NOTE: I've had to "googlize" this blog. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause......

The next thing I knew, my alarm was ringing. It was dark in a country where the sun gets up early, and I was stumbling around looking for my keys. I managed to make it to the front stoop, and in a few minutes, Dara was by to pick me up. The differences between Thailand were starting to sink in. For the first time in months, I was driving on the right hand side of the road (save for the brief mission into Myanmar, but I was cycled about on the side streets there); "Sawasdee khrap" was now "Sua s'dei", and the 35:1 of baht to Canuck dollars was now 4000:1 US. The people here look quite different, more of an Indian influence than Chinese. And there were less stray dogs.

We pulled up to Angkor Wat at the break of dawn...I remember saying to myself "Hey, that's the break of dawn"...., and Dara pulled over. It turns out he wasn't coming in, so I had not so much a guide but taxi driver, shame (see the bad man busting some style in pic). Angkor Wat was originally constructed in the early 12th century as a temple in honour of the god Vishnu ("wat" means temple). It is a supposed model of the universe, centered around the towers representing the fabled Mt. Meru, the grounds representing the continents, and surrounded by a moat representing the oceans. I crossed the moat, kind of rushing to see what the big deal was about. I entered through a gate in the wall into a huge court yard, a field, really. I saw a crowd of people cluster along the edge of a pond to my right, and figured they must know something I don't. (The buildings do make a nice reflection on the pond.) It was still waaay to early to deal with a crowd of tourists. So I ventured straight into the ruins.

After a bit of wandering, I found myself alone on the steps of a tall temple, staring down on a series of concentric walls which ringed the structure, and out across the jungle, just as the sun began to rise (see top pic). The limestone around me glowed red through the light jungle mist, and effect that was augmented by the droning chants of monks which actively practice at some of the local temples. I couldn't see or hear anyone else, either. Everyone else was still outfront taking millions of digital pictures of Angkor Wat warmed by the sun, (though it meant taking a picture INTO the sun, a tough one to pull off). I had the place to myself, and is one of the first things that come to mind when asked "So...what were the highlights?"

Over the next few hours, I was ferried about from complex to complex. The area is quite large, and distances can be two or three kilometers from one site to the next. North of Angkor Wat lies the walled city of Angkor Thom, which in the 13th century was the hub of activity for a population of 1 million people, the height of Khmer civilization. Inside, some highlights were the Bayon, with 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara (?) leering at you from all directions (said to keep watch on the far-reaching points of the kingdom; see pic) and the Royal Enclosure of Phimeanakas, the Celestial Palace. The Enclosure contained two interesting features: the intricate detail of the Elephant Terrace, the site where Khmer kings would mount their elephants (good name), and the Terrace of the Leper King, where an ancient renovation covered up a pre-existing wall with ornate carvings that are now accessible by tourists, untouched by time and the elements. It's amazing how this place inspires everyone to take up creative photography....to the point where walking through the complexes without spoiling the shots of others is a bob-and-weave exercise akin to evading laser security. There was also plenty of opportunity to hone the art of waiting for the moment when no one is in the frame.

Touring the temples means a lot of climbing steps...bring good shoes. Many of the temples are built to represent mountains, which in turn represent heavenly spots. The steps are steep, requiring that the climber bend a bit forward and use his hands, enforcing that those who wanted to enter bow before those to whom the temples were built. Bottom is a pic of Pre Rup, a temple-mountain, bottom.

I told Dara about a temple I wanted to see a little further out called Bantay Samre, and after protesting that it wasn't part of the "official tour", he came around when I told him he'd be getting off early that day. He claimed that I'd be missing some temples. I replied that in the last 10 I'd seen temples in Sukhothai, Lopburi, and Ayuthaya. The odd one was going to squeak by me. Besides, I was planning on coming back again the next day, by bicycle, and picking up on this, Dara pressed and guilted me about another day of work. I think that he gets one chance a week to pick up a ride from the airport, then milk them for tours. I still declined, thinking I could pretty much do what this guy did, and simply tired of the constant upsell. I was back at my guesthouse soon enough, where I fended off a last attempt to get hired ("Aw, now I have nothing to do tomorrow...."), shook his hand, and headed upstairs.

I headed back out shortly after to take a look at the market, which turned out to be a bit of a spree. Sigh. I quickly had to figure out how to get all these trinkets packed in my bag. The Cambodians are persistent sales people, especially the little kids. Before I had my "cute kid" guard up, I bought some postcards from a little girl. Seeing this, another younger girl came running over to sell me HER postcards. By now, I had 10 more postcards than I knew what to do with, and wasn't planning on buying anymore. She followed me around, wailing "why you no buy from ME?", accompanied by incessant fake crying, and mirroring my every move. My strategies for ditching her were forced to become more elaborate, as nothing seemed to work. No matter where I went, she always ended up in eyeshot, whining away. I think I finally button-hooked around a security guard.

Another interaction went down as follows:

"Wanna buy a bracelet?"

- No.

"You buy bracelet?"

- No.

"It look good, buy bracelet for you?"

- No.

"You have girlfren?"

- No.

"You know why you no have girlfren'?"

- No.

"Because you no buy my bracelet."


And she runs off, leaving me to contemplate the reasons for my singledom. I headed home for a nap, after which I planned to get some food and check out the town's nightlife. I awoke to my chagrin at 12:45 am - the night gone, no central food places open, and not tired at all. After a bit of looking, I was at least able remedy one situation by locating a series of fried rice shacks... a hearty helping of which remedied the sleep problem as well.