Day Three at the Temples of Angkor

It’s my birthday today and I’ve been really anticipating waking up on this day at 4am and riding a bike to Angkor in the coolness of the emerging dawn and seeing the sun rise over the temples. Magical.

I wake up and look at my watch – it’s 6:45am…and I’ve missed the sunrise. This really bums me out, but I try to shake it off. I'm ready to leave by 7:15am but I can’t find my $40 ticket for Angkor. Now I’m really bummed out – I’ll have to buy a new ticket ($20 replacement) if I can’t find it. I can’t find it. I sulk a bit and tell Nick I don’t want to go anymore. He convinces me otherwise by encouraging me to discard my gloominess and move forward with what will be a beautiful day of bike riding through the temples anyway. He is wise. I am convinced.

I’m so glad I agreed. Once on my bike I am really happy. Ah…I know…I’m predictable that way.

On a road nearing the temples we see a bunch of monkeys! I have mangosteen and minibananas in my bike basket and try to tempt them with it.

Cute soon turns into ugly as one of the adult males gets bold, knocks over my bike, and steals the fruit from the basket.

As I go to retrieve the bag he retracts his lips over his teeth and raises a soundless snarl. He jumps up for the bag and rips the bottom open spilling the fruit onto the ground. This is a bit unsettling and I feel threatened for the first time. Nick isn't so much scared as a bit miffed that I’ve lost almost all of our snackable fruit (our giant pomello also rolled out of my basket and into the forest when the monkey downed the bike). He’s also concerned that I’m disrupting the monkey ecosystem by introducing this fruit into their diet and encouraging aggressive behaviour. I can’t help it…monkeys…monkeys!

Temple pictures near Angkor Thom.

I'm feeling a bit templed out after the two previous days of templing, but the ride from temple to temple is fantastic and Preah Khan, a very large temple with giant trees really renews my temple interest.
I’m melting in the heat. I’m not sure if the resolution of this picture can capture the greasy stickiness on my skin.

Non-stop sticky melty hot. That description is only ever good when describing the chocolate on a hot fudge sunday or cheese on a pizza...describing people...not so good. Thank Vishnu you can escape into the enclosed parts of the temple which are always vastly cooler than the searing ambient temperature.

Yes, this tree is as heavy as it looks.

More Preah Khan.

I cannot absorb any more temples. I want to sit the last one out but go in eventually.

I'm tired.

Nick is serene.

Somehow the Frankensteinian intermingling of tired and serene births goofiness.

ONE…

TWO…

THREE…

JUMP!

Outside this temple there are the usual kids chasing us to sell us stuff.

We decline their insistent advances, and they rush off to a Spanish couple and pull of the same solicitations but in Spanish. I wonder how many languages have been programmed into them. I have felt a roller coaster of emotions about these kids who sell stuff at them temples. From shock, to annoyance, to acceptance, to frustration, to pity, to compassion, back to irritation, to anger, to weariness, and now…finally to amusement. The kids are this particular temple are actually genuinely charming and endearing. We buy nothing from them (I am already too laden with souvenirs – so if you don’t get one…well…it means I don’t love you), but one kid agrees to have her picture taken. All the kids seem to love having their pictures taken, and they are usually delighted when you show them the shot you take. They are so poor they probably don't have photos of themselves much at home.

I feel like Godzilla.

I give her a dollar for being such a good sport.

The kids then come over and give us each one hand-made trinket that they were initially trying to get us to buy for $1 each. As I ride away, I feel like we broke through some divide. I give the credit to Nick, he’s so inexhaustibly patient with all of these kids and will spend time to speak to each one in a genuinely warm way.

I’ve taken in a lot of sun today, and even without sunscreen I haven’t burned, but my skin does feel a bit baked. Nick comments on how I’ve definitely gotten a lot darker over the course of the day. I’ve always preferred to be darker so I’m happy about this. I usually feel really pale (though still considered dark for most Chinese/Vietnamese standards) in the Canadian Winter months and welcome the sun when it comes.

Cambodian people exhibit the most diverse range of skin tones. From pale to super mahogany dark. The variation in skin tone is very nice to see. I know the preference here, as in all Asian countries is for light skin, but I find the different shades of dark here very beautiful.

Nick buys a beautiful but large musical instrument from these people before he realizes that he’ll have to bike many more kilometers before we’re back in the city.

I get the feeling that the Cambodians think I’m Nick’s Cambodian whore. When I first mentioned this in jest, I don’t think Nick paid me any attention, but he now begins to agree with the looks we’ve been getting from the locals. There are a lot of Asian tourists to Angkor, but so far, none that has been as dark as I have – I have dark Cambodian skin now. The Asian tourist mentality is to stay as light-skinned as possible by staying out of the sun, covering the body and face, using umbrellas and sunscreen, and of course, using skin whitening beauty products.

The Cambodian people and especially kids here are very different from the people in Laos. At least in their approach to strangers. They are all quick to smile at us and wave as we ride by the countryside. The Lao people just stared and their children were way more reticent and shy. This might be in direct relationship to the amount of tourism each country receives. I think Cambodia gets a lot of tourist due to Angkor.

The ride back during the sunset is brilliant and I feel great.

We end off my birthday with a good meal. Nick pays for my birthday dinner, he's lucky it costs peanuts in Cambodia…unfair…we’ll be in Canada for his birthday dinner.

Certainly a memorable birthday. I am exhausterpated and sleep like a large Angkor stone brick...um...yeah.