Angkor, Amok, & Ang, Oh My!

Cambodia, Cambodia--What a weird and wonderful place. Arli and Sarah have already skipped ahead and given you a taste of the bizarro and endearing aspects of one of the poorest nations in SE Asia. We've only got more.

The experience began with an appropriately strange bus trip from Bangkok. We bought a ticket that combined the trip from Bangkok to the border with one to Siem Reap, gateway to Angkor Wat. The van to Cambodia was unbelievably air-conditioned and empty but for the four of us. Too good to be true? Pretty much. Less than an hour outside of Bangkok, an axle issue landed us at a roadside mechanic shop for five-- yep, FIVE-- hours. Our dopey driver kept saying "thirty minute, thirty minute!." We suspect he did not understand that it was an actual time measurement.

Thirty minutes/ five hours later, we were back on track and headed for the border. There is so very much to say about our four days in Siem Reap. Our first night, we got our first taste of the street kids of Cambodia when a small, dirty child jumped on Mich like a spider-monkey and wouldn't let go. She tried to pry him off and he just hung upside down with his legs locked around her middle.

The next day, good natured kid Ang drove us all over creation in his tuk tuk, beginning with the floating village. We weren't really sure what that was, but it turned out to be a total tourist trap, though still worth seeing. We hopped in a boat which proceeded to get stuck in a very muddy tributary of the Tonle Sap river/lake. Fashionable boat driver to the rescue! The young lad jumped right out with his punting oar, skinny jeans and all-- and so did Arli! Eventually we made it to the floating village-- significantly out in the lake, a village of displaced Vietnamese people live in stilted houses. We saw kids playing in floating wash basins, beggars approaching in canoes, and a very small pen full of a whole lot of big crocodiles.

We ended the day with a sunset visit to Angkor Wat, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Angkor is actually a whole park full of ruins, the jewel of which is a vast and magnificent temple, Angkor Wat proper. Sunset that night and sunrise the next day (at 5 a.m., things I am never doing again) meant our first impressions were of a haunting and serene architectural gem. It was so amazing, Sarah had some trouble calming down. "My mind is blown! It's an onion guys, AN ONION!!" Yes, Sarah, it had many layers. Other highlights of the approximately 172 hours we spent there were Bayon (with huge smug faces carved into the prangs), buildings completely violated by massive trees and morbidly obese monkeys. It was overwhelming and gorgeous.

Troopers that we all are, after a short nap we headed out on the town. We watched traditional apsara dancers over Khmer food (amok) before heading down the street to watch ladyboy apsara dancers over Cambodian beer. A night unlike any other, to be sure. We ended the night at the most exciting place of all: Hip Hop Club!! Our 21 year old driver Ang had told us about it, but insisted that it was "Cambodian only". But armed with our new friend Tong, who literally pulled us past the bouncers when they weren't looking, we were in! Beer flowed at a fraction of the tourist price, Cambodian music pumped, and we basically couldn't see anything cuz it was so dark. Success! The next day we told Ang where we'd gone and he was astounded and impressed. Rightly so.

The next day.... well, the next day we said our goodbyes and headed off to seek our fortunes, as you saw in the previous post. Meeting up with A&S in Asia was one of the best things we've ever done. Thanks for having us, friends!!-- or should I say Kop Kun Kah!

Here are some pics of the adventure. They're kind of out of order b/c Blogger is being grumpy.


Imagine yourself on an exotic vacation... lounging in this grimy, hot mechanic shop, fighting off dogs to go to the squat toilet. Heaven on earth-- for five long hours.

Arli preparing to jump into the water to save our ship from the shallow murky depths! How was the water? Arli said mucky and hot. Thank the construction happening on the banks. There is definitely no geologist taking soil samples here.

Inside the onion a little after dawn.

Angkor Wat is lined with amazing murals that tell stories like Chief Hanuman's monkey army going into battle, or The Churning of the Sea of Milk. This is some sort of battle on chariots and elephants, probably from the Ramayana.

Someone left the face out in the rain.

Nature wins!

Fashion shoot at the Elephant Terrace.

Everyone here drinks out of bags. I am not kidding.

Meggo and Mich at Angkor Wat.

Traditional apsara dancer.

Ladyboy apsara dancers.

Omg we got into Hip Hop Club! This is so much cooler than the Peach Pit! Looking sharp with our new Filipino/Singaporean friend Mark.

Ang took us to the airport in his sweet tuk-tuk. Good bye Ang! We'll miss you! Have fun at Hip Hop Club!