What A Day....

After my trip to Koh Chang I was looking forward to Angkor and meeting back up with WWWW. Little did I know what Angkor had in store for us. But first, a few observations about Cambodia.

I didn't realize it was going to be so much poorer than Thailand. Not knowing much about the country beyond a viewing of The Killing Fields about a decade ago and a few random articles I had read about the prosecution or lack thereof of various Khmer Rouge figures, I had just sort of figured it was a ways behind Thailand development-wise but in the same league. I was very wrong. The level of poverty here is something I haven't really seen before. In hindsight I should have realized the killing of something like 1/4 the population in the fairly recent past would lead to some pretty terrible poverty.

The bus ride to Siem Reap was a very scenic one through the countryside of rice paddies and the odd village. There were lots of small houses lining the roadside that all seemed to follow the same general layout - murky pond in the front (many with kids splashing around, it was right around time when school would have gotten off), house on stilts with livestock behind the pond and then the rice paddies in the back. Some of the houses looked pretty nice surrounded by palm trees and seemed like good places to live, as far as poor rural areas go. The other main thing I noticed on the ride in was these really cool vehicles the bus would speed by. They were basically big rototillers that looked just like the one my dad has, only they were attached to long platforms with two wheels in the back. The things were steered by long chopper-like handles that were used to direct the vehicles. I tried to get a picture of one but none came out in the fading light.

After the marathon ride from Koh Chang to Angkor I though I was going to get mugged at one point trying to find the hotel to meet Winnie and Wendy but arrived in one piece around 9 on Monday night. The next day was one to remember....

We awoke at 4:30 am and got bikes at the hotel. We rode to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise. It was well worth dragging myself out of bed for. After exploring Angkor Wat we started biking from temple to temple in the complex. It was one of the most impressive places I've ever been. Amazing temples surrounded by forests combined to make it a very memorable experience.

As we went from temple to temple on bike, the crowds thinned more and more and we semi-intentionally ended up circling the entire Angkor area on bike. People generally do this by taxi or tour-bus and towards the end of our ride we were encountering cows in the road, schoolkids on their way home and no other tourists on bikes. To top it all off we ended up getting lost trying to exit the temple area and ended up going towards the Siem Reap airport instead of town. All in all we rode about 25-30 km on rickety old bikes through some pretty amazing places. Once we finally figured out the way back to our hotel I spotted a gelato place by the side of the road where we stopped. If you want to make gelato taste like the best thing you have ever eaten, try biking for about 10 hours on hot, dusty roads inhaling motorbike and truck exhaust and only eat a small breakfast of noodles around 8 a.m. Needless to say, it was a lifesaver.

We finally arrived back at our hotel around 3 or 4, nearly 12 hours after we had set out. Cold showers were had by all, and I ended up taking a 2 hour nap before we all headed out to dinner. Even though Wendy and I had a weird craving for fish and chips which ended up leading to the worst meal I have had here, nothing could ruin the great mood I was in after an amazing day.

We have just been bumming around today, but are going back to the temples this evening. I'm looking forward to it. Special thanks to Eco, whose recommendation was the main reason I decided to come to Cambodia.

2 final things in what has been a lengthy post - first, thanks to all the commentators! Initially I was a little incredulous that anyone would read my ramblings, but it's been a great feeling hearing from people that I miss back home. Second, I think I am coming back earlier than expected. I was originally planning on going to Bali for several weeks in January, but instead I think I am going to head home after Vietnam. My capacity for laying on beaches is less than I expected, so I think I'm going to fly out of Vietnam near when my visa expires and head back to the states for a month or two. After recharging my batteries, I'm planning on heading down to South and Central America to check that part of the world out. I really want to put my Spanish to use and communicate with some of the locals. I've really missed out in only being able to talk to people in English over here as there have been multiple situations where I could only communicate in a rudimentary way with people that seemed quite interesting. My desire to go to South America was reinforced by the Mexican honeymooners who were sitting with me at this fish massage place today with whom I jabbered away in Spanish for 30 minutes. Below are more pictures...

View from the docks in Bang Bao

Sunset in Bang Bao

The bungalo complex in Bang Bao

Bang Bao lighthouse

Looking down at Bang Bao from one of the new developments

Angkor Wat at sunrise

A main temple gate

Me on the bridge

Me in a temple

Winnie on her bike - I took this while riding along and nearly crashed

Wendy and Winnie coming through a gate

Kid hearding cows, who then proceeded to hit me up for money

Winnie, symmetrical sweat stains, and life-saving gelato