Amazing Angkor...

Finally, the cheese of the cheeseburger, the meat of our travel .... ANGKOR TEMPLES.

If there's one best description for our journey to the City  of Temples it is eventful. So eventful it is that even I partly hated myself for it. Why? Let's just say that the worst thing that could happen to a cam whore on this beautiful jaw dropping world heritage is battery empty. Yes dear friends that whore is I, the exact same person who gave her utmost confidence on her battery. And there was also the  gloomy rainy weather to top it all off, that I think the gods Vishnu or Shiva should take the blame.

ANGKOR WAT

 

They say the best moment at Angkor Wat is sunrise, only when it isn't rainy. Too bad for us! and it's really comforting to know that after waking up at 3:30 in the morning the driver informs us that it usually doesn't rain, only that particular day -  the very day we were around. Lucky for me and the other tourists around coz they benefited from my being a rain plug. Because every time I decide to go out in the rain, the rain, for some  cosmic reasons, just eventually stops to a drizzle. Weird! but glad it came handy.

Because of the gloomy weather, we  didn't get to see the famous Angkor sunrise, even though we were  promised of a beautiful sunrise after we said our prayers to their Gods. It's either the guy who corned  us  at the temple entrance was a crook or our "offering" placed neatly on his folded hanky at the foot of the statue wasn't effective.  But who would have known that $1 is only good to stop the rain? Maybe if I gave $2 I'd have my sunrise. See? this is what you call the signs of times... even the weather has its price. tsk!

Nonetheless sunrise or no sunrise Angkor Wat is just plain amazingly grand. So grand that it's an ultimate feast to the eyes and you can't help but jump to the beauty of it. Exaggeration, I know, but at least we got to make friends with the envious tourists who also asked for jump shots. So always remember, in whatever country you're in always do the jump shot, and you'll  surely win yourself envious friends from different nationalities ;)

Another failure of this trip is that we didn't get to have a tour guide to give us factual interesting information from this very historical site. Safe to say, we were totally clueless. If it weren't for James Bond (the persistent vendor who took an effort to look for my sister's lost Angkor pass) , we wouldn't know that it took 8,000 elephants to transport those piles and piles of heavy rocks to make the temples what it is today. Also, old elephants were killed just so they could  use their skins as ropes. Ergo, all these grandeur is at the expense of the poor family of Dumbo.

Interesting right? but that's just it, after that we were just nothing but a bunch of pretty wide eyed ignorant tourist strolling around. We did try to eavesdrop to fellow tourist who had tour guides though, but our hearing  just wasn't that sharp so it was plain useless. But as I like to say, if you're pretty but ignorant, just be pretty and work it. Working it we surely did!

Could we possibly be more embarrassing?! Of course we made sure all these were taken at the time of seclusion. Call it stealing poses and shots when no one is nearby. I think our time was wasted on waiting for the other tourists to be gone before we could do our mooowdeling. Seriously this place is just very picturesque that you couldn't help but WABAM! strike that pose.

BANTEAY SREI

The Citadel of Women or the Citadel of Beauty is indeed a beauty. The finely intricate red sandstone carvings is just breathtaking. This is artistry at it's best. It is  much smaller compared to the other temples but the quality of its bas reliefs are just simply amazing considering that it's already centuries old. It's so beautiful that some of its figures were were stolen by a famous French art thief  decades ago, but like every crime story, the thief was eventually caught. That's probably why there were off limits rope all around. But not so sure about that coz I only got that story from the sometimes reliable Wikipedia. That's why if you feel like being inside the glossy pages of National Geographic, this beautiful temple is a must stop. Beautiful just beautiful. I say it again... beeyoootiful!

PRE RUP

It's very high. Seriously very very high, and may I add steep, but not very steep coz the very very steep belongs to another temple. What can I say hmmm... well Pre Rup is high. I really don't have anything significant to say about this temple for the obviously repeated reasons. All I know is that on the back portion of this temple you could sight the very tiny crowns of Angkor Wat. It's sooo teenee tiny that the guard and Ciarralyn had to repeatedly point out the far off distance of the jungle in hopes that I'd be able to see it. They eventually got annoyed so I just had to say.. ooooohhhh yeah there it is.. but truth is, I wasn't even sure. Ssshhhhh...   

THOSE SUGAR CANDIES

The sweetest candies I've tasted ever in my entire life, but it's purely made from sugar cane so that is understood. I forgot what they locally call these candies, but they were everywhere. It was just out  of curiosity  when we asked the driver what those things wrapped in coconut leaves are, but I think he had a hard time explaining it coz he just stopped by the roadside so we could have a closer look. Just our luck coz this lady just started making it from scratch. So what does curious George do? give molding candies a try. It may be badly molded but that impromptu local try was sure fun.

THESE CAMBODIAN KIDS

It's very hard to get annoyed at them. Unlike here where the street kids are irritatingly annoying, bluntly asking the tourists for money. There, the kids are just pleasant and no push over for moolah. I've never seen any kids directly asking for money. Instead, they always had this postcards or key chains or whatever souvenir items they had to sell. Sure they flock to you to buy some items, but you don't really mind that much when they call you lady. "Lady, you want postcards lady? only one dollar for 10" or "You are so beee-yo-ti-ful lady." Now who would be annoyed when you are called like a real lady with their soft voices and melodic accents. Mind you they are good English speakers too. According to one of them it's needed so they could sell their items, but to read and write in English is something they couldn't do. 

A funny story, see those three kids up there? the ones with flowers on their heads? The moment we entered the temple they immediately came running and started singing. I, of course, took a snap shot, then one of them yelled "No money, No picture." Too late for that! very fiesty! bet she'll go a long way... haha.

TA PHROM

 

The temple where Tomb Raider was shot. The only place where someone acted as our tour guide. Is the only time all our camera died on us. Aren't we just lucky?!

Before I say anything else about the temple, let me just share that the guy who acted as our tour guide got to carry Angelina Jolie's belongings when she was shooting Tomb Raider. Insignificant, maybe, but heck that was the coolest info ever! haha

So Ta Prohm was built for the mother of the king and when she died she was also buried there. See that wall with lots of holes in it? That's the tomb of the king's mother and those holes were once filled with diamonds and gold. Diba?! sosyal si mader!

The greatest wonder of this temple though is its visible merging with the jungle. It's so amazing that sometimes you can just imagine those gigantic ancient trees as monster swallowing the massive temples. Just goes to show that no matter how ingenious humans can be, nature will always take it's course.

TERRACE OF THE ELEPHANTS

I honestly have no idea what this place is all about, but basing on the bas reliefs and the name  itself , this place must have been made in honor of the elephants who had been very helpful and useful in the creation of the Khmer kingdom. In fairness!

ELEPHANT RIDE

The much awaited ride! The thought of it is very exciting but once you get to ride on it you kinda feel bad for the giants. All I could think at that time was the weight of the wooden chairs plus our weight, everything combined, we must be pretty heavy. I guess our weight is just nothing compared to the boulders of rocks they carried to build the temples. Still...oh and yeah, the elephant skin is hard, very hard. I kinda imagined it to be soft and smooth but it's not. That's probably why their calloused skin were used as the ancient  version  of construction heavy equipments.

The ride wasn't actually scary at all, except for the elephant's trail. It was narrow, sloping and two way. There was even a time when there was a slight elephant traffic because while we were going up, there were also elephants going down. I'm guessing it was a difficult maneuver for the gentle giant, but again they must have been pretty used to it.  

Etcetera etcetera/ Closing Remarks....

I love the Cambodian adventure simply because I got more than what I expected. The pictures of the temples doesn't do justice at all. The real thing is waaaaaay better, everything about it is just a buffet to the eyes. Unfortunately, like every journey it must come to an end, but no matter how  much I hate the expensive tuk2x, I'll definitely miss it, but not as much as I'll miss the bikes. The warm hospitality at the SAM SO GUESTHOUSE (which is highly recommended by the way, as it is not only cheap & comfy but also very convenient to everywhere) will forever be remembered along with their compliments on how beautiful we are and how I look like a movie star. Yup, the owner's wife said that, I just I'm not sure what type of movie she's referring to, but a compliment, I think, nonetheless. Oh and by the way, remember when I was in Malaysia, Jericho Rosales was such a big hit, apparently Pangako Sayo is also shown there, dubbed in their language. So that's probably where she got her opinion. I just don't know which character I look like but it's definitely not Kristine Hermosa, even though the tiny single molecule in my body hopes it is. I think Jericho is haunting me, maybe we're meant to be, or maybe I'm really meant to be a movie star in some foreign third world country, I think it's time to seriously consider a career and country shift. Whatchatink? hahaha

If in the far future I'll have my own family I will definitely take them to this ancient kingdom. That's a promise to myself. Who knows I might end up with a Brad Pitt and together we'll adopt a Maddox, we'll never know...but tightly crossing my fingers. Hear me lord!

Despite the down lows we experienced, I'll always say that overall I had an amazing journey. I may sound like a broken record but Siem Reap, Cambodia  is a highly go to destination. This should be on everyone's bucket list that must be accomplished. I just love everything about it... that's why trust me Loura Ubod, you and Daut will have a grand time and hopefully some magic will happen there.. ;)

Angkor is just Amazing!