Glorious Exhaustion!

Trip Start Jun 13, 2005

Trip End Jul 27, 2005

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Flag of Cambodia Siem Riep, Cambodia
Saturday, July 2, 2005

SOoooooooo TIRED!!! We woke up early this morning, hopped next door to IVY II, and ate a good hearty breakfast. We then rented bikes for $2 a day. The bike ride to the entrance for the Angkor temples is about 7 miles... this was a bit crazy. Getting used to the type of traffic youe experience here takes some time certainly. Also, lets be honest, i am a fool on a bike. I never really rode a bike much as a kid, and hadn't ridden one since then untill paris last year, and then i rented one for Cambridge. In Cambridge there was the infamous 'lily t-boning other cyclist' incident, where i forgot which way to look and just sorta slammed into some poor girl on her bike. I think Beth is in just about the same boat, not oh-so-comfortable biking. Regardless, beth and i set off, and made it to the gate safely... though already completely drenched in sweat, not to mention my pedal perpetually fell off and only one of beth's breaks worked. We showed our passes and biked another 7 miles to Angkor Wat, the biggest and most famous of all the temples

soooo sweaty and exhausted.... soooo worth it!

. We parked our bikes, and set off to explore this compound. It was breathtaking in a way that these words will never describe. The beauty, and that sense of serenity that just washes over you like a wave once you enter, the butterflies floating around like weightless petals, the monks, the incense, the ancient carvings from another time... its magical. We climbed ALL THE WAY to the top! The last and third set of steps are not so much steps as ther are a rock ladder, its much more like rock-climbing than going up steps. Beth got half way up and had a moment of... "crap, how do we get down???!!!". When we got to the top, we walked around, lit incense and visited all 4 of the buddha's (supposed to be good luck), and just sort of found these openings and looked out at the jungle. I think we sat for a good 2 hours, alternating between chatting and silent contemplation. LOVELY! Then we ventured out of the Angkor Wat temple complex and decided to go it in foot, so as to avoid the pedal falling off issue. We walked many a mile checking out temples on teh way. Everyone thought we were crazy... the thai workers on teh side of the road, the tourists, the tuk tuk drivers... even the fat monkeys sitting on the side of the road like statues. Aparantly tourists dont walk- - - um, okay, well i have legs... soooo its all good. We spent a good deal of time at another temple (not sure which one though), got some cold water, doctored our blisters, tried to ignore the centimeter thick layer of dirt and sweat all over us, and saw clouds rolling in... We decided it was time to head back. Our walk back was amazing. We were passed the point of exhaustion, got to love endorphines! There were soooo many monkeys! And we started getting alot of respect from the tuk tuk's and thai workers... one tuk tuk driver even yelled "way to go!" and pumped his fist at me as he drove past. Apparantly by the time we saw them the second time, and were still walking and going strong, they realized we werent backing out

this fat monkey fell out of a tree...

. Got to love that feeling. Then a monkey almost jumped on my head from a tree... thoughts of crazy disseases and rabies sent be bolting away from the tree. The bike ride back was exhausting again, and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of water and a shower. And then we made it!!! We feel soooo accomplished, this was an insane amout of physical exhertion... and the reward was so sweet. We showered and dropped off our bikes. Now well go grab some dinner at the red piano, angelina jolie's favorite digs in Siem Riep... we ate there last night AMAZING!!! The thai curry, coconut milk, potatoes, chicken dish is really out of this world. And were enjoying poultry while we still can! Damn bird flu. Anywho, ill update again soon. Only one more day at the temples... so sad.