Angkor Wat Temple Tour

I'm so flattered to hear from those of you who are reading my blog! Thank you, and I hope I can keep sending out stuff worthy of your interest.

It's certainly been an intriguing couple of days in Siem Reap. I rather expected Cambodia to be on par with India in terms of frenetic energy and shocking culture, and instead I am pleased to find a more relaxed, gentler place here. Smiles are more regular, beggars more rare, and even the touts that harry tourists seem to do so with a sense of humor and leisure. At one temple, a small girl learned my name, and remembered me when I emerged from sightseeing an hour later. She switched languages along with me from English to Spanish to French to Italian to Chinese, laughing each time at the game. As I drove away, she waved goodbye, "Okay, Sarah. I see you next time, then you buy a star!"

We've done a complete tour of the Angkor temples, stunning memorials to a grand civilization. Angkor Wat is of course the most famous, best preserved, and most overrun by tourists. The complex is surrounded by a picturesque moat, rising up as corrugated towers meant to emulate the closed lotus blossom. It is the quintessential photo-opportunity. But so is every other ruin...

Lest I digress into guidebook descriptions of each spot, suffice that each is distinctively beautiful. Bantey Srei has especially exquisite carving, Angkor Thom sprawls impossibly in all directions. Ta Prohm, a less restored and still overgrown temple, was especially beautiful. Jayavarman VII constructed the temple's face image to represent Prajnaparamita, the personification of wisdom, which was modeled after the face of his mother. I plan on paying similar tribute to my mom when I grow up and run my own civilization. (thanks for paying for my education, parents!)

A favorite spot was the Srah Srang temple, which rises up in a pyramid high enough above the trees to give a view back to Angkor Wat in the distance. The steps to the structure are guarded by pairs of lions at each level. Removed a bit from the press of tourists, this temple offered a reflective quiet. It was a good time to contemplate what this all must have looked like in the 12th Century. Hard to imagine... as Parisians were building Notre Dame, the Khmer civilization was in full swing along the shores of the massive Tonge Sap Lake. Then the Thais moved in.

After a full day of temples, we wandered the more modern meccas of Siem Reap: the night market and the nightclub district. The night market is geared squarely toward tourists, offering all sorts of pretty goods: silk purses, silver jewelry, shells, turquoise, wood carvings, t-shirts. Peculiarities abounded, too. At every corner was a gaggle of tourists with their feet in a shallow aquarium full of tiny fish that "massage" feet by eating off dead skin. Nauseating. The lively streets and alleyways overflowed with open air restaurant seating. Lights, hawkers, the occassional trio of she-male prostitutes. This was the section of town where backpackers set up camp... we'd been wondering what happened to all the Americans at night! We invested a dollar in greasy, gooey "crepes" from a street vendor, who filled the dough with condensed sweetened milk and Milo powder. Finally we tracked down our tuktuk driver, Mr. Vannam, and headed home.

Today is sunnny and beautiful, and we take to the skies again to fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). From there we wander into Vietnam.

Best,
Sarah