Temples of Angkor

A bas-relief at Angkor Wat
Another hot, sweaty, dusty, and bone-grinding ride -- but this time on a bus -- and we were in Siam Reap (which in Khmer means 'Thailand's Defeat' ... who said these guys didn't have a sense of humour?). We arrived after dark (of course!) around 9:30pm in front of a guesthouse 'recommended' by the guys from the bus company (of course!). Not wanting to give them any more of our money after they'd overcharged us for a rundown bus (the only AC was of the natural sort), we grabbed our bags (we literally had to grab them because they weren't going to give them to us) and headed to a guest house of our own choosing, Jasmine Lodge. Jasmine's turned out to be quite nice so we dropped our bags, had a bite to eat, showered, and turned in for the night.

While Siam Reap's, and to some extent Cambodia's, claim to fame are the nearby temples of Angkor (namely Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, etc., etc., etc.), we decided to take a rest day after all the fun we'd had on the road from Bangkok. (I've never had to bribe a border guard before, so I consider it 100B/C$3 well-spent.)

Our first order of business was to check out the Cambodian medical scene. I had a small infection under one of my nails and I ended up spending a good part of the morning at a doctor's office getting a serious manicure. It set us back US$90 which Lee wasn't too pleased about, though it did cheer her up a bit when I told her how painful it had been to be under the knife (or in this case, the nail clippers). It's much better now, and seems to be healing well.

After getting my boo-boo fixed, we went to a 'small' exhibition by a local master sculptor. It featured miniature scale models of the main temples in the area, specifically Angkor Wat, Beng Mealea, and Bayon. The level of detail was truly amazing.

Ulrik towering over Angkor Wat
The following day we met up with Angela and Kelly, two Canadian girls we met while crossing the border, and biked around the temples (about 38km in total). The temples were built by a number of Khmer rulers in the period between 875AD and 1230AD, and although are no longer actively used for organized worship, many of them are in remarkable shape. The most famous is Angkor Wat, and from its size and splendor one can see why. It's possible to walk through most of it, taking in the stately towers, steep staircases, narrow corridors, and now-dry pools. Although it is truly spectacular in person, Lee and I agreed that it's much easier to get a sense of the granduer while looking at the miniature replica. The real thing is just too big to take in.

With four rental bikes, all at least a hundred years old, something was bound to give. And sure enough, the rear axle on Lee's bicycle broke down. And, of course, it happened during the hottest part of the day (around 12:30pm) and on the far side of the ruin complex, leaving us with the prospect of having to walk the remaining 19km under the intense midday sun. After walking for more than an hour (the girls were nice enough not to ditch us) with periodic breaks to look at temples, the sky started to darken; the afternoon rains were coming. Luckily, two young boys, Bor and Sat, came to our aid and took us to their uncle's bicycle repair 'store' (it was essentially a box of tools and parts by the side of the road) in a nearby village. As the uncle didn't give us an estimate of the cost before starting, and us being the cynical foreigners we are, we were a bit concerned that we might be in for a nasty surprise when the time came to pay up. But we needn't have worried. The bill for time, labour, and materials came to one measly dollar! After our experiences at the border and around the temples, it was good to be reminded that not all Cambodians are just out to get our money. For their help we gave the boys a ride back to the main road -- they sat on our bike racks (sure would have loved a picture of that!) -- and bought some postcards from them. With two sets of working wheels (the girls had moved ahead by this point), we hit one more temple before heading back for a hearty dinner.

Lee feeling even littler than normal
The following day, having not quite reached our temple limit, the four of us hired a driver and remorque-moto, a kind of four-person carriage pulled by a scooter, to take us 70km to the temple of Beng Mealea. Beng Mealea has been almost completely overtaken by the jungle and is in a serious state of disrepair. There are piles of sandstone blocks everywhere, and many of the walls that haven't fallen down yet look like they will soon. It's enough to make any Indiana Jones/Lara Croft wannabe go crazy. After several hours of exploring and climbing around, we started the ride home. In true Southeast Asian style, the moto of course broke down at the half-way mark -- are they built to do this? -- and we spent about 45 minutes at the side of the road watching the traffic go by (including a bike covered with chickens!).

Notice their heads ... those chickens are alive!
Just when we thought we would be walking home, the engine roared to life and we were back on the road.

For more photos, see our Cambodia photo album.