Breakfast, Angkor Wat, and lunch

So I mostly told about Angkor Thom in the first post, so I figured I would finish off about Angkor Wat in here.

As described earlier, we saw the sunrise at the temple and then wandered around the outer complex before leaving for other temples.  When we left, there were TONS of tourists, to the point that I was incredibly thankful that we took the side route out.

We had breakfast the first day at a place just outside the temple (Angkor Wat) it seemed, and while I debated on ordering food or not, I caved and got a glorious pancake with bananas and honey.  The pancake was sweet tasting, and reminded me of corn bread honestly.  It was very very good.  I also got a wonderful iced coffee that just made my day.  The coffee here tastes different as well, but in no way bad.




 This was my first encounter with their sweet milk, which was interesting.  Its a lot thicker than milk or creamer, and frankly i'm not sure what is in it, but it is very good, and I couldn't imagine putting sugar in on top of all that.

When we returned to Angkor Wat, it was more or less 'émpty' as far as the temple goes.  The giant mass of tourists were all having lunch and a break, as most guide books suggest giving tourists a time to rest around then.  Sothik took advantage of that and I was thankful he did.  We entered from a side gate again, taking photos of some of the far lying buildings before walking around.  We came up a side road that we had passed earlier that day with the monkeys, and I stopped and filmed/watched some of them for a while before we wandered on.




Sothik told me a funny story about how when he was younger, he used to be afraid of the monkeys.  Well one time, he was standing with a friend watching them in a tree when one of them suddenly jumped down from the tree, straight at him, so he freaked, covered his face, and just punched out, completely cold cocking the monkey in the face, lol.  He didn't mean to, but it was a KO, flawless victory, and the monkey ran off to harass someone else.  That's one way to over come your fear.  We joked about a monkey that was all sprawled out in the middle of the road, saying that was the one from before and it had simply never recovered.




We came upon Angkor Wat from the back side, taking photos and basically ruling over the kingdom as there wasn't another tourist in site.




 Entering from the back, he showed me the carvings and told me the stories behind each one, several themes that I would see in many of the temples later through my visit.  He took me through passages that were off the 'way of visit' to get to specific areas, and with his eye for photography, showed me some great places for shots, all while telling me the history of the temple.




 In some cases, we walked along the outer ledges of the temple to get to spots, or sometimes just shade, whatever held the highest value at the moment.

We talked a little about his history, and it caught me off guard a little bit.  When he was younger, he studied with the monks of Angkor Wat for a few years, (which is also where he learned English), because of the war in Cambodia.  In the war, his mother had already lost 11 children, and she was worried if he went into town that they would be split up and lost from each other, and she didn't want that to happen again.  So he lived with the monks for a while, learning English and other things, before leaving that life style.  He practiced his English in hotels for a few years, and then doing tours.  Apparently he met Angelina Jolie when she was filming out here, serving her food and water at her hotel.   What caught me off guard though was that people living now were still directly effected by the war.  I had read briefly about it while doing some research on Cambodia, but I guess I never thought that some people today were people who had lived through that time period.  Sothik isn't that much older than me either, he's only ...what? 31? 32?  We also passed musicians playing outside the temple who were victims of land mines, all missing arms, or legs, or blinded.  It was a shocking reminder how different our lives can be.

It isn't all bad memories though, of course. When asked, Sothik told me his favorite temple was the Angkor Wat, as he grew up with it always in view, even at his mothers house as a child.  They would go out, pick wild mushrooms, fruits, and go swimming in the moat, all with the temple in the background.  That sounds pretty lovely to me, and I was glad he had moments like those as well.   He seems a really kind, fun loving individual, and I keep finding myself happy that he's the guide I ended up with.

He was very open about all of this, and at first I wondered if I should include it or not, but I decided to in the end because Cambodia is not just about the temples. Cambodia is its people, and their history. Should I hear that he does not wish for this to be told, I will gladly remove it from my post.

The Angkor Wat temple turned out to be everything I dreamed of and more.  It was amazing seeing the sun rise, how the sky went from speckled with stars to the slow shift of blue into oranges and pinks.  It was incredible to look at the size and complexity of the building and think about the fact that we're not building anything of this grandeur in today's day and age, with all of our machines and know how.  The carvings were all intricate, beautiful artistry, all bold and yet delicate at the same time.




The women carved into the temple were individuals, each with different outfits, poses, and hair styles.



 We even found "the most beautiful woman" amongst them, her mouth actually open and exposing teeth.

I loved it.  I loved it all, and I'm so happy I decided to come here.

Lunch was at another stop along the road, though this place was the 'fanciest' we've been to so far.  I got chicken stir fry with peppers and greens, with rice and egg on the side.  Another iced coffee, helloooo, all for about six dollars. With both breakfast and lunch, I ate by myself, as Sothik and Mr. Driver ate either together or with other guides. It was both lonely and relaxing at the same time.  Lonely not because I dislike eating alone, but mainly because it would have been fun to talk to someone about the things I'd seen, but relaxing because I honestly don't know that I could have carried a conversation with anyone I didn't know well at that point, so it was nice to not have to worry about small talk and to just be able to relax.  I watched some of the other tourist, as well as this giant skink that was parading back and forth at the entrance way.




Over all, this temple lived up to everything I expected and more, and I know I wouldn't of had as good a visit if it weren't for Sothik and his knowledge of the temple/times to visit.




All other photos shall be posted on Facebook.

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.