In the Shadow of Angkor

I really just don't know how to describe the temples of Angkor. I took countless pictures, and while I do think I got some cool shots, I don't think any of them do it justice. It's like as soon as you but a border around it, it just loses its...oh I don't know impact? No that doesn't seem right. Grandeur? Presence? Someone help me out here. What the pictures just can't tell you is the scope of the place. It's massive, and so detailed, you can either get a far shot, and lose the detail, or take a close up and lose the context. Does that make any sense? I think it's really like the Grand Canyon. You can see countless pictures, but you can't really get a sense of the enormity of it until you're actually there. You have to see it to believe it, for lack of a better cliche.

I spent my four days in Siem Reap with Miles and Catherine, and I couldn't have asked for nicer travel partners. How they put up with me all those days I'll never know. I felt like a third wheel at times, but there was no point where they ever MADE me feel like I was. So anyway we arrive in Siem Reap (me by cheap bus, they by speedboat, which was supposedly awesome), and decide to try some of the local cuisine. Now I've eaten at Cambodian Village (Cambo)at least one a week for about 3 years, so I was curious to see what real Cambodian cuisine was like. There were a lot of similarities to Cambo, but not a lot. The curries were similar, and such, but there was a lot different as well. Cambodian cuisine is a lot like Thai food only less spicy. The two dishes that seemed to be on all the menus, yet never seen at home are Fish Amok, which is a yellow curry dish served in a coconut, and is damn good. The other is Lok Lak, a fried beef dish that is served in a oysterish type sauce along with onions and tomatoes. That too was pretty tasty.

The next day we woke up early (well Miles and Catherine got up early, I overslept and almost missed the sunrise) to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. We then spent the day traveling from temple to temple. Miles was having a grand old time scambling up the stairs, and it was pretty fun to watch. The Angkors wanted to play with perception so the entryways are rather small, and the steps are huge and steep. You feel like a 3 year old trying to climb those things, and coming down is worse. WE saw a lot of temples, but I think my favourite was Ta Preach, which the archaeologists left almost like they found it, so it's over grown with trees and plants. The trees are growing on the temples, so its really a cool sight. The Bayon was also pretty cool, since there are about 200 faces staring at you all the time.

One of the other things that stick out are the kids. They're everywhere, and they are always selling you something. They're so cute though, you can't help but want to buy something. The thing is is that if you buy from them all, the day would cost $200. I kid you not, that's how many ask. The cold drinks are hard to pass up, but three wooden flutes for a dollar never really interested me. I felt sorry for those kids, you wonder what they did wrong to get stuck selling that crap. "Oh sorry Timmy, you're just not cute enough to sell Soda...here's a flute, good luck". One kid who totally suckered me was the one selling little metal deities. He was "1 for $2" and they were kind of neat so I said "3 for $5?" "where you from?" "Canada" "If name the capital of Canada you buy 4 for $6" There was the set-up, and I knew I was being set up, these kids take money seriously. I still went for it. "The capital of Canada is Ottawa" What can you do, the kid was good. How can you not reward knowledge like that. Catherine, Miles and I talked about it later, and thought of countries to stump them. I thought of Malta, but then I would have no idea either. We figured since Katherine and miles were form the UK, we would try Wales next time. "The capital of Wales is Cardiff" DAMN IT! The kid got us again, that's two days in a row. The kids know how to work it. Is it wrong that I bought a Ganisha statue purely because of Apu in the Simpsons? Homer, please do not offer my god a peanut.

One other highlight was the Omelet lady. Seriously, best omelet I've ever had. Miles and Catherine raved about them, but I had ordered Pho the first time (which was also excellent), so out last day we had to go back. The lady was so nice! She remembered us, and even gave us the menu with local prices instead of the tourist menu. She even gave one of the kids crap, for trying to rip me off on cigarettes. Truly a wonderful lady. I guess the same is true everywhere, if you show appreciation for someone's food, you'll win their heart, and this lady knew how to cook, so it was easy to show appreciation. Oh and I hope she appreciates the fact that since my Mother owns a Bed and Breakfast, I'm totally going to be disowned.

The last day after eating the omelet, we just hung out at Angkor Wat and soaked up the atmosphere. It was quite nice to sit on some hundreds of years old building and read a good book, and hang out with good people. It was a nice way to finish my time with Miles and Catherine. Later that day, they left for Bangkok, and were then flying home, and I was leaving the next day for Laos.