Day 21 of 36
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Today started at 4:30 am with our wake up call. We had to shower and get dressed and meet T and our driver at 5 am. We headed off to Angkor Wat for sunrise. There were a lot of people there and it was very dark. We entered from the west and headed up the long walk over the moat to the wat. The sky was still dark and we could only see 1 star in the sky - let's see - is that Venus of Mars?
We stopped just inside the first gate and waited for the sky to lighten. As it did the outline of the temple came into view. There were pink and blue stripes in the sky over Angkor Wat - it was beautiful. We walked closer to the wat and went to the south where we could see the reflection of the sky and the temple in the water. It was beautiful.
We then went on our tour of Angkor Wat. Unbelieveable bas reliefs showing battles, the milking of the seas, and other historical recollections. There are several places, including the entire main tower, that are under renovation. We spent almost 3 hours at the temple and then left and T dropped us back at the hotel for our breakfast (and a short nap).
T and the driver met us at 10 am and we headed into Siem Reap to Artisans d'Angkor - a facility where they train handicaped people to do crafts - wood carving, weaving, metal working, etc. In one room, we were told the young people were deaf and dumb, but I found it interesting that a couple of them were listening to their ipods. They had some beautiful things but we don't need "things" and the prices were high. I saw a Japanese woman outside of the training facility who reached into a flower bed and pulled up 3-4 flowers and put them in her pocket - we were shocked. Then other Japanese tourists were taking pictures in the gift shop with pictures prominently posted - No Pictures. So much for the MANY Japanese tourists we have seen here.
We then headed north to Banteay Srey, a smaller temple from the 9th century (built 965 I think). It was so hot. We had driven about an hour out into the countryside and we saw how many people live - in small one-room houses up on stilts. Children without clothes in the yards in some places, pumping well water, no toilet facilities in the houses, etc. Lots of rice fields. They only get 1 crop per year here in Cambodia and the saying during the rainy season is "No rain, no rice!". So they like the rain.
After touring Banteay Srey, I negotiated with T and the driver to take us to "The River of 1000 Lingas". Lingas are penises and they are stone carvings put in Yunis (the female sex organ). Educational, isn't this?
So I found out we were only about 13-15 km from the river. Instead of doing another entire tour tomorrow and coming all of the way back out here, it was best to go there today. So T and the driver decided that for an additional $20 they would take us there if we didn't tell the hotel or the tour company. Fine with us. So off we headed to Phnom Kulen. We parked the car and began a 15,000 meter walk up a hill through the jungle. It was really tough on my knees. Very steep at places, rocky, and we had to navigate over large roots that looked like big snakes in the jungle. At least most places were shaded. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top and there were carvings in the river beds of yunis and lingas. Thousands of them. It was fascinating that they chose this place for this. There was a water fall and many young people were swimming. The women come here to become fertile if they want to have children - or that is the belief. I waded in the water and it was very cool.
We then started back down only to hear thunder in the distance and hear it raining on the leaves of the trees. But we didn't get wet due to the heavy tree cover. This area had a lot of land mines planted by the Khmer Rouge but these have now been removed. Whew!
I was exhausted - no, WE were exhausted when we got down. T needed lunch so while he and the driver had rice with some dish, Tim drank a fresh coconut that the woman cut open, Larry had 2 beers and we shared some french fries. This was probably the safest thing we could order that would be cooked at a small shed like this.
We then headed back to Siem Reap but there were 2 other temples on our itinerary. We decided to go to only one of them - Pre Rup. Tim and I walked to the top - more steep, narrow stone steps - but we made it up and down. Beautiful view from the top.
Back to the hotel - we bid our guides goodbye and we headed upstairs to our room to let our feet and legs recouperate. Ouch, they hurt. But it was worth it. After updating email, and my blog we headed to the hotel bar for a cocktail (our usuals but doubles!). Then we decided to walk - can you believe it? - to the Night Market in Siem Reap. T had told us it was very close.
Well, we headed out with instructions to go to the first stop light and turn left. Well, there was no stop light - it was broken - so we walked way too far. We were approached by a boy wanting to know if we needed help and we told him where we wanted to go. He told us he would take us there - and we declined - and then he told us he would tell us how to get there for $1. Everything has a price. I declined and he told us anyway to be friendly.
We walked to the broken stop light but saw no night market - it is much further than either of us wanted to walk - so we got a tuk-tuk for $2 to take us to the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) for dinner. We shared pork dumplings and then had a Khmer Sampler Platter for 2. It was good but a lot of food. Larry had to have his ice cream for dessert as he was so hot and sweaty yet again. We were sitting outside for dinner on the balcony and the night is still.
The restaurant had a promotion for the Pchum Benh Day holiday - after your dinner you roll the dice and you get a discount - 1 = 10%, 2 = 20%, etc. Tim rolled the dice and got a red one - so we got a 10% discount on our entire check including wine. Total after discount was $64. Tim is convinced the dice is weighted and we were gipped! Oh well, it was funny.
We left the FCC and walked along the river back to the hotel. We are both pooped since we got us at 4:30. So Larry updated his blog and Tim went to sleep.
Tim leaves Cambodia tomorrow night to return to the U.S. His 2 weeks of vacation is drawing to a close. We think that tomorrow we may wander through Siem Reap and then return to Angkor Wat for one last visit - this time by tuk-tuk.
Another great, great day.
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