Okay, so just for the record, I dont know how good of a blogger I will be during my trip. I have found that now that I am out of the office and LIVING, traveling by motorcycle, bicycle, Tuc-Tuc, train and elephant ... I find it hard to sit in an internet cafe for hours to write. That and the fact that this dang website doesn't always load up well.
So, I will have to continue with the wedding stories later and write about my most recent experiences. I am in Siam Reap, Cambodia. I have just spent 3 days visiting Angkor ... some of the most amazing ruins I have ever seen in my life. In an area at least triple Central Park, there are hundreds of temples, sanctuaries, statues and buildings left in ruins, but showing a culture so advanced and devout it gives the Mayan and Inca a good run for their money. The structures are over 1000 years old, with intricate carvings depicting Hindu and Buddhist images. The most famous of the ruins is Angkor Wat, followed by Angkor Thom. Some of you might have seen images of the ruins in Angelina Jolie's movie "Tomb Raider" ... I myself never saw the movie. but I can assure you that in real life the ruins are simply incredible. It is a magical place filled with 5-story high trees, songs from at least 30 different birds, a hot sun and silent cool breeze. The morning is mystical and the evening serene. I can honestly say that despite the thousands of tourists ... many Chinese with a nack for standing right in the way of your perfect photo ... this place is completely worth a visit.
Which is saying a lot after the trip I made to get here! Lets go back three days to Saturday ... After a 14-hour overnight train ride from Chiang Mai, in North Thailand, I departed ways with my fabulous travel buddies Diksha and Raju, sad that I would no longer hear the Nepali chatter I had grown so accustomed to ... and sad about losing the best travel agent ever, not to mention great company for an evening beer! So, we departed ways at 6:30am, and I got off the train at my stop in central Bangkok at 7am and made like a mad woman on Amazing Race. I double-checked the bus station I needed to go to (bangkok has 4 of them), avoided a scam info dude, grabbed a taxi, headed to the bus station, bought my ticket and was on the bus at 7:30am. Wow! At first I was in a literal bouncy rocking chair, reminding me of those fun ones babies use, but not so fun sitting in the last row on a 4 hour bus journey. I slyly switched seats to a more comfortable one, next to a dude with BO, of course, just in time before they filled the bus aisle with people for the long journey. 4.5 hours later I arrive at the border town. Find another white dude who looks like he knows what to do, and we share a Rickshaw to the border itself. There I step out and get conned into getting my Cambodian Visa with a young Cambodian dude with a HUGE smile and perfect English. I am sure I am being over-charged, but am assured by other tourists that I must get the visa here. (upon later checking I payed about $5 over the going rate. oh well ... ) This turns out to be a very lucky stop because sitting at the road-side table waiting for my passport to be returned with the visa, I meet Nacho and Julieta, a lovely young Argentinian couple who I befriend and end up spending the next few days with ... speaking entirely in SPANISH!!!
For those that don't know, learning Spanish has been one of my greatest accomplishments in my life. And after having spent 1.5 years getting really good at it in Mexico, I am scared to death about forgetting the language. I have been praying for a way to practice my Spanish on this trip. And I suppose god (or Vishnu or Buddha ... I have been seeing a lot of manifestations of gods lately!) actually heard my prayers and sent this sweet couple to me to be my travel buddies and practice Espanol. It is also rare to find Spanish speakers here. I have only overheard one other person speaking the language and have heard thousands of people speaking in many tongues lately.
After crossing the border on foot, my new buddies and I contracted a car to take us to Siam Reap. The journey took 3 hours over the worst road i have ever seen. We bounced and swerved and caught air that would make the Dukes of Hazard jealous. Incredible. But at last we arrived, refusing a "free" Tuc-Tuc that would have taken us to a Guest house for a commission, and instead opted to walk. It felt great walking after the 14 hour train ride, 30 minute taxi, 4.5 hour bus, and 3 hour car/roller-coaster ride. We ended up walking a ways - over an hour - with all our bags, in the setting sun, until finally coming upon an open guest house in the city for $15 a night. We checked in at about 6:30pm, exhausted!
The next day we were up at 5:30am for an all-day tour (until 6pm) of the ruins by BICYCLE!! In total we went over 40 km, and climbed hundreds of stairs up and around the ruins. I have to give some major props to the Argentinians ... they are the most hard-core tourists I have ever encountered. And thanks to them I saw every ruin in Angkor and had a wonderful time with a million photos and lots of laughs. The following day we again started at 6am for an all-day tour by tuc-tuc, ending it all with a great sunset over the jungle. We departed ways last night as they were off back to Thailand for the rest of their month-long trip.
And today I had another fabulous, memorable day with Yee, a nice 21-yr-old smiley Cambodian motorcycle driver. He took me for an hour to see the most intricate ruin of all, with breathtakingly intricate carvings. Then we went another 45 minutes down a super dusty dirt road, to another river ruin, getting a bit lost and going 20 minutes out of the way. But Yee was a sport about it all, and he even hiked with me to the site, setting the pace up the steep rocky path at twice the normal speed, as we did the 45 minute hike (according to guidebook), in just 20 minutes! We took advantage of the small pretty waterfall to wash some of the dirt off - I was literally orange! Then had a quick meal of fried rice with veggies and chicken and drove 2 hours back to Siam Reap, stopping for a couple last photos of the ruins in the setting sun.
Tomorrow I am off to Phnom Phen via speedboat for 5 hours! Will write again when I can!
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