angkor wat

sorry for the delay, again, in blogging. we've returned home and had a bit of trouble adjusting to the time change. we've been a bit zombie-like for the last few days.

angkor wat at sunset. we didn't get the colors we expected from sunset, but a rainbow will always suffice.

since cambodia became a more safe (and popular) place to visit angkor wat has enjoyed a lot of press. when they re-named the wonders of the world it was included. since becoming a unesco world heritage site unicef stepped in and cleared out all the land mines in the siem reap area. now the tourist dollars bring in a lot of money for families selling anything and everything along the sides of the road. (more on the kids selling stuff later)

some history: the ancient town of angkor was believed to be mythical until a frenchman stumbled upon it (literally) while walking through the jungle. archeologists were called in and the entire place excavated. it was the largest pre-industrial city in the world at 400 square miles. since about 1994 a japanese team has been working to recreate the wats (temples) and buildings within the area. the major sites have been rebuilt attempting to use the same materials originally used. for safety's sake some materials were altered, i.e. more of one type of sand versus another to create a more stable mixture. this is good news since the public can walk virtually anywhere they choose.

dan explores the interior of angkor wat.

to explore the angkor area you have several options. you can rent a bike, but the 35 degree celsius and 98% humidity weather report was enough to deter us from that option. on the other extreme, your hotel can arrange for you to have a guide who speaks your language accompany you in an air conditioned van or luxury sedan. this is an expensive, and lame looking, way to see the ruins. there's nothing more annoying than being nudged off the road by a giant hotel car escorting one or two people through the riff-raf of poorer tourists and locals. then getting nudged off of the walkway through the ruins by a peach-shirted tour guide and those same one or two people can really get under your skin. no, dan and i chose the happy medium choice, a local tuk-tuk driver named Sok, who took us to all the best spots, crowded and not, and then waited for us (read: had a drink, smoke or snooze) while we explored. (moms: don't worry, Sok being inebriated was the least of your concerns as far as the safety of a tuk tuk goes. i know you both are cringing. Sok was really very responsible.)

should you be headed to Siem Reap, we know just the guy to take care of all your transportation needs. (thanks Uncle Carter, for the recommendation, we had a great time!)

our favorite of the wats and buildings within angkor were the overgrown areas that really reminded you of the fact that this was once covered in jungle. while this was not the oldest ruin i had ever seen, it was the most, i don't know, ruinous...? ephesus and the ancient buildings of greece and italy are dramatic and impressive, but they didn't quite inspire the feeling of lost civilization that angkor did.

ta prohm, the most jungle-fied of the angkor buildings, is a good example of just how old, and dramatic, these ruins are. btw, the tree that sits atop these roots is at least 30 ft tall. we couldn't fit it all in one frame. next time we'll bring the wide angle lens.

and, though these ruins are more recent than the parthenon or the coliseum, the detail of the carvings, and sheer quantity of them (every surface is intricately carved with representations of apsara dancers, floral and religious motifs) is awe inspiring. several of the gates surrounding wats and other important buildings are capped by giant carved faces - said to be that of the king - that watch over every cardinal direction.

i always feel like somebody's watching me...

typical wall carvings

in addition to the abundance of carvings and jungle flora are the cambodian children selling bracelets, trinkets, postcards, and silk scarves following you through the temples. "one dollar! ten for one dollar, see? one, two, three..." then they count in german, spanish and other languages. then they ask you where you are from and spout the capital, neighboring states or nations, and the population of your respective country. tired of the hard sell, dan and i attempted to find a location that the kids couldn't spout facts for. cruel, i know. guam worked. we think that whoever supplies the kids with their identical wares is also coaching them in selling techniques because they, too, are identical. we couldn't help thinking there is some overlord in downtown siem reap taking 80% of the kids' profits.

some kids have learned to capitalize on their cuteness. after dan snapped this picture these boys asked him for a dollar.

children in cambodia go to school for only 1/2 a day so that they can work for the other half of the day. the fact that english is taught in school after age 10 has given the children a far greater selling advantage over their parents. they teach their younger siblings and parents the key phrases they need to sell, but the 10-15 set are keen to practice their conversation skills with native speakers. one little girl helped me climb down a treacherous set of stairs. "be careful, ma'am! over here is better!" then she skipped off down the broken stones to get her basket of bracelets. i bought two. waiting for the sun to set over angkor wat dan and i completely gave in and bought a coconut to drink the water from. we were also given two chairs and a prime view of the wat. all for a dollar. we were approached by several kids who charmed us into buying 30 bracelets for two dollars - what a deal! now if i only needed 30 bracelets... . then they stayed and hung out with us, fanning themselves and us. i even got a handwritten thank you note and a drawing after our conversation. but we learned that we were not the only ones getting a good deal. one little boy, with a nasty looking harelip, is apparently the top salesman in the area, one time even receiving a cell phone as payment for a book on Pol Pot. looks like i'm not the only one who can't resist children selling stuff.

there is something really magical about angkor wat. you get the hard sell everywhere you go but the people are friendly and seem genuinely happy you're there. there are bus loads of tourists carving their own designs in the mud, and crawling on every available surface to get the perfect picture of their friends flashing peace signs, but there are areas in which you are alone with the ruins, marveling at the ingenuity of humanity. at the end of three days, we were amazingly not sick of temples and carvings and couldn't wait to see more. angkor wat simply has an atmosphere that is unique.