At the end of each day (of any trip, even a weekend away)
Greg and I always talk about its highlights.
Today I didn’t even bother asking.
I knew exactly what his answer would be.
We ventured outside of the main circuit of Angkor Wat temples. At 91 degrees, even my camera was hot to the
touch. The temples were all blurring
together, and there wasn’t much Bun could add to their description that he
hadn’t already said. I’m not completely
sure about the names of the temples we visited, but I know we went to Preah
Khan, Ta Som, Neak Pean, Banteay Srei and Pre Rup.
But I didn’t care about any of that – there was no place I’d
rather be!
Our day started super early with the rite of passage that
every visitor to Siem Reap must experience at least once: the sunrise at Angkor
Wat. Our guide picked us up at 4:45am,
and due to his shortcuts, we got the last spot on the reflection pool in front
of the temple. As I was clicking away
focused on not missing any detail of the sunrise, I couldn’t believe I heard my
Brazilian friend Bia calling out hello behind me!
Watching the sunrise at the reflecting pool of Angkor Wat
The sunrise is quite popular
The view as we are leaving - outside the front of Angkor Wat
Preah Khan
There is moss around all the temples that will dry up by February (since winter is the dry season)
The nun said a blessing for me as she tied a string around my wrist. "All is good."
To get to the tiny island temple of Neak Pean you have to cross the lake
The pretty surroundings are what make Neak Pean worth the visit
One detail I enjoyed about the temples were the
apsaras. In Hindu mythology, they are
beautiful, supernatural female beings. They are youthful and elegant, and
superb in the art of dancing. The
temples are full of carvings of them.
Actually, I mostly saw devata, which are slightly different; instead of
dancing they are standing still and facing forward.
When an apsara is standing still it is called a devata
My mission today was to get a picture of a Buddhist monk walking
through a temple. I failed, and only saw
them from a distance; I squashed my impulse to chase them down.
Monk walking door to door collecting alms
One stop on our itinerary that I had mixed feelings about
was visiting Banteay Srei. Getting there
involves about 30 minutes of driving.
The temple is unique in color and stone – instead of being constructed
out of regular sandstone or lava rock, the orange-red sandstone was much more durable which
meant the temple, older than Angkor Wat, had much finer, impressive, detailed carvings. The majority of the temple, which was quite
small, was off limits in the attempt to preserve it; there were signs
everywhere saying do not touch. It was
also the only temple we visited that was commercialized with fancy buildings,
signs, our pricey lunch, and a fee for parking.
It scared me to so clearly envision its future – certainly someday it
will have a building constructed around it to keep it off limits and protected
in a climate-controlled environment.
Banteay Srei
The carvings at Banteay Srei are pristine
Pre Rup - our last temple. "Haven't we already been here?" --Greg
Lighting incense - "Good luck for you."
We didn’t have a long stay in Cambodia but our experience
catapulted it to the top of my list of favorite places to visit. It has a mesh of exotic characteristics:
great weather, good food, cheap beer, lush jungle, intact ancient ruins,
monkeys, inexpensive everything, tuk tuk, and a simple lifestyle. It’s also ultra convenient that their chief
currency is the US dollar (they give change in Cambodian riel). Growth around the 400 square km complex is
strictly limited and must be in the Cambodian style – you almost feel like you
are miles from civilization and simply surrounded by vast beauty. If you haven’t done it already, add it to
your bucket list!
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