Umbrellas are probably the most important things to carry here - more for the sun than for the rain....although in Siem Reap you can use them for both within 10 minutes of each other..
The temples are amazing ruins - 100s of them, some enormous, like castles, and others much smaller.. Mostly built in the 11th century by kings, they are adorned with intricate carvings of Buddhas, demons, gods, goddesses, lions, elephants and demon monkeys that look exactly like the evil monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. The walls of some depict long, almost rambling, portrayals of daily life. I did my best Angelina Jolie impersonation at the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. No one asked for my autograph.
The temples, especially the larger ones, are packed with tourists, and this is not even high season.. The Japanese tourist groups are especially fun to watch. They travel in large groups, are very loud and love to pose for the camera. They will stop anywhere, anytime to pose for a photo op. It's almost as is they want the photo more than then seeing the site.
The roots of the tree are growing in and on the temple walls
Watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat, the largest and most famous temple, is especially popular so of course we had to see it. Up at 4:30, and packing a breakfast from the hotel as well as our flashlights, we arrived to discover we were not the only crazy ones, for sure. Unbelievable how many people were there. Like lemmings to the sea, hundreds of flashlight-toting people filed down the long pathway leading to the temple entrance and jostled for position on the shores of the moat in front of the temple.
The sun comes up behind the temple in shades of pink and blue, and then reflects the temple on the water. Spectacular for sure...
Like Sapa, people are always trying to sell you something. Also, like Sapa they follow you, walk with you, constantly pushing you to buy. And the more you ignore them or say no, the lower the prices get.
The little kids are especially aggressive. They sell $1 trinkets, usually postcards - 10 for $1. They all do and say the same thing. "you buy postcards from me," they say with extolling eyes while flashing the cards at you. "look. All photos of Cambodia. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10." One little girl counted to ten in 5 languages, rambling off 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 in German, Spanish, English, Italian and Spanish in lightening speed. They are all so cute and so deserving. It's just not possible to buy from all of them. And you can tell how well they are trained to beg. Today, we parked the car beside 2 little boys who were just hanging out, not selling anything. The minute they saw me get out of the car, they said, "$1.00". Talk about cause and effect - see tourist...ask for money
Another sight that is sadly too common is land mine victim buskers. They sit on mats playing traditional music in the busy tourist spots. A sign in front of them tells who they are and explains that they are asking for money because they have no other source of income.. Sadly, we learned that the government does not take care of them.
Even more of a reality check is today, when we were driving to a temple on the outskirts of town, we passed a land mine clearing crew on the side of the road, not 10 feet from the highway or a local's home. When you get to the temple, a big sign announces that the area has been cleared of land mines.. Phew!! On the way back, our driver pointed to another road that is a short cut but said that it's not safe to use..still land mines there.
Look closely. The red sign says ''danger landmines'
Ok..time for some self-indulgence. I decided to have a massage at the hotel. I probably overpaid - $14 for a one hour full body massage, no oil, meaning fully clothed. The night markets only charge $5....but I'm worth it! Thus woman was unbelievable. She used every part of her body to massage, stretch and manipulate my body. Lying on a double-round couch poolside, the breeze blowing, I could feel her climbing over and around me, sitting on me, pulling, stretching and managing me, turning me, kneeding me. There was not a part of my body, including my fingers, toes and the bottom of my feet, that she did not work her magic on. Did I overpay? I would have paid her.
I grabbed steven to her table. He's there now. I have anther appointment booked for tomorrow.
benita
No comments:
Post a Comment