The rollercoaster that was Cambodia pt 2

Welcome to the jungle

In our last very exciting episode your hero's had toured the grim compounds of S21 and the Killing Fields. After a short bus ride the fantastic 4 had arrived in Siem Reap... Siem Reap where have we heard that name before?? Have we heard that name before? No, i don't think so.

As we departed the bus we were once again assaulted by tuk tuk drivers screaming "tuk-tuk" from every angle. At least this time there was a ramshackle fence to keep them at bay. We talked to a few then chose the cheapest two rides. Midway through our journey to our guesthouse, the driver stopped and began to negotiate with Adam about touring the temples the following day. Adam threw them a low ball offer which we seemed to think was fair considering we had just arrived in town and these were the first two we spoke to. They declined and we wouldn't budge. Since we would not book them the following day they said they would no longer take us to our destination. So we gathered our stuff and they left us in the middle of the street at night. We exchanged some colorful goodbyes and proceeded on foot. We eventually arrived at the Yellow Guest House. It was at the end of a dark alley, but so it ended up being the hotel find of the trip. For $8 we had a twin rooms with hot and cold shower as well as air conditioning! On top of that the place was built in 2007 and was kept really clean. We made ourselves at home and prepared to see the temples the following morning.

Daniel and Adam had awoke at dawn to see the sun rise at Angkor Wat. Kristen and I, who had a more flexible schedule, slept in. We met up with the other two when they came back for lunch. Our guesthouse was about a 20min ride from the temples for $15 a day you could hire a tuk-tuk to take you where ever you liked. We all had lunch then made plans to see the temple of Ta Phrom and then sunset. I was giddy with excitement. This was one of our main destinations on the this trip. It lived up to every expectation.

Our first Temple was Ta Phrom. Recently made more famous by the movie 'Laura Croft Tomb Raider'. As you approach you see an ancient crumbling temple with large trees soaring out from it. Once you get inside and explore it, you see that these trees are actually growing on top of the remains of the temple. Their long massive roots snake their way down the walls and devour the temple beneath them. It was one of the most awe inspiring sights I have witnessed, something that only hundreds of years of undisturbed time could produce. All these amazing scenes almost make you forget that the heat was hovering somewhere around 100 as well as the high humidity percentage. This is after all a jungle. Everyone looked as if they had just walked through a shower. Still each new area of the temple we wandered into drew you in deeper and deeper. Everywhere you looked, it took your breath away. We spent about two hours there before hitting a few smaller temples on our way to sunset.

Outside Ta Phrom
Roots dripping down the walls

My favorite in Ta Phrom

Another Ta Phrom goodie

Anyone seen Laura Croft??Kristen maintains gaurd
Adam and Kristen conquering the steep steps
How excited they were

We arrived at the temple for sunset. At the base of the hill we haggled for six cold beers ( should of had 9) and began our journey to the top. It was a twenty minute walk to the base of the temple, then a steep ascent about 200 metres to the top. That night we joined about 400 other people to watch the sunset. In the distance you could see Angkor Wat on one side as the sun set on the other. The crowd oohed and awed as the horizon changed color, everyone snapped photos with each passing moment. Between the four of us I believe we took somewhere around 150 photos of that sunset. It was glorious!

We were all feeling on top of the world once we arrived back at our guesthouse. We decided to hit the town and a few of the popular drinking holes. The first was "Angkor What?" a bar that was recommended to us by some other travelers. The special this night was $5 buckets. There were about 8 different concoctions you could chose to fill your bucket with. We went with vodka and red bull. They fill a tall rocks glass with vodka add about three Red bulls and ice. The red bulls they serve here are not your mother's red bull. In the states they contain about 150 mgs of taurine. In Cambodia they contain 1000 mgs of taurine! They pour out like syrup. We had three buckets between the four of us and headed to our next bar. All I can remember about this place was that it was called the Temple Bar. I am sure I had something to drink there but I could tell you what it was. We got back to our guesthouse around 1:30 am...i think.

The morning of the second day I awoke to severe stomach pains. It may have had something to do with the buckets of red bull vodka, but it felt more like food poisoning. The meals of roadside chicken and skewers of unidentifiable meat had caught up with me. Needless to say I spent the day in bed. Kristen stayed by my side. She was feeling a little under the weather as well although no where near the state I was in. Adam and Daniel headed off to the temples and I stayed in and watched football (soccer) on TV. (BTW...Football is huge in SE Asia. There are at least four channels showing it at any time. Mostly English teams but also their local favorites)

Later that evening I started to come around. It was our last day with Adam so we met up with a Greek person they met earlier and all went out to dinner. We had some really good Indian food and then watched a slide show of the Greek's trip. What started out as a few photos turned into an hour long event. Anyhow it was informative. That night we said our goodbyes to Adam. He had an early bus back to Ho Chi Min City (12+ hours of hell) and we were getting up early for sunrise.

On the morning of the third day Kristen, Daniel and I went to Angkor Wat to watch the sun rise over it. It was was an awesome site. After the sun rose, we toured the grounds. When you walk into Angkor Wat you first cross a bridge that spans what looks like a lake, but it is not. It is in fact a man made moat around the whole temple. It is just one of the many man made marvels of this amazing place. Once inside you start to notice all the details carved into it. I could only compare it to the Segrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, where every square inch of the place is carved with intricate designs and scenes. I can only imagine what it must have looked like in its prime.
Dawn at Angkor Wat

Bayon Temple

Entrance to Bayon

Some of the many carved faces

They were everywhere you looked

In the 12th century when it was finished, it would of been unlike anything man had every seen. Sure the pyramids in Egypt are also a wonder of the ancient world, but the temples span an area many times greater, each decorated in the same detailed manner. The ancient Khmer's were truly brilliant engineers. After we finished with Angkor Wat we went to the Bayon Temple, not as large as Angkor Wat, but still very impressive. There were originally over fifty peaks in this temple with each one having four faces carved on each side. Many of them are still in tact. We spent close to two hours in the oppressive heat taking pictures before we retreated back to our guesthouse.

Stone carvings inside Angkor Wat

Inside Angkor Wat

For our final night we planned to see the sun set over Angkor Wat. We returned at sunset, this time with an appropriate amount of beer. We leisurely walked the grounds with Daniel and discussed all that we had seen. After the grim days in Phnom Pehn this was exactly what we needed. Constantly surrounded by wonders of such intense beauty we were truly in a magical place.

That night we went out for our last meal with Daniel. In the morning he was off to Hong Kong to spend a few days with his girlfriend and we were headed to Bangkok by private taxi. That night for dinner I had a pizza with pepperoni, mushroom, and two fried eggs on top. They like fried eggs on their pizza in Cambodia and I must say it was quite delicious.

My one hope for the succsess of thier future is that with the continuing popularity of Angkor Wat they use the money flooding in to maintain and protect the temples, as is also the case of Ha Long Bay. May local buisness's are so eager to take advantage of all the tourist coming to see their wonders that they are only concentrating on the short term gain. They are erecting mammoth four star resorts instead of putting any money back into protecting these wonders. I recently heard that there were so many new hotels in Siem Reap drawing on the limited water supply that it was threatening the foundations the temples. I suppose this is also the responsibility of the tourists. Try to support those who are environmentally responsible. It just so hard when you are new to an area and only have a guide book to lead you.

I have to admit we are quite taken with Cambodia. The people were some of the kindest people we had met on our journey, especially considering what they have been through in the last forty years. It has a feel of a country starting over from scratch, this time with history as their guide. Sure they have one of the hardest living conditions of all of SE Asia, but the people remain optimistic about the future. The individuals at our guesthouse were so sweet. Even as we left one the guys ran out to bring us to bottles of water. He made me promise to take good care of Kristen, "his sister". He refered to her as this because appearantly when she spoke the few words in Khmer she knew, she did so with a Cambodian accent. The people here are beautiful and the children are adorable. Their infectious laughter and smiles will stay with us for our lifetimes. Looking back I wish we had spent more time in Cambodia. Although, I have a strong feeling this will not be our last trip there.

To Adam and Daniel-

Thanks for making Cambodia such a wonderful time!! We had a blast traveling with you two. It would not have been the same without you. Please try to keep in touch and we will do the same. If you ever in the Midwest look us up!! We will do the same when we are in your neighborhood.

-Miguel and Kristen