Two days ago I got up early to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I met 3 other people at the hostel who wanted to go as well, which at least brought the price of the tuk tuk down. There was an English guy named Martin, a Dutch girl called Lotte and a Polish guy called Tomas. Tomas didn't speak any English. I'm not sure if he spoke Polish either.
We arrived at Angkor Wat with a few thousand other people and awaited the sunrise. It wasn't particularly good because of the clouds. The temple was impressive. But it was still a temple. Most ancient places you can wander around and try to figure out what each room was used for. At Angkor Wat each room was for praying.
After that we went to get breakfast then went over to have a look at the gates to some other part if the complex. One side of the road leading up to the gate was lined with statues of demons while the other side had statues of humans. Our tuk tuk driver told me it was related to some Buddhist story, but he couldn't remember what.
At the next temple we started to realise Tomas was a few sausages short of a bbq. He had brought a football scarf from his team back in Poland and would pose in front of the temples and make the sign of his football team, which happens to be the L for loser sign. He didn't make it on his forehead, but it still gave us all a giggle. Martin's shorts ripped quite badly as well, which was cause for much merriment as well.
The other temples are probably more interesting to look around. They are missing a trick by not allowing paintball in all these places. The stones are really worn but in the places they aren't there are really intricate carvings. In the past every surface would have had those carvings. It would have rivaled any city on earth in it's prime.
We went to the next temple and climbed up the top. It was a steep climb in the heat. We got yelled out a few times for being in places we weren't supposed to be. The climb down was more difficult. My old knees could barely hold up.
We were excessively sweaty by the time we reached the bottom. Not sweaty enough to take our shirts off and wring them out in front of everyone. Oh hang on, Tomas was that sweaty! Lotte and I both almost threw up. Other tourists were horrified. It wasn't just the sweat wringing, it was also the fact he was mostly stomach and spoke in grunts.
We went back to the tuk tuk and sat down while the driver talked to us about what to do next. While we sat there the front wheel spun to the right and suddenly the tuk tuk was rolling over! We jumped off and managed to save it, but not many people can say they almost rolled a parked tuk tuk.
The last temple was the tomb raider temple. It was my favourite. It is laid out on one level - no stairs. It was made more impressive by the trees that had grown over the temple. Tomas went to get his obligatory loser photo in front of one of these trees. He didn't realise there was a queue, so when he got into position and someone else got into position as well he went into a grunting and stomping fit. It didn't help that he'd bought a shirt 14 sizes too small; skin tight with his belly hanging out below.
After that we left to go back to the hostel. I went immediately to the pool. Tomas came up with his washing and hung it out... on the bar.
All up in glad I did visit the temples. The ticket was us$37, which is really expensive by Cambodian standards, but isn't actually that much. I'll tell you what though, nobody in Cambodia (especially the tuk tuk drivers) are happy that the price has gone up so much. The hotels in Siem Reap are half empty and the tuk tuk drivers are struggling.
That night I went to get food with Lotte and another Dutch girl. I only had a $100 with a slight tear in it. They only accept pristine notes in Cambodia. The tear was about 3 mm long but they could spot it every time. I cut a tiny slither of sticky tape and taped it up, but they could spot the tape too. I ended up leave the other 2 to try to find a place to exchange this note. Every place would tell me another place to go, so I went on this wild goose chase around Siem Reap.
Eventually I hit a dead end and had to enlist the help of a 10 year old girl, as she spoke flawless English. The little legend directed me to one last place. They didn't want to accept the note so I told them they could have it for $90. They discussed it amongst themselves and offered me $95. I thought these people were supposed to know how to haggle.
That night I was up all night with food poisoning. I got the bus yesterday with food poisoning. A nice French lady gave me some medicine on the bus so I don't feel too bad now. The explosions have stopped. I'm in Don Det. It is an island in the middle of the Mekong. I stayed in a bungalow last night so I wouldn't disturb anyone.
I think I'll stay here a couple more nights then move on. This place seems boring. It is very pretty but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot to do.
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