Templed Out!!
Trip Start
Nov 08, 2007
1
13
15
Trip End
Nov 24, 2007
Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Anyway, moving on! Today was a fabulous day! We got up at 4:30am to head to Angkor Wat for sunrise with the taxi driver we hired last night. It was $25 which is a little bit higher that most, but still a fair deal. He took us to every temple we wanted to see and then back to the guesthouse around lunch time and then back out at sunset.
This morning, in pitch-black darkness, we ambled up the stairs and across the moat to the gates of Angkor
Angkor Wat
. We sat there in the quiet solitude of 350-400 other people whispering waiting on the sun to rise. It was absolutely surreal to see the sun come up and illuminate the structure we had only seen prior in pictures and internet satellite images (Allen, of course!) It was facing the west, so the sun came up behind it, so we took several shots of the silhouette and then moved around to the east for some better shots. Wow, it was just awesome. There are all these very detailed carvings that must have just taken years and years to complete. We should have hired a guide to really get the inside scoop on things but just wondered around on our own taking it all in. Got some great shots, but they will never do it justice. It was just awe inspiring to see what these people from so many years ago, and under different rulers, worked on to create. We looked around at various sites all morning and took TONS of pictures! Favorites were, of course Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom and the Bayon (as all the guidebooks will tell you!) These places were just teeming with good photo opps (and annoying "tourist types" :)) Y'all just are going to love the photos!
At about 12:30 we headed back into town and...took a nap! Okay, I napped, Allen dozed while watching some old Eddie Murphjy movie (only thing in English, I guess) After that we headed to the Khmer Family Kitchen for lunch
Elephant in the street
. Cheap, good regional food. I had some pumpkin soup and Allen had another serving of Khmer curry. I was still feeling kind of queasy and some fresh pineapple juice sent me over the edge, but after another little hour of rest we were ready to go back out for a little more temple viewing. We went back to Angkor, which is the main "tourist attraction" and took the obligatory shot in the reflection pool. It's a pretty cool shot aside from the green tarps over a couple sections of the temple. Then we busted hump, literally running ap this mountain path to get to this place that people said was great for sunset. I forgot the name, but it was totally not worth it. A pretty view, sure, but not worth spending your sunset moments there. There were TONS of other people there too which kind of made it less magical. Glad we had at least seen Angkor again before the sun went down.
Made our way back to the guesthouse and took good hot showers and headed to the old market for dinner in an Indian place that Allen thought looked good. He was right! I ate mostly bread b/c of the still "delicate" stomach, as the Brits called it, but it was really good. I ate a few bites of what Allen ordered too and it was yummy!!
Then we both has great hour long massages for a grand total of $15 with the tip and are now off to bed. Sleeping in tomorrow!!
Love J and A
