The Temples of Angkor

When I first decided that I wanted to go to Cambodia, my reasoning was a combination of wanting to meet the people who have endured so much in their country and in their lives...and a desire to see one of the man-made wonders of the world, the Temples of Angkor. And both of these desires have been fulfilled.

Yesterday was the big day, the day to take a tour around all the temples (well, not all of them...you couldn't possibly see every single one in a day or even 3). The tuk-tuk driver that had taken me to get my pass and to get a sunset view of Angkor Wat met me in front of the hotel at 8.30am, and we drove to Angkor Thom. Because this guy, Twum, is so AMAZING, he packed an icebox full of chilled bottled water and cool, wet towels that I could use throughout the day. I don't think they're required to do that, haha.

So, as I was saying, he drove to Angkor Thom which is where the Terrace of Elephants and the Bayon are located (and tons of other stuff, whose names I simply cannot remember). On our way to the Bayon, we passed this hill which elephants climb at sunset to get a great view of the temples and the complex. The plan was to head there at sunset and for me to ride an elephant up the hill (!). I went to the Bayon first. It's this huge ancient building that had a library and all kinds of crazy things. There are all these towers that have the heads of Buddha with varying progressions of a smile on his face, depending on the direction that he's facing. And if I remember correctly, this is where the common, everyday experiences of the people are depicted on the walls of the temples. There are lots of stairs and you can climb them and get some great views of the courtyard and other nifty stuff. There's also a moat that surrounds the temple, but because this is apparently not the wet season, there was not a lot of water in it. Twum told me that in October, it would be filled with water and serve as a proper moat for the temple. There were people riding elephants around the complex (I had heard about this, but the idea of climbing a hill at sunset was just extra appealing to me), and while I considered it, I decided to wait for my sunset excursion. I spent about 2 hours (though it felt SOOOO much longer in that sweltering heat, and with a headache that I had developed the night before) wandering the various temples and ruins in the Angkor Thom complex. I also tried to take pictures of signs so that I would remember what each temple was...because after a while, the decaying sandstone does start to look a little bit alike...

Twum was determined for me to see as much as possible with my one day pass, so he next took me to Preah Kahn, which was not even on the itinerary I had suggested to him. But it also was beautiful. It used to be a university and was absolutely HUGE (north to south, 800 meters? and east to west, 900 meters?). It's one of the largest temple complexes, second only to Angkor Wat. A local boy who wanted to be my guide for the temple (though when I told him that I could not pay him, he changed his mind) told me that the doors of each chamber were so small because it would force the visitors to bow to the king, who could be anywhere in the complex (or something like that...and I cannot verify the veracity of his stories). I wandered around Prea Kahn for about an hour (and as I was walking back to meet Twum, I saw this herd of water buffalo hanging out in the river/moat area around the temple. I know it's totally random, but I was SO excited to see those water buffalo checking out the water and eating the grass. They were pretty hilarious and they kept looking at me, even though I was definitely not the only one taking photos of their exploits!), but at the end of it, I was feeling quite ill and told Twum that I would like to go back to the hotel and rest for a few hours during the hottest part of the afternoon. Because he is so patient and so awesome, he agreed and drove me all the way back to my hotel.

I spent the next few hours in my room, with the A/C on, trying to get some sleep and rest myself up for the evening adventure. Twum had agreed to come back at 3.30 and we would head out to Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed!) because that was the temple I was most interested in seeing. So we left at 3.30 and drove to Ta Prohm. It was AMAZING. It was by far my favorite temple. It's totally being taken over by nature--there are literally trees growing out the walls and ceilings of buildings and it's crazy. Everything is so lush and green. And the people who are working on its preservation and restoration have done tourists a great service by creating a planked walkway throughout the temple so that you don't have to mount crumbling ruins to get around. It was simply awesome. I spent an hour there, and I walked all over the temple area, everywhere that I was allowed to be. I think I took the most pictures here because it was just so cool to see chunks of ruined sandstone around trees growing out of the walls of the temple...I don't know--there's probably not a way to describe it properly except for a person to see it. Hopefully my pictures will help give you a glimpse of how cool it was! :)

After Ta Prohm, Twum wanted to take me to another temple, but as he was driving there, he realized that it was 5pm (I had spent quite a while in Ta Prohm) and the temples all technically closed between 5 and 5.30pm. He was worried because he knew I wanted to do the elephant ride, so he asked me whether I wanted to continue on to this temple or to head back to where the elephants were. I opted for the elephants, and Twum graciously conceded.

We got to the elephant ride area, and there were tons of people, all gathered around the ticket selling area. I went up and tried to join the "line" (though I was certainly hindered by the gross amount of people trying to convince me to buy something from them and the fact that the clump of people clamoring for a ticket could hardly be described in such genteel terms as "line"). Anyway, when I finally reached the women handing out the tickets, and said that I wanted a round-trip elephant ride, they said that they were "finished." DEVASTATION. I was SOOO set on getting that elephant ride, and the tickets had been completely sold out! I think this happened because they know they can only do a limited number of loops because the complex closes at 5.30pm. I looked at my phone and it was 5.24. I was so disappointed that I didn't even climb the hill to take pictures of the view or the temple. Seriously, this was the devastating portion of the day because I had been so set on doing this (those of you that I talked to about the idea before I even left know that this is the case). I guess I'm gonna have to ride an elephant to a waterfall in Thailand. Hopefully, that won't be "finished."

As I walked back to find Twum, I was again surrounded by a mass of people trying to sell things. I've noticed that I am targeted more than most other people, and I think it has to do with the fact that I am a single white female. If I come back to Cambodia, I will do it with at least one other person...just for the safety factor. Anyway, the adults had given up on me, but the children--oh, the children--were insistent and followed me chanting their prices all the way to my tuk-tuk. This little girl that could not have been more than 6 years old yelled something in Khmer at me as I climbed into the tuk-tuk, even though I had told her repeatedly that I was not going to buy from her and made no indication to the contrary. When Twum heard her, he got a surprised look on his face and shook his head. Earlier in the day, I had seen a little girl following a couple, chanting something and then she screamed really loudly at them in Khmer and stomped her foot. She wasn't selling anything, and then she ran into one of the nearby temples. I looked at her and she didn't approach me, but I could feel her staring at me from the edge of the temple, so I avoided making eye contact with her, the better to avoid her fury.

It's really wild to me because it's the children here who are hostile and unfriendly. The adults, the ones who would have lived through terrible things and seen many of their family members senselessly killed, are patient and smile a lot. I really don't know what to make of it. Everything that I've read says that you shouldn't buy things from the children that are peddling their wares because the money is inevitably going to someone else. But they're so insistent, and even a little bit frightening (I can't help but feel that they're screaming some curse against me), that I don't know what to do. I try to be gentle and patient and friendly when they surround me, but still I incur their wrath when I refuse to buy. And I certainly can't buy something from everyone...

After that little adventure, I asked Twum to take me to Siem Reap proper (my hotel lies outside the city itself) to a restaurant called the Red Piano, made famous when Angelina Jolie dined there while filming Tomb Raider. There's a tomb raider cocktail "inspired" by her that they sell. On the way, he stopped at a little memorial for the killing fields from Pol Pot's regime. There's a class case filled with the bones of people who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. I would have taken a photo, but it seemed insensitive, especially since Twum was standing there explaining it all to me. I didn't want to be rude. There were also some photos of prisoners that had suffered and of the head honchos of the regime who are now dead or in prison. It was pretty intense.

Then we drove to downtown Siem Reap. Even here, two little boys came up to me demanding that I give them money and I just tried to ignore them and went into the restaurant. Maybe that's not what I should be doing...but I just can't figure out the best solution. The restaurant was open air and very cheap, which I was grateful for. Things in Cambodia are certainly adding up! I ordered some kind of pasta and was given a HUGE serving of it. I couldn't even finish half of it. Twum came back at the appointed hour, and one of the boys saw me leaving and demanded money from me again, even after I had climbed into the tuk-tuk (Ok, want to know something creepy? I just remembered that I had a dream about this exact moment like a week before I left for Indonesia...WEIRD). Twum had to ask him to leave me alone. Again, it's so awkward...

On the way back to the hotel, Twum ran into a friend who had lent him a Spanish book. Yes, a Spanish book. Twum is teaching himself Spanish--this guy is awesome. He asked if I would mind waiting while he returned the book, and I said no problem. Then we continued on our way. When we got back to the hotel, I told him that I would like to see a cultural show with traditional Khmer dancing the next night (tonight) and asked if he knew of a place. He said he did and that he would arrange a reservation for me so that I could be in the front row and get good photos. Hopefully he'll come through on that. He's coming tonight at 7 to pick me up. I paid him for the last two days of service and gave him a generous tip. He definitely earned it and was very grateful.

This morning was a late morning--I got up at 9am and went to breakfast. Then I decided to go next door to this bookshop and souvenir store. I spent WAY too much money there, but I wanted to take home some things made in Cambodia, so I bought a couple of scarves, some purses, a book, and some keychains. I think I'm nearly finished with the souvenir purchasing stuff. And there's only Thailand left anyway...

So tonight will be the cultural dance/dinner and tomorrow I leave for Phnom Penh. I still need to arrange my bus ride there, but the concierge should be able to do that without problems. Then, the day after tomorrow, I leave for Thailand. It's my last week in South East Asia already...