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Day 380
We were picked up at 8:30 am and by 9 we were on the bus and on our way to the boarder. We didn't have aircon, but there was a nice breeze and I slept for most of it anyway. After a few hours we were at the boarder. Getting out of Cambodia wasn't a problem. Ignoring all the children that were begging was harder. We then walked for about 10 minutes and past a casino to the Thai boarder. Here immigration was also easy and we each received the standard 15 days.
Once we had both showered we headed out for some street food and then to have a crazy night in Bangkok, our last. We ended up meeting Mr. Bangkok at a street bar. Mr. Bangkok is a bit of a legend, he drives up and down Kao Sahn Road in a very decorated cyclo. He is also very touchy feely and even when I told him to stop he carried on. I was glad when we left that bar. Nicole and I didn't make it back to our room until the sun was up.
Day 379
We both got a bit of a lie in because we wanted to see the sunset and therefore started later in the day.
Our first temple was called Banteay Kdei. Already the sun was high overhead and it was hot. We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Yesterday there had been a lot of kids around trying to sell things. One girl challenged me to guess the capital of Madagascar and that if I couldn't I would have to buy from her. We were a the major temples though and there were a lot of other tourists around. As soon as they realized that we wouldn't buy from them they just moved on. Today we were visiting some of the lesser visited temples and the kids were very persistent. While we walked down the path to Banteay Kdei a little girl (I later found out she was 10) asked me where I was from. I replied that I was from the moon. Without missing a beat she said "ahh, the capital of the sky. When will you be taking a space ship back?" She had me there and I bought post cards from her. Banteay Kdei turned out to be quite large and it took us some time to see it all.
We then had a very long ride to Banteay Srei and I got a little tuk tuk sick. Due to this we stopped for lunch before heading into the temple. Banteay Srei is considered by many to be the jewel in Angkors crown. It's quite a small temple but has by far the most delicate carvings. They were really amazing and I took loads of pictures of them. The whole temple had a rose tented hue to it as well that shone in the sun.
our next stop was the Land Mine Museum. This had been created by a former KR soldier. He had been drafted as a child. He had spent the last decade finding and deactivating mines, some of which he had planted himself. Many of these explosives were on display along with articles from around the world about him. With the help of his wife they he also started an orphanage for children with disabilities, many of the children living with them had been injured by uxo's. One of the rooms had pictures and stories of each of the kids. They were horrible stories of abandonment and hunger. One child had a withered leg and his parents named him withered leg in Cambodian. I could only read so many before I couldn't take it any more.
After the museum we went to another overgrown temple complex. Here we were pursued by several little girls. We tried to say no thanks and we tried to ignore them. It was just too much to take though. They were dirty and barefoot and all they wanted was for us to spend a dollar on some bracelets. I ended up with several of them. The little girls said that they needed the money for school, but here school is very expensive and there aren't many teachers. The little girls would have given their money to their parents to buy food. The bracelets were added to a scarf and a shirt I had bought earlier in the day.
This temple complex was really overgrown and magical looking. We only had thirty minutes to check it out though, the sunset waits for no one. At one point the heat really started to bug me and I had to sit down for a moment. Nicole said that the color drained from my face and that she was worried that I was about to collapse. I drank some water and then we bought some pineapple on the way out from a woman with a baby in a basket.
After a short drive we joined the tourist droves up a 15 minute hike to a temple on a hill. Climbing to the top of the temple was harrowing because the steps were exceedingly steep and very narrow. I don't know how I made it up there. Once we got up there we took in the view from several angles as the sunset. It was stunning. I keep saying that, but I am really at a loss of words.
For dinner that evening we went to a Mexican place and had some pretty good tacos. Before heading back I went and had a lot of tv shows and movie to my Ipod. I won't be able to go out much at night and these should keep me busy. I also stopped by the market to pick up a few things. Nicole decided to stay out but I was still awake when she came back.
Day 378
We were up early and I got downstairs for breakfast before Nicole. Today was a very exciting day. Today I was going to Angkor Wat.
We had two tuk tuk drivers for the price of one. The older one, who told us to call him Sally, was training his younger brother whose name I can't recall. Sally spoke English well and seemed to know quite a bit about the temples.
Our first stop were the temples in the area known as Angkor Thom, built in the 12th century. This used the be the downtown area of a city, but only the temples remain. The first temple we explored was called Bayon. This is one of the most famous ounes because it has 216 giant heads carved out of stone. No one is really sure who they are meant to depict, but it is most likely the king who built them. Along with the heads there were a lot of carvings on the walls. The best one depicted 12th century Cambodian life.
Close by was one called Baphuon. This temple had been taken apart by archaeologist's before the civil war, but their notes were lost in the mayham. It has taken loads of research to put the stones back together again. Just a bit further down was the Elephant Terrace which was covered in elephants.
Next up was Ta Prohm, this is where Tomb Raider was filmed. The stones of this temple were slowly being choked by the forest. It was just stunning. The forest makes it magical, but it is also slowly destroying the temple and there are ares that are roped off due to an imminent chance of collapse. I took us some time to wander around the entire complex.
The last temple of the day was Angkor Wat, the whose three spires is on everything from the flag to the beer in Cambodia. This is also the largest religious building in the world. It took us forever to go through each of the corridors and I'm sure that we missed one or two. The whole thing was just amazing. In fact, everything about the Angkor temples was just amazing. Even my jaded mind was blown away.
Before getting dropped off we picked up a bus ticket for Bangkok and set a time for the next day with our tuk tuk driver.
It had been beyond hot all day and we were happy to have only cold water showers. For dinner that night we went to Dead Fish again. Afterwards we went to a few bars before heading back to our hotel and calling it a night.
Day 377
We were up early and both of us were in a real rush to pack. It wasn't long before our mini bus arrived and in no time we were being transfered to a really nice bus. The roads in Cambodia used to be really terrible, but in the last 4 years they have paved most of the major ones. It was smooth gliding for the 5.5 hour trip to Siem Reap. When we arrived a tuk tuk offered us a free ride as long as we would use them to take us to the temples the next day and we accepted. The hotel I picked (it was my turn) was basic but cheap and had a garden like atmosphere. There were also some cute cats hanging around.
We went to a couple more places but ended up at the bar in town called Angkor What?. After a bucket we decided to call it a night and headed back to our room.
