First Day out and about

So since i'm a glutton for punishment, I had set up a Sunrise tour for the very first day.

I figured why the hell not, sleep on the plane, pass out immediately and then hate yourself for the next few hours.  Typical day in the life, eh?  The hostel here is nice.  My room is simple, but the bed is wonderful and the toilet flushes and thats all I really need.  Bonus though, I get free water, coffee, and bananas (the reallllll ones), and my room has a mini fridge.  Sweet.

So my alarm goes off at 4:30, and for a minute I had the joy of not knowing where I was really which is always a fun experience.  That quickly went away though when I was trying to remember why the hell my alarm was going off so early.  Met my English speaking tour guide downstairs at 5.  His name is Sothik and he is happily quite a fun guy to be around!  We met Mr.Driver outside and set off to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise.  The ride there was mildly chilly due to the open sides and the wind, but it was still enjoyable.  Sort of chatted with Sothik, as we all know i'm the queen of small talk and first impressions.  At the entrance of the temple you are required to purchase a pass, which they print with your photo on it (yay! 5 am photo op!) and then you have to present this at the entrance to every temple.  The lady taking my photo was asking if my family were Cambodian, lol, and I got really confused and was like "What? ...No?"  lol.  Even my guide as we were walking away was like, "I have no idea why she would be asking you that." He laughs easy, which is good because later through the day I notice a lot of guides being very factual and stiff with their groups and individuals.  He took me around a side entrance for Angkor Wat as literally ALL of the other tourist took the central route.  We got to the moat/lake area before anyone else and I was able to get a spot right up front on the left hand side (the sun rises to the right of the temple in December) before this HUGE crowd got there.  Yay! Score one for the shorties!  I spent a lot of time star gazing as it was still really dark.  There were four stars (one of which I'm sure was a planet) lined up just behind the temple pointing right down at it, with the Moon as the base.  It was beautiful, but my camera couldn't capture it really.  Doesn't mean I didn't take photos though.

The sun came up behind the temple, and though Sothik says the colors weren't as beautiful as usual since there were no clouds, I still thought it was pretty amazing.

The lake in front was covered in pink water lillies as well, with dragon flies shooting around and fish jumping up trying to eat them.  It was really really cool.  Then, once the sun was up, everyone headed to go inside the Temple, but Sothik took me around the temple instead.  We took a side road, taking photos from different areas.  Sothik has an interest in photography, dreaming of one day owning a really nice camera himself, and knew some of the best places to get good photos, which was really cool. We passed a group of monkeys bouncing in the trees and hustling some tourist for goods.  One gave me the side eye, so I was forced to give it back.  I think he knew that there would be fight going down if he went for my snack bar, and frankly it was too early in the day for all that.  He turned to a plumper visitor and left me alone.  Sothik showed me the monks cleaning out a cemetery, as well as another one on the far sides of the grounds.  We went around and looked at the old Buddha statue on the far side and followed the trail back around to the front.  He showed me some interesting plants and wild life while we walked.  I was confused at first about why we weren't going in, but he said he would come back later once all the tourist were gone.  It was funny to be a tourist myself and be like, "yeah, damn those tourist."

We then went to Angkor Thom via the East gate.  He showed me how the bridge leading up to the gate was made of a God on one side, and a Demon on the other, both holding the body of a long snake.  Apparently there is a story of the God and the Demon working together to hold the snake, twisting it around a mountain and causing the currents of the divine sea to swirl around.  This image would come up quite often through the day.  The gate itself was very impressive, as was this little old Japanese lady who either wanted to be a part of my tour or who didnt know/care enough to get the hell out of photos.  I'm not sure which.  Maybe she just wanted to be a part of my trip experience. Once inside, and after playing hopscoth with a few Tuk Tuk drivers (trust no one), Sothik and I climbed up the side of the gate, over ruins and took some photos at the top.

Again, to be updated once in Thailand with photos. Angkor Thom, also known as Bayon, was super cool, with all of the ruins having faces EVERYWHERE.  Sothik once again took me around the crowds, showing me all the interesting details of the temple, while also giving good advice.  ("You hear the bats? Yeah they live up th- don't open your mouth.  They might bless you.") At one point, we came to a set of natural stairs (you know, the kind you fall down and die) and he jokingly asked if I would like to climb them.  Little did he know, I have no sense of humor-- He was really surprised when I looked at him and went, "...can I?" Him, "What, you actually want to?"
me, "If I actually can, then cha."
Him, "....are you..are you sure?"

So he ended up holding my bag as I climbed to the top and took several photos, as well as a video lol.  I photobombed multiple photos as well as I'd peak my head out a window or come around the side.  Multiple tourist would be taking photos of the lovely temple and then i'd come peaking out a window all :3 lol.  There was a Korean group coming through the doorway at the bottom as I climbed down and I didn't realize they were watching me, but once I jumped off the stairs for the last drop they were all, "waaaa, *claps, claps*"

me, "...*bows, poses-*"

Several of the temples we went to had steep staircases, and I was able to climb them all, mwhahaha.  I figure once I get home I will update with a post on each temple, as I think if I did it here, i'd be up til it was time to meet Sothik and Mr.Driver again. They were all VERY very beautiful though, and it was wonderful to finally see some of the things I've been dreaming about since I was 10 and saw it in mom's old National Geographic magazine collection. Another bucket list item bites the dust.  Hoo-wah.