The next morning, I took the bus to the final leg of my journey, Siem Reap. Everything went smoothly, as promised by the girl at the guest house. This time the bus was much better, and I had a nice journey. I even got to see the legendary deep fried black spider on the way! Strangely this is one of the things I really wanted to see in Cambodia. The bus arrived at Siem Reap 2 hours late, but my tuk-tuk driver waited me there faithfully. His name is Saren. The next 2 days I continued to hire him for my temple tour. He asked me to tell my friends about him so I'll put his email here: (phuthsaren@hotmail.com).
When I arrived it was night already. As Saren took me to the guest house, the street was still ordinary as in Cambodia. But as soon as we crossed the river, everything changed. It became like a European town. Everything was illuminated. For the first time I saw westerners walking on the street at night. For the first time I saw public telephone booth. For the first time I saw big water fountains in front of nicely renovated hotels. For a moment I thought I wasn't in Cambodia anymore. This is what most tourist coming to Cambodia will see, a nicely decorated front yard with all the glamorous westerners would look for. But most will never see what's inside the house, or even the backyard.
I arrived at Golden Temple Villa Guest House, the nicest one I've stayed in Cambodia. For $15 I had A/C, hot shower, nicely decorated room, free Internet, even free massage! The only thing is that it's located in a dark back street. With all the camouflages surrounded me, I relaxed myself. That night I went to the tourist street and ate at the Amok restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet and ordered the amok fish. It was the most good looking meal I've had in my trip, at the same time I didn't pray to eat, For the first time in my trip, my stomach gave up. Even though I was still able to go out for my tour the next couple of days, I've missed lots of chances to try different food.
Next morning I met Saren again, and he took me to my first day of the temple tour. First stop, Angkor Wat, one of world's seven wonders, the national symbol of Cambodia, and the biggest temple in the world. I was really excited, because this is the place where it all started; this is the place that made me wanted to come in the first place. When I finally got there, after all these travelings, it didn't disappoint me at all. The sheer size of it just overwhelmed me. It was early in the morning, shortly after sun rise, after most of the sun rise tourists have finished their tour. I was at the east main entrance. The sun was rising up just over the top of the temple far away, where the morning haze blurred its view a little bit. Moat surrounding the entire temple, with trees reflecting from the still water. It is like a huge castle. I tried different ways of taking pictures of it, but my limited photographic skills just can't get that feeling into it. Or really maybe it's something that one has to be there to experience it. The feeling started to settle down though as I walked around the temple, seeing all the tourists, people selling souvenirs, paid washrooms, and all the construction signs. As glorious as Angkor Wat is, it is not built for anyone but supposedly the resident for a god. After one wall then another, you'd finally come to a small tiny room which was not made for man, but the god itself. Most of the temples in Angkor have the exact layouts, only differ in sizes. Their gods' residents were nicer and bigger than any of the people's, but sadly they didn't protect them at all.
When planning my trip to Angkor, I was hoping that I could have some quiet and peaceful time alone in a temple ruins. However, turns out it was absolutely impossible because there are just too many tourists nowadays at Angkor, especially December is supposed to be their peak season. Finally I came to a less popular temple where it was more quiet. At Ta Keo I sat at the top of the temple for about 20 minutes. Even though I felt people were walking behind me and that I was blocking one of the better view, that was the best I could do to fulfill my plan. Walking between less crowded temples in the woods though did give me a sense of lone, solo, exploration feeling, which I did want to experience.
After walking climbing most of the day, temple after temple, I was ready for a break. I grabbed an iced coconut, hopped on Saren's tuktuk, and he offered to take me to the flooded forest. It was something I wanted to see, but thought I would never have the time. For $20, I had the whole boat and I went on to the river tour. 'Wet' was the name of the captain for my boat, kind of a worrisome name for a boat captain. Luckily I didn't get wet that day. It was interesting to see trees grew underwater. The river dry up in dry season, which gave the trees chance to grow. It would be more interesting if we have gone to the smaller streams, but the boat was too big.
After the first day at Angkor, it was fulfilling to see all the temples, but at the same time I was so tired from all the noises from people selling souvenirs. In every temple entrance there were people calling for you desperately, trying to get your attention to buy their stuff. They only know enough English to sell the stuff, so you'd always hear the same words. They called out in a way that seems like they want you to help them out by buying their souvenirs. At the end of the day, in my mind all I could hear was their voices, asking me to help them. At the same time I kept myself from buying anything from them 'cause I know for sure they would charge me more. I became paranoia. But as I later found out, in some street side sales further away from the temples, they actually sell stuff at the same price or cheaper than in the city. I regret later not buying from the them, in which I could have helped them out a bit.
Another scene that bothered me was at the river tour, I saw a Vietnamese kid, forced by his mom, to carry a snake and a picture to ask people to take picture with him for money. The kid was crying, and her mom looked very desperately, probably worried about her kid, but at the same time wanted to get people's sympathy so that they can get some money. It sadden me to look at them, but at the same time I knew not to give them money 'cause that would only encourage them to get money this way. That sadden me even more. Simultaneously her other 2 kids were playing nearby, dancing and shouting. They looked happy and innocent, they were saying something as they jumped around. As I listened more carefully, they were saying "One Dollar". My heart dropped. Their parent has taught them to beg. The only English their parent taught them was something to used for begging, and they were saying it not even knowing what it really means. Poverty is a very complicated issue, that can't be solved by simply giving money. It's a whole-person issue. I really hope that one day people like them can regain their dignity and not have to beg again.
At night Saren offered to give me a free ride to take me to a buffet/Apsara dance restaurant, by doing that he could also get a free dinner. I thought to myself, why not, so I took the offer. Turns out it was a mistake. I went in without asking how much, and of course, and I've made the same mistake again. My eyes dropped when I saw the bill. The whole meal 'caused me $17 and I had only 2 dishes because my stomach wasn't fully recovered. Plus the Apsara dance wasn't particularly good. Anyway, at least I get to see where all the big tours would go to. The food tastes just like any Oriental buffet.
Next day I continued on my temple tour with Saren. Because of a good night sleep, I was more energized and the day was more enjoyable. Saren even told me a little bit about his life. 2nd day we went to temples further from the main area, and we came to an area, where I see lots of signs with different country flags, stating so and so from which country donated this house, or helped built this well. When passing by, in more than a few occasions, little kids would wave at foreigners like me traveling in a tuktuk. At first I felt quite awkward, but after a few more, I just went with it and waved back. I guess that town really has received lots of genuine help from outside that they wanted to show their gratitude by expressing their welcome to foreigners.
As the tour came to an end, so did my Cambodian adventure. Our tuktuk slowly drove back to the guest house. As we drove by some of the temples again, I felt that I would really miss this country, and I really wondered if I could ever have the chance to come back again. Even though in the last few days I was so tired from all the hikes, and from my diarrhea, plus all the travelings made me feel I've been away for so long, that I felt it was time to go back, suddenly I felt I didn't want to. I felt I could spend another week just to wander around and keep on discovering. I know I'll miss all the faces, all the cheap food and beer, all the magnificent sceneries, and all the wonderful people I've met that some of them I know I'll never be able to see them again.
