First Day at the Temples of Angkor

We rent a tuk tuk for the entire day for $10. The driver picks us up at 5am and we head to Angkor. On the way we pass several tourists riding rented bikes to Angkor and they look like they’re having a lot of fun. I feel a longing and wish I was on bike too.

A three day ticket to the temples of Angkor is $40 and Nick and I each get one.

As the sun rises we reach the largest temple, Angkor Wat. It was originally conceived by King Suryavarman II as a shrine to Vishnu in the 12th Century. Subsequent rulers added elements that incorporated some Buddhist imagery.

In Angkor Wat.

After a couple of hours of exploring, we go outside to get some refreshments. There are numerous food, drink and souvenir vendors to the left of the Wat. As soon as we approach, we are surrounded by a gaggle of children trying to sell us postcards, fans, hats and drinks. It’s overwhelming and I immediately feel a wall go up. I don’t want to purchase a thing. I say no numerous times and begin to walk away from them and head towards the different vending booths. At each one I am approached by some kid or young woman aggressively trying to sell me stuff. The air fills with sounds of “buy water lady”, “what you like to buy?”, “buy from me lady”, “what you like lady?”, “I give you good price”, “some drinks?”, “you need guide book lady”, “I have many good dress lady, cheap cheap”, “cheap cheap”. I tell myself to just take in the experience. I am polite but resolute about wanting only a drink. I buy myself a coconut and sit down to drink. I can see that Nick is still surrounded by that initial group of kids 30 meters back. I can’t tell what he’s saying but he’s laughing and smiling and he seems like a tall tower looming above tiny moving shrubs.

We get sucked in. This one kid who calls herself “Spider Girl” endears herself to Nick and he decides to buy stuff from her, including this hat.

Against my best intentions, Nick ropes me into buying a pair of falang pants along with him. Nick and I are getting a hang of haggling. It’s actually a lot of fun and I begin to look forward to haggling every time I have to make a purchase, even if it’s only for a coconut.

Some of the kids here are really cute! And so are their kittens.

We then head for Angkor Thom which is famous for its large stone faces. The gate to Angkor Thom.

In Angkor Thom.

In the temple, I end up buying a water colour painting of one of the faces from this Cambodian artist.

We head for refreshments and are accosted by more children. I end up buying bracelets and pineapples. I am getting sucked in! One child pulls the “No buy from me, you make me very sad, you say you buy, you no buy, you liar, you make me sad” on Nick. Nick never promised a thing and he doesn’t like this tactic. He buys nothing. The icecream truck seems so out of place next to the temples.

We then head to Ta Prohm, a temple allowed to remain unrestored as an example of how the temples looked when they were originally discovered. It is famous for its giant trees interlaced with ancient stone. AMAZING! It reminds me of how I felt being in the temples of Tikal in Guatemala last summer. This sense that nature will overcome human endeavours. That humans are not as mighty as we would like to believe, and that we, along with our artifacts will be reclaimed by nature. Our creations will be broken down, dissolved, their atoms reintegrated back into the earth sky and water long after we are extinct. It gives me hope!

Besides that, some of these trees alone are just astounding. A few have sipped the air here and experienced life in Cambodia for six centuries or more! I wish Ramsey could see this.

Here I meet Tom, a 24 year old Belgian traveling the world for six months. We end up talking and comparing our experiences of Southeast Asia so far. When I tell him I was born in Hanoi, he gets very excited and says “ah man, I love you! Hanoi is the best city in Asia.” After talking for a while, it’s quite apparent that Tom is an Asiaphile, and he’s been in Asia girl heaven for the last month. He gives me this weird eye (or perhaps it’s a facial tick) every once in a while. I find this all quite amusing. I’m sure Nick and Tom will get along well.

In fact they do get along. They both share a love of Asian women as well as gadgets like digital cameras. I begin to zone out as they talk about ISOs, this model and that model. Tom will meet us for food and drinks later this evening.

As we head back to our hotel we pass by some very small ruins but with some great trees growing on them.

That evening Nick, Tom and I go to the Red Piano for food. I listen to them compare different types of Asian women, their hotness…I think legs and hot pants were mentioned. I feel like I am with two teenage boys…or is it girls? I really have nothing to add to the conversation other than a definition for the term “rice packer”. It’s funny.

Then Nick gets a call from Guadalok before the end of dinner. She is a Thai woman he met in Thailand a week ago while trying to get to Laos. He said that she was very nice and they had a good meal together. Guadalok has been texting and phoning Nick almost every day since they met (he also returns her calls as well) and now she too is in Siem Reap on vacation. Nick thinks she likes him and Nick feels like they should meet up so that he can set her straight that he does not return those feelings. Both Tom and I point out the weird folly in this approach, but Nick says he likes to tie up loose ends.

Guadalok is near our restaurant and Nick goes outside to find her and bring her back here. An hour and a half later he has not returned. Tom and I pay the bill and give up on Nick. At this point Tom mentions that he thinks I’m traveling with a very thoughtless friend. I’m beginning to think the same. He is shocked to find out that Nick is 34 years old. He said from the conversations about women and his behaviour, he thought that he and Nick were about the same age. Tom is convinced that Nick and Guadalok are somewhere having sex. I am not so sure, but don’t really care as long as I don’t catch them in the act in our room when I get back.

Tom and I have drinks at a bar and just chit chat. He talks about this and that and about how difficult it has been to stay faithful to his girlfriend with all the Asian hotness around. But he assures me that other than a few stolen kisses and unresolved erections, he has been a good boyfriend. He also happens to mention that he can have sex seven times a night etc. etc. (Why do all guys have to advertise?) I just nod. I mention that it’s getting late and I should head back. He insists on walking me back to my hotel. I have been very conscious of giving him no reason to think I am interested in anything romantic. I have been friendly but neutral. I think he gets it, though his parting words did involve some romantic cliché about the moon. “If you look close enough…you can see a rainbow in the halo of he moon…” Haha….bah…I shouldn’t make too much fun. Tom was actually a smart guy and fun to talk to…he’s just…well….24 after all.

I get to the room and I see a big lump under the covers of Nick’s bed…big enough to be two people. I think holy awkward moment now. Then the lump shifts and it’s just Nick. Phew. He’s sleeping but I wake him to interrogate him. Turns out there was some misunderstanding and he thought he had communicated that he was leaving Tom and I for good at the restaurant. I point out the inconsistency in this because he hadn’t paid his bill, and had left the purchases he had made earlier that day at the table. He sleepily acknowledges that this may have been confusing, but the appropriate level of contrition in his apology is not forthcoming. He buries his head under his pillow and resumes sleep. I give up. In truth, I’m not that mad, just tired.

And no…turns out they were not getting it on. He just told her that he wasn’t interested, though they will stay in contact as friends. That’s his story.