role of the temples - all of this is "to come" - it is impossible to retain the info shared on the morning. But we did bargain for "the book" on site from one of the vendors so providing the pages stay together we have some interesting reading coming up.

The only wrinkle in the blanket was one vendor who was so insistent that she literally had her goods pressed to my face. And I mean literally touching my face. It's packaging was acting as a blindfold. I couldn't see a thing and was actually stumbling in the dirt. Mac put his hand out to move her away but that only encouraged her to duck under his arm and try from the other side. It took a very stern word from Leo to stop the harrassment. Have felt this was the only time the pleasant yet pressing salesmanship had gone too far.

After the 4 am start a long and leisurely breakfast was just what we needed and the Sofitel did not disappoint. Again, the danger of the buffet could not be avoided and we grazed our way through the choices from every food group. It is unfortunate that the bathroom of the Sofitel holds a set of scales. We made the mistake of standing on these. My 21 weeks of L&E and shake breakfasts are under threat from 10 days with APT,

Next on the cards was a tuk tuk ride with Mr Tom to the rice markets to make purchases using the donations from school. Mr Tom was firmly briefed by our hotel manager in relation to the type of rice and the estimated price. Have to say that Mr Tom bargained as if the money were his own and secured us a much better deal than the hotel manager had expected. Armed with 100 kgs of rice we were ready for our visit to the school. Not sure how the spindly wirey frame of Mr Tom managed it, but somehow he man handled those bags in and out of the tuk tuk.

We did make the bus roll call at 2 pm and entered the national park precinct for the school visii and a second temple tour at the tree entwined Ta Prohm made famous by Lara Croft's exploits in Tomb Raider.

We were excited to visit the school and on advice from @Mappy had collected stationery from our Year 6 students and some additions from our staff to support the children which was added to the 100kgs of rice. We were introduced to the goals and the workings of the Organisation of Development Thru Art, set up by the Cambodian Mr Leng Touch and his wife Srey On in 2003. This was the first school established and over the years a total of 7 additional schools have been established in outlying villages. Over 1100 children benefit from learning English in these schools.

Plentiful employment exists in and around Siem Reap. However English is the primary requirement for employment. The ODA offers additional English classes 6 days per week to children in these subsistence communities.

As a welcome we were treated to a dancing demonstration by the students. Visitors are certainly welcomed and APT tours are regulars. The 35 children who call the ODA Home then took group members for a tour of their home which included a look at their library, their computer lab, their classrooms, the kitchen and living quarters. What can I say? Expectedly - different. But WOW - so much love and respect for resources that amount to so little.

Our 13 year old guide Sombo was clutching a well worn Literacy Links reader called "How the elephant got his long nose" which he read with us. He showed us the two shelves that made up the library. He showed us the drawings and paintings in the gallery and was very excited to show us his name on the computer roster.

It was all smiles and pride as the children, ranging in age from 2 to 18 conducted the tour. The bags remained unopened during our visit but there was much excitement about the mystery of the cases and the volume of rice. The gesture of our Year 6 students and our staff was definitely appreciated. I would have loved to transport our Year 6 through time and space so that they could feel as humbled as I did by the gratitude of the children who call ODA home.

Thanks @Mappy for the heads up. And anyone else travelling to Siem Reap - a little bit goes a long way.

Time to get back in the small bus and head towards Ta Prohm our last temple visit for the day - a temple built by Jayavaram from 1186 which was devoted to the royal mother. Leo also referred to this as the Angeline Jolie temple because it featured in Tomb Raider but also because of the charity work completed by her in Cambodia.

This temple is one of the "big three" of Siem Reap and we were glad to be visiting it in the relative cool of the afternoon. It was stinking hot.

Although a lot has been done to stabilise the temple it has deliberately been left to the jungle - the towers and hallways and passageways are clearly in nature's grip - partly conserved and partly destroyed by the strangler figs and the enormous cotton silk trees of the encroaching jungle.

The temple was home to more than 12 000 people and was maintained by some 80 000 Khmers living in the surrounding villages and the temple inscriptions note that it contained gold, pearls and silk. Leo indicated that a "gold crown" had recently been discovered in the temple ruins and now resides in the museum in Siam Reap.

Pushing and shoving seems to be the order of the day. The temple corridors were filled with groups of some very very noisy tourists. And for some groups it was every man for himself. Lines and queues were jumped, groups pushed their way through narrow corridors and the strident Chinese language bellowed through the quiet spaces of the temple. Leo wasn't shy in coming forward and used the yellow APT paddle today for more than pointing out the sights. And to avoid some of this he did take us through some side alleys.

We do have lots more temples and pagodas to go on the trip but the unanimous opinion was that we were tree rooted out for the afternoon and were relieved to be heading towards the last temple - the Sofitel (Leo's joke not mine!)

Rounded the night out with a low key combination of a few rounds of cocktails to wash down the tapas and pizza in the informal bar of the Sofitel. Topped it off with half price deserts that we definitely did not need (they were only $3 at full price) and coffee and called it quits at 9 pm. We were knackered!

Steps: 15 211
Temperature: 37 degrees

Disclaimers:

A. All photographs of the Vegemite are published daily with permission and blessings of the owner.
B. All photographs featured in the anatomical series published daily WITHOUT the express permission of the owner and also without their blessings. These shots have been collected enthusiastically and surreptitiously by Mac and his recently recruited conspirator Richard!

PS Back responding well to blue meanies and of course continued hoisting into local transport.
PPS Have discovered the secret to Richard LOL. Happens consistently at his own joke

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Comments

[Aunty Gail]

Another fabulous, exciting and interesting day.....Apart from the Angkor Wat spectacle, a definite highlight had to be those beautiful children.....your kindness made them so happy....such a lovely gesture......so glad to hear your back is
on the mend.....xxxx