Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor, Days 1-2 (May 8-9th)

Tayler had been unable to find a place to store his many belongings, so crossing into Cambodia made for a comical sight, laden as he was with a full 70-liter pack, a bulging daypack, a guitar, and scuba gear. Thank god he'd managed to offload his surfboard before he'd left the Gilis, or we mightn't have fit in the minibus! He barely fit in there himself as it was!




When the driver tried to strong-arm us into allowing him to handle the formalities "for a fee", we realized that we should have paid for one bus to the border and then another one onward, rather than one which would carry us all the way to Siem Reap, but we learned our lesson, handled the crossing on our own, and got a share-taxi on the other side.
Once in Siem Reap, the taxi driver ignored my instructions and dropped us at a slightly out-of-the-way hostel where he surely made a commission. Tayler liked the place well enough, so we stayed, but by the end of the night, I'd started looking for somewhere else, on principal.
Just before sunset we put together a pot luck supper of local snacks, which we ate by the riverside, watching local urchins play in the water. (Sadly, both of us had forgotten our cameras; this is another river in Siem Reap, but you get the idea.)




I parted with half of my meal to a pair of little ones who came begging the minute we'd sat down; Tayler smiled and called me a softie. But I would see him do the same many a time over the next two weeks, so pot, meet the kettle.
The next morning we moved to a better room and a less-sketchy atmosphere at the Palm Garden Lodge. There, the proprietor set us up with a tuk-tuk driver named Pan, who would take us around the temples for two days, starting right then.




At a nearby grocery, we grabbed a jar of chunky peanut butter and the thickest, most peanut-butter-perfect bread ever, with which we would make our lunch. After we'd picked up our 3-day pass from the authorities, we set out for Prasat Kravan and Banteay Adei, two small temples near the entrance. Though lovely, neither overwhelmed us.
But then we went to Ta Prohm.




Great trees climbed over and around the many outposts of this magnificently dilapidated temple--




-- familiar to many from the movie "Tomb Raider", which we watched later that night.




Afterward, we moved on and climbed the many steps of Ta Keo...




... and checked out the small series of temples at Chau Say Thevada...




...and Thommanom...




... before passing over the moats...




... and through the massive Eastern gate of the ancient walled city of Angkor Thom.




Within those walls, we explored the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King at the lovely Preah Palilay with its stair-climbing trees.




Sadly, at Baupuon, a still-active place of worship, I could not enter because of my bare shoulders. I had brought a sarong to cover my legs, but I'd forgotten my sweater.




Tayler climbed to the top and waved down at me, as I tried to find a way of wrapping my sarong in such a way as to cover the necessary body parts, but the guard wasn't having it.




Fortunately, spectacular Bayon, the grandest of the Angkor Thom temples, presented no such problem.








Atop this mammoth shrine, placid faces stared at us from the rocks.




... some baring a striking resemblance to my travel buddy.




Monks traversed the stone pathways, come on pilgrimages of their own.




As we climbed down from Bayon and trundled out of Angkor Thom, the sun began to sidle down toward the horizon. Tayler and I both felt pretty tuckered out, but Pan convinced us of the necessity of seeing the sunset from Phnom Baken. So there we went. And there we sat for an hour, perched on a balustrade facing West, before the guards unceremoniously evicted us and the many other tourists seated there twenty minutes before sunset. Ah, well.




That night we ambled down to the night market for some cheap local eats. Thus far, I hadn't fallen in love with Cambodian cuisine; most choices involved either fried foods or copious amounts of sugar, and all came with heaps of rice, but the fresh fruit shakes impressed me to no end. I'd had three different combinations by the end of dinner, my favorite being pineapple, coconut, and banana. I had an urge to try the Dr. Fish experience, where little fish eat the dead skin off of your feet while you sit on the edge of a small pool, drinking a beer. And all of this, right on the sidewalks of Siem Reap. But we'd exhausted ourselves so thoroughly that day, that staying out even a moment longer felt like too much effort. So we slunk back to the guesthouse, downloaded "Tomb Raider," and vegged out.

Location:Siem Reap, Cambodia