Roh picked us up bright and early, he was so chipper at 4:45am while all of us were grumbling to one another… We were told sunrise was at 6:30 so we weren't sure why we'd to leave so early but we would soon find out
We had to have our tickets punched for the day and then we hit the traffic of people doing the same thing we were doing... SOOO many people waiting for the sunrise as well!! (The best place to stand is on the left corner of the Angkor Wat pond, we stood about the middle) You must be patient, bring a snack and if you can find good coffee, bring it! There will be many people ruining the peaceful and quiet ambiance, particularly Chinese people, but you must refrain from wanting to punch someone or pushing them into the pond.... Eventually the sun will rise so don't let those people ruin your moment/experience
Just as the sun is getting ready to rise, beware of restaurant owners trying to distract you by inviting you to their restaurant for coffee or a better view. There will also be many peddlers selling scarves and guidebooks, some people I had to raise my voice with because they wouldn't leave us alone
It's coming!
I looked over and it looked like a celebrity sighting was going on... It was madness!
Since we had already walked through a Angkor Wat we decided to have Roh take us to Ta Prohm, also known as Tomb Raider Temple... Yup that's where Angelina Jolie fought aliens... Actually I don't know what I'm saying cause I didn't watch the movie.... Sorry
It was very disappointing to see tons of trash dumped in front of the temple... These water buffalos were digging through it for breakfast. We had been warned of children peddlers or beggers, and we hadn't seen any until we got to this temple. There were many many children looking as sorry as they can or selling anything they can, not understanding that "No thank you!" means "No thank you!"
Except these kids were cool... Sherena kept talking to them so they kept following us and practicing their English on us or posing for pictures, but once we got to try temple they dispersed
This temple is very very old and in almost ruins, much of it is being rebuilt or preserved. The trees growing through the walls are real trees
When we started walking around the temple a guy started showing us where to walk or climb, he would point out the best spots for pictures and views, we realized that he was taking us around but that we would have to tip him afterwards but it was fine cause we would never know our way around
When we were done the guy asked for $10, we gave him $5 (we had heard from many sources that $1 can feed a family for a day), I'm sure he would get many tourists that day that would make him a rich man, and he was doing less than our driver so we thought it was a fair fee. As we were leaving there were loads of people just making their way to the temple, we were glad we got there when we did and were able to have some time to ourselves with little distraction
Since we decided we weren't eating Khmer food anymore, we headed back to the hotel to have lunch there (western food). Roh asked us if we were interesting in seeing an Apsara dance show with buffet dinner for $12, he said he'd pick us up and wait for us, we said why not
We took a nap and Roh picked us up. The show was at a hall the size of an airport hanger! There was a huge buffet of international fair and tons of people... The food was what you'd expect from a buffet
Then the show started... Everyonr decided it was ok to stand up and take pictures disregarding the people sitting behind them trying to enjoy the show (the stage and seating was poorly conceived). I had to yell at the Chinese people sitting in front of us many times, to the point where I almost threw things at them because they wouldn't sit down!
The show was nice, similar to what we saw in Chiang Mai where that stage was better conceived... Eventually we got tired of rubbernecking around the Chinese people and decided to leave
We asked Roh to take us to Pub Street and that we would find our own way home (today we paid him $20)
This time we walked in to the Old Night Market and found this bar to relax at
So over the heat and mosquitos
After a couple rounds we walked the market and found these ladies making traditional Cambodian cotton scarves called Kromas. They were very beautiful and very reasonably priced... They're all handmade and come in different sizes and colors ($5-8 per scarf), we also saw that they made beautiful blankets/throws as well! $28 for a handmade throw! You can't get that at Target! Normally we would bargain for a better price but seeing them handmake it and the quality of their work, we felt that $28 was truly a bargain in itself... Chris bought 2, I really wanted like 12 but I had no one to give it to, no use for myself back home and no more space to carry it back with me
We asked Roh to pick us up at 8am the next morning to visit Banteay Srey so we finished our rounds and headed back ($1 per person tuk tuk ride back, this place was really starting to take us over budget)
Follow me on Instagram @vnesst
No comments:
Post a Comment