For our second day of temple-touring, Tayler and I dragged ourselves out of bed to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We were disappointed to find that Pan, the driver whose company we'd enjoyed so much the day before, had passed the reins to another. The new guy--whose name honestly escapes me-- sufficed, but he was no Pan.
We were doubly disappointed to find the sky overcast, the silhouette of the great temple cast against a drab gray rather than a kaleidoscope of color.
We ignored the hordes standing on the grounds waiting in hopes of a drastic meteorological shift, and instead walked straight in to have the place to ourselves for a bit. We wandered through the many chambers and out into the rear courtyard, lit only by the moon.
As daylight began to break and other people started making their way in, we continued toward the back of the compound, looking to outrun the crowds...
... but stopping for many a photo op as we went.
Many, MANY a photo op.
Unfortunately, restoration work had begun on one of the three main stupas, which interfered with the cohesive beauty of the whole, so we chose to take photos with trees obscuring that tower, rather than of the poorly-chosen, abrasively green tarps covering it.
We found the rear gatehouse utterly deserted...
... save for one person perched prettily at the end of the long hallway inside.
The sunrise hadn't lived up to the postcard ideal, but the early morning light proved simply spectacular, painting amber pictures across the sienna stones...
... and giving Tayler the opportunity to work wonders with his camera.
I sat happily for him, knowing that his pics would far surpass my own...
... and stealing some of his poses, as well.
After we'd goofed around the gatehouse and lake for a while, we returned to the inner keep, where access to the central quincunx was now open, via a frighteningly steep set of stairs.
From there we got a close-up view of the lotus-bud towers, the galleries that connect them...
... and the gorgeous carvings within.
Once we'd returned to the ground, we snuck a pic of two kids posing with traditional Cambodian dancers.
We'd skedaddled out of Angkor Wat by 10am, and yet we still had a full day of sight-seeing ahead of us, starting with Preah Kan,where Tayler dared me to scale the walls. (I got higher than in this picture, by the way.)
Further into the temple, a gargantuan tree straddled one of the walls. I stood peering up from the bottom...
... from where I had an awesomely unique view.
I had changed out of my knee-covering dress by this point, but I'd also taken a shine to the Asian custom of carrying a parasol for sun protection. My oh-so-pale skin greatly appreciated it.
Holy people loitered within many of the temples we'd seen, requesting donations for the privilege of lighting an incense stick before makeshift altars, but none had tempted me until I encountered the bewitchingly toothless grin of the tiny Hindu nun of Preah Kan. I solemnly accepted her blessing, and the pure joy I felt as she literally blew away my worries, her face breaking into a beaming smile... well, it may not have been divine, but it felt as close as I've gotten to enlightenment.
Afterward we processed out through another exquisitely overgrown gopura, and back to our tuk-tuk.
Of the central sites, we visited Ta Som last. There I continued my day of respectfully feigned devotion before yet another shrine.
Outside, at each corner of the inner walls, large stone elephants stood watch. I couldn't resist climbing astride one.
Once I'd finished posing on statuary, we jumped back into the tuk-tuk for the long commute to Banteay Sray, the furthest temple of the Angkor Group.
It took 45 minutes, and on the way we had to deal with our driver attempting to scam us into eating at his buddy's over-priced restaurant, but this pink sandstone complex proved worth the hassle. The bas-relief work far outshone that of any other in Siem Reap.
It's main temple, set idyllically in a lily pad-laden srah immediately became my favorite of the day.
It was a charmed afternoon. Picture-perfect scenes kept playing out before us, like a monk striding across the dirt bridge...
... and a young child cooling off in the reservoir.
Beyond the temple, a long wooden walkway led anticlimactically to a completely unexceptional prayer house, surrounded by mossy marshlands.
By the time we'd returned to the tuk-tuk, we were tuckered out. More than that, we were templed out. Our driver took us past one last site before we finished for the day, but we didn't even leave our seats, contenting ourselves with a cursory photo from within the tuk-tuk, and requesting to return to the Palm Lodge.
A lovely afternoon shower cooled us off on our ride back, and we fell into a nap on the bed almost immediately upon entering. That night, we ate at a curry spot on a side street, where we met an off-duty ladyboy named Dee, who told us all about his show, his hairdresser day job, and his German boyfriend/sugar daddy. We promised to come watch him perform that weekend.
Craving more of out perfect-for-peanut-butter bread, we stopped at the local convenience store with two kids trailing at our ankles, carrying babies almost as big as themselves, and shouting "You buy me milk!" Lots of kids loitered by the shops, waiting to try this tack on any tourists passing by, but our two were particularly aggressive, literally barking at any other kids who tried to divert our attentions. I attempted to pick up some condensed milk for them, but it cost so much that I just ended up handing them a couple of dollars instead. They got very pushy at that point, and I advised them not to press their luck.
Since our tickets allowed us 3 days of temple-touring over the course of a week, we took the following day off and spent it instead at a pool. We rented a pair of bikes and took a long ride out to Aqua___, on the outskirts of town, where we lay in the sun, drank at the pool bar, played billiards, covertly ate our PB sandwiches so as to avoid the over-priced bar menu, and cooled off in the somewhat-murky water. Tayler practiced his free-diving breathing and taught me how to blow bubble rings underwater, seeming genuinely impressed that I picked it up at once. At one point, he tried to communicate something to me from across the pool, but I failed to understand his hand signals. I swam up and asked, "You miss Nick (who would have understand immediately), don't you?" He nodded.
We ended the day much as we had the last two, and settled into bed for some rest before our last day at the temples.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Siem Reap, Cambodia
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