Day 64: Ever heard of Angkor Wat?

Awake at 4:30am to the sound of a torpedo alarm, thank you iPhone. Try to process where I am, how high off the ground my mattress lies, and why I'm up so early ... Oh yeah, it's Ancient Wonder of the World day! Climb down 200 feet of ladder, touch ground, pillage my bags for my camera, ATM card,  and mossi spray. Lather myself in Deep Off with deet, make sure Shannon is moving, and head out to catch the Aggie game update on my iPhone. 28 seconds left in the second, we're up 68-62 to Nebraska who had just come off an upset win against a fairly good Missouri. Shannon appears, I feel good enough about the score, we run down to our awaiting Tuk Tuk, and we're off.

Side note: for those unaware, a tuk tuk is probably my favorite form of transportation. Basically it is a carriage attached to a motorbike with proper roof, bench seats with backs, no windows or walls on any side, just a few railings. You feel completely exposed to all the elements, feel the dust on your face, wind through your hair, every smell tickling your nose. And for $15usd, you can have the driver take you and your friends from all over the Angkor temples from sun up to sun down - brilliant 

First stop is the ATM, I'm flat out of cash and bartering works better when you have a means to barter with. First ATM, slide card in, go through the pin and cash part, screen flashes, "transaction complete", no money has appeared. What? I take my card, look at the camera on the machine, show I received nothing, not sure what I need to do. Hustle back to tuk tuk. Can you take me to another ATM? That one said transaction complete, gave me back my card, but no cash. We hit up ANZ Royal, put my card in, accept the exorbitant charge, more on that in a moment, proceed through everything, transaction complete, card spit out, no cash. What the what? Pull out my card, about to curse, catch the screen change, "After transaction complete, please take your cash." I look down, the ATM is spitting out my money. Holy crap, tuk tuk, back to the other ATM, andele, andele! Still dark out, still no one stirring, and still no cash at the ATM. Blurgh, did the machine rip me off, did someone see me walk off without the cash and steal my money, their fault, my fault, stupid design fault? Yes. 

Now onto a few thoughts about the banks. The ANZ Royal ATM has a $4 surcharge, my bank charges me $3, combined it's costs me $7 per transaction - highway robbery! Banks and ATM's have a great scam going on. Besides the occasionally thievery of my cash, aka first ATM, they give you a poor exchange rate making money on the difference and then they zap you with fees, bastards! But you are at their mercy, so you suck it up, take it on the chin and focus on how to spend that cash to make it worthwhile.  

Head down a dusty, pothole strewn, poorly lit alley, pick up Tristan, then it's off to Angkor for sunrise. Stop by the ticket station, pay $20usd each and continue on the journey. We are now in a forest, the road lit up by all the tuk tuks and buses heading to the same destination. We round a corner and catch our first glimpse of Angkor Wat. The moat, which encircles the entire compound is 2 football fields wide, steaming in the brisk morning air, adding an air of mystique to the mighty stone walls encasing this temple. Round the next corner, pull up to the steps leading to the enormous stone bridge spanning the width of the moat. We reach the first building, supposing that this is Angkor, with it's grandeur, scale, detailed architecture. It's not, it's merely the gatehouse leading to what lies ahead. Follow the crowds, 2 corridors later exit the other side, throngs of people scattered everywhere on the walls, steps, lawn, positioned for the sunrise. We look out, and there it is, beautiful Angkor Wat. The sheer magnitude and scope make it hard to describe, hard to imagine, hard to take in. Breathtaking, overwhelming, intriguing, simply unbelievable. The bridge continues out the gatehouse a good 500m, spanning beautiful lush fields of green, several other large structures rest on either side of the bridge, on their own anywhere else seen as magnificent, here seeming small and secondary. We begin to make the walk,  hints of a sunrise peaking from the east.

Half way across the bridge, just at the crossroads of the two large minor structures, small Cambodian man pops up out of nowhere. "You want breakfast? I give you good spot for sunrise, in front of lake." I am hungry, Tristan, Shannon? Ok, let's see this great spot for sunrise. 5 minutes later we have front row seats on the north side of the bridge, directly in front of a lake facing east to Angkor Wat, it's reflection glistening off the water.  

Breakfast was $2 or $3usd. And yeah, that is how it was quoted. The Cambodian people have a currency, it's called Riel and it's about 4200 Riel to $1usd. However, everything is quoted in US dollars. On menus, for Internet, in the markets, literally everything is quoted in good ole American dollars. They sincerely prefer it and it simplifies all the calculations of different currencies in my head, baht, ringgit, sing, rupiah, Riel, etc.

Breakfast was a baguette, tomato onion omelet, and a banana milkshake. Our plastic chairs were pulled right up to the edge of the mud that led to the lake, front row joes we are. And here it comes. At first, light infuses the air, everything becomes more clear, more detailed, more visible. We wait, knowing the bright yellow orb is to make it's appearance any moment. And there it is, glistening between the towers and the turrets, shimmering off the lake. Majestic, magical, magnificent ... What other M word would work here, um ... Momentous - hmm, scratch the last descriptor. Basically, it was cool. It rose, we took a thousand pics, and then we proceeded to enter the mammoth of a structure. So much detail, so much workmanship in every cavernous room. An hour later, on the second tier we find that just 2 weeks ago they opened the 3rd level to explore. 

By level or tier, I'm speaking about climbing maybe 50 feet at almost 90 degrees on tiny steps maybe 3 or 4 inches deep, a minimum of 12 inches high each, anywhere from 2 to 10 feet wide in parts. These are the kind of climbing that requires use of both feet and hands. This is not a feature specific to Angkor Wat either, all temple designers of this time thought it wise to build this way, OSHA back home would be having a fit.  

Now I could go on for pages about each of the temples, we saw 9 or 10 in all. Each amazing and spectacular in it's own right, but to save both you and I some time, I will highlight my 3 favorites. I've already mentioned in some detail about Angkor Wat, take a gander at google images for more insight. Massive and magnificent does not do it justice. The other two in no particular order is Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom's Bayon.

Angkor Thom was actually a 6.2 mile gated city with several temples inside, one being Bayon. Built in the late 12th century, It's said to have had over a million occupants at its peak, when London was a bustling town of 50,000. All residential or commercial structures within had to be made of wood because only the gods were worthy of stone. Thus all that remains are wide open spaces within the mighty walls and a few stoic temples.

Bayon is famous for having 54 gothic towers each with four faces of the God Avalokitthingamajiggy - Yeah that one, each facing the four primary directions of north, south, east, and west. Unlike Angkor Wat which was created with vast corridors and impressive chambers, Bayon was made of small corridors and multiple levels. It's the kind of temple you want to play hide-n-seek with all of it's hidden chambers and multiple passage ways spurring off of each room. We did this temple last, so not many people were in or on it, making the experience even more personal and intimate. 

Ta Prohm is famous not for height, like the other two which have multiple tiers stretching hundreds of feet into the air, but for being primarily one level with giant trees and roots growing out of it. It is comprised of multiple quadrants broken into multiple rooms and passage ways as well. Crumbling piles of large stones caving in corridors and creating shells of walls that once existed add to the mysterious and mystical nature of Ta Prohm.  

As we neared sunset, all the tourists clamoring for Mt Meru, the temple you view the sun setting over Angkor Wat from, Shannon, Tristan and I made an executive decision. We had heard from multiple people that at Mt Meru you fight hoards of people heading up a long and dusty path, attempt to find a decent seat, doubtful if nor an hour early, and then before the sun actually set, you are asked to make your way back to the main road. No thank you. Instead, we made our way to the massive 66 foot tall southern gate to Angkor Thom. Resting over the causeway on the bridge, peering through the sculptures of god faces, we watch the sun set perfectly in line with the moat, brilliant. 

We take the tuk tuk back to Siem Reap Hostel, clean up, eat, and veg, taking in the full magnitude of the day we had. It's time for rest, I need the shuteye.

Nite nite via the iPhone Blogger