Friday, 5 March
Up at 06H00, had another shower, washed all the dirty clothes in the tiny washbasin. Dylan's breakfast was an apple pancake and a can of sweetened Ideal type milk which he really didn't enjoy. I had a roll and jam - no marge - and a small cup of the most awful, cold, strong espresso type of coffee with a tiny amount of canned milk, quite undrinkable so I fetched the 2 Milk Maid containers of airline milk and added Ellis Brown coffee creamer which I'd brought with me, still undrinkable.
Found a tuk tuk driver called Pon and Colin negotiated a fee of $10 for the3 day.
Dylan and I had previously felt we should leave Angkor Wat for the last day, but Colin convinced us to do it on the first day in case the weather changed. Went to Angkor Thom first, 09H00 and already extremely hot, 32 deg C or so. They took photos at the entrance and printed our 3-day passes for $40 each.
Angkor Thom was amazing and in magnificent condition and stretched out in an area of 3 square km. It was established in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, who was a Mahayana Buddhist. We spent 1,5 hours investigating the Bayon - official state temple of King Jayavarman VII. The Bayon rooms and carvings on the walls and doorframes are spectacular - definitely Buddhist. The number of tourists really bothered me, as it was difficult to take photos without including strangers. Dylan and I took at least 70 photos each, Colin took about 40. I couldn't find a quiet space to sit and reflect on the place.
When Colin and I walked to the elephant terrace at 10H30 it was scorchingly hot, at least 40 deg C and I was trying to move from any shaded area I could find to the next - not much available. The terraces form two sides of the perimeter wall of the Phimeanakas . Elephants adorn the whole length of the terrace and there is another one called the terrace of the Leper King, which we didn't walk to, as it was just too hot in the sun. The scarf vendors are as persistent as the vendors in Egypt, just with a sing-song begging tone, so Dylan and I bought 3 silk scarves for $5 - I'm sure we'll find more in Phnom Penh for less. We turned to the temple mountain, Phimeanakas (pyramid of steps on 4 sides). Dylan and Colin climbed the pyramid and I sat and waited on a chair in the shade. We walked to some trees and sat there for half an hour, drinking warm bottled water and trying to cool down. Colin bought some etchings of the carvings.
At all the major sites and particularly this one, there are always informal restaurants - each selling exactly the same meals at the same prices, usually for $3 to $4, but generally discounted, this time for $2. Colin had shrimp/veg and noodle stirfry, Dylan had chicken. It was so hot I didn't feel like eating a lot, so had chicken and bread, which I thought would be a piece of dry chicken on a piece of bread, but turned out to be chicken/veg stirfry on a roll, delicious. Dylan suddenly got up and disappeared round the back and came back 10 mins later, saying he'd just been sick, so we firstl thought he'd picked up a stomach bug, but then Colin said it could have been his malaria medication, which he'd taken on an empty stomach.
After lunch Colin and I walked to the Baphuon - a Buddhist shrine with a modern 20M seated Buddha on an ancient platform. Some Buddhist nuns were seated on mats and beckoned to me to go up. Colin and I wanted to put $5 in a Red Cross collection box, but the nuns asked us to give them the money. Then they gave me incense sticks to put in a bowl of sand behind the Buddha after I had bowed 3 times. Another nun called me over to her mat, tied some pieces of red wool around my right wrist, chanted an incantation, cut the tied ends and produced another reed plate with $2 in it, obviously requesting that I also put $2 in the plate. I couldn't help feeling I had been scammed just a bit. Then I decided that they obviously need the $7 more than I do.
We got to Angkor Wat at about 14H00 (not far away). It was very, very, very HOT - I'm sure over 40 deg C and all three of us were sweating like pigs. Angkor Wat is extremely impressive and much smaller than the Angkor Thom area, only 1 square km, including a very large moat on all 4 sides. The carvings are spectacular, but there were too many people to really absorb the atmosphere. Our tuk tuk driver later explained that this is not the busy season and the numbers of tourists are normally far greater! Angkor Wat was built for King Suriyavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. It's the only temple to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation - first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then later converted to a Buddhist monastry. The temple consists of steps up to the Terrace of Honour, which is the gateway to the Gallery of Bas Reliefs, a covered corridor along all 4 sides of the first level, open on the one side.
On the Eastern side is the most famous carving called the Churning of the Ocean of the Milk - unfortunately closed for restoration - which tells the story of the Hindu creation myth. We did see another gallery of Haluman's army of monkey warriors fighting his enemies. Colin and I climbed the steps to the second level, the walls on that level are carved with numerous apsaras (celestial nymphs). We were surprised to find people queueing to go up to the 3rd level, as the guide books said it was closed. Thank goodness I had worn the Johnny Depp T-shirt instead of my usual vest. Now that I think about it, many people had stared at the T-shirt during the day, I think Johnny has many fans. We climbed the steep steps up and down, passing through 4 small Buddhist shrines around a central shrine with a reclining Buddha about twice normal size.
Found Dylan afterwards, chatting to two pretty Argentinian sisters, who were unfortunately leaving Siem Reap the next morning.
We had decided to drive directly to Phnom Krom, 20 kms to the south to see the sunset over Tonle Sap lake, so went there at 16H30, we were so hot and sweaty, it was ridiculous, I only sweated more in the jungle at Tambopata in Peru. We experienced many interesting views of Cambodian life and some rotten smells along the Siem Reap river which runs into the lake - the road follows the river. We got to the base of Phnom Krom (a hill +- 30M high) just after 17H00, climbed at least 300 steps, still in 40 deg C heat and +- 80% humidity, so we got to the top of the steps with seat pouring down, to find that we'd have to ascend a steep concrete road which wound around the hill. Halfway up we thought we'd reached the top when we saw a large Cambodian signboard, but then realised it was only a viewing point. We continued up the hill until we finally got the top at 18H15, Dylan and I totally exhausted and Colin saying he was happy to have been able to stretch his legs (he was sweating too!).
We sat down and had quite a few gulps of very warm bottled water. Colin went off to explore the buildings at the top, which consisted of a modern Buddhist monastry and Dylan followed. When I went after them, I couldn't find them. I didn't realise that this was a working monastry and surprised a monk with a towel around his waist - he was about to have a wash outside by scooping up water from a trough with a bowl. I smiled and bowed my head and walked past, then another monk in orange approached me in their sandy courtyard and produced a book in which I clearly was expected to write my name and value of donation - so I made another $5 donation for the day. I hope to get some good kharma! Another few steps led up to the top, where Dylan and Colin were waiting. Another 3 tourist couples joined us later. The view over the countryside was beautiful, hundreds of squares of postage sized different shades of green, depicting different crops in various stages of growth. We could just make out a small piece of Tonle Sap to the right, this is the dry season, in the rainy season the lake is much larger. The sunset was a disappointment, but we took photos of the countryside anyway.
We got back to the guesthouse at about 20H00, didn't feel like joining Dylan and Colin for supper They bought bread, marge and jam at the Star Mart, so we could have our own breakfast in the morning and I will ask the guesthouse people to give me some boiling water, so I can make my own coffee with the Nescafe, Ellis Brown creamer and sugar which I'd brought from South Africa. This is becoming the search for a good cup of coffee in Cambodia. Colin keeps telling me to adapt to what the locals do, which is drink lemongrass leaf tea, but I'm determined to start my day as it suits me! They had Asahi Japanese beer when they got back and watched highlights of some Super 14 rugby games. Colin and Dylan went off to Pub St at about 22H00 and it was great to have the room to myself. Colin got back just after 00H00 and Dylan got back at 03H00 (and suffered the next day, as he had to get up again at 06H00!).
So that was the end of the first day's sightseeing in Siem Reap.
(It's 20H25 now, probably 26 deg C, we're in Kratie now, about to have supper at U-Hong restaurant after doing the Internet thing. We're arranging a trip tomorrow to see the Irrawaddy dolphins and a Wat on the hill and a swim in the Kampi pools)
So, cheers for now, I'm sure I'll write some more tomorrow, seeing that we finally have time to relax a bit.
Luv
Tammy
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