Cambodia Part 2
Trip Start
Jun 18, 2008
1
40
46
Trip End
Sep 04, 2008
Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Before I move on, though, I have a couple other things to mention. First, Angkor Wat is practically indescribable through words. (Adam's post has some pictures.) Everything is impressively large in scale and I didn't have a mental images bank preventing me from seeing what was right in front of me. For example, how many people visit Stonehenge in person and leave feeling anti-climactic, like that's it? Angkor Wat is different because even pictures can't quite do it justice, and each temple is more magnificent than the next. As it was, that makes sense because the kings building the temples were all trying to outdo each other; think: Egyptian pharoahs and their pyramids.
The most memorable two temple complexes were of course Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm. We stayed after the sunrise when the Angkor Wat temple was relatively empty. Remember, it was all of 5:30 a.m. and many of the sunrise visitors scattered, probably to eat breakfast. Having the temple largely to ourselves in certain parts was very enchanting. While our guide, Mr. Lucky, explained Hindu symbols to us in broken English, I daydreamed about the French who first stumbled upon the ruins and imagined what such a tremendous discovery must have been like for them.
Ta Prohm was also incredible because of the overgrown trees that had entangled themselves into the temple ruins. The giant roots of trees (that were often many trees in one because of the parasitic tree species) looked as if they were simultaneously responsible for the ruins disrepair as well as keeping the old stones rooted to the ground. Plus, Ta Prohm is where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider, and it was very amusing to hear all the tour guides say her name in many different languages. Chinese-Chinese-Chinese-Angelina. French-French-French-Angelina. German-German-German-Angelina. Anyway, although I still think Chinese babies are the cutest, I can better understand now why she wanted to adopt a Cambodian child.
Speaking of Cambodian children, their begging was such a menace because of how hard it was to keep saying no. But you catch on to their routines, which means they must have a (for lack of a better word) pimp who coaches them how to best manipulate people into buying. However, one kid, in particular, approached me at an outdoor cafe while pointing to his mouth and then his stomach. He wanted what was left of my lunch, and I was ashamed by my horror of his hunger as he devoured my food.
On the whole, Siem Reap was a charming city and one of the most rewarding travel experiences I've ever had. Though it's still disappointing we couldn't make it to Thailand, the trade-off of spending more time in Cambodia was definitely an awesome benefit.
