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June 22, 2006
Tomb Raiding
I can't even express how content I feel now that I've seen Angkor Wat. Since I first read about the temples five years ago, I have been waiting and waiting to finally see them. And I can honestly say that in no way was I let down.
Emma and I were lucky because one of our Cambodian tutors from Michigan is from Siem Riep, and he was able to set us up with one of his friends that is a guide there.
The first ancient city we went to in the morning was Angkor Thom. It's biggest temple is called "Bayon" and it is famous for the numerous carved faces. Despite the beauty and fame of Angkor Wat, there weren't as many tourists as I expected. Apparently it's the low-season. The only tourists that were numerous were the Koreans which came in on tour buses. More Koreans visit Angkor Wat than any other nationality.
At Angkor Thom, our guide let us go off and explore by ourselves. I was able to go down to the depths of the temple and be completely alone. First, I went to a Buddha statue and I lit some incense for my grandmother while a Buddhist nun said a blessing. Then, as I continued exploring, an ancient Cambodian man, wrinkled and hunched over, emerged from the shadows and grabbed my arm. He was speaking in a mixture of Khmer and French and leading me over to a hidden part of the temple. There he gave me a flash light and let me see a deep well with inscriptions on it. It was quite an amazing experience.
After Angkor Thom, we drove out to the famous jungle temple, Ta Prohm. This temple was unique in that it had literally been swallowed by the jungle. Giant trees have grown over the stone and now grip the doorways like claws. It was really beautiful, but a bit more crowded than the other temples due to the fact that it was popularized by its appearance in "Lara Croft Tomb Raider."
At midday, we broke for lunch. We ate quickly, knowing that the tour buses had to go all the way back to town for a longer lunch. We wanted to go to Angkor Wat when there were no crowds. To reach the center of Angkor Wat, you have to walk down very long stone walkways, cross a moat, go through two walls, and finally, climb up a very steep and crumbling stone staircase. And we had to do all of this in the heat of 1 pm; the tempature was around 100 degrees. It was all worth it though. Once at the top, the view is incredible. And we were practically alone up there! There were only a few other tourists and some monks. Emma and I again got to explore by ourselves.
At the end of the day, we climbed a hill to watch the sunset. Unfortunately it was too cloudy so we gave up and went back to our guesthouse (we were also completely wiped out!) It didn't matter to me that we missed the sunset, because I was totally happy. This is such a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm so grateful.
Angkor Wat is something that has to be seen at least once in your lifetime.
Posted by laraf at June 22, 2006 10:47 PM