4.30.2007
Siem Reap: Tonle Sap Lake.
After watching the sun rise of Angkor, what do you think we did? Go back home and fall back into bed? WRONG. No, like good tourists, we had something else booked post-Angkor, so rather than the aforementioned bed option, we headed to a cafe next to our hotel and drank cup after cup of instant Nescafe, a coffee-like substance that apparently contains caffeine, which is all I was really after--like pretty much everything else in Cambodia, it only cost one dollar--and then regrouped with our guide a few hours later to go of to Tonle Sap (aka "Great") Lake.
Why go to a great lake? Not just to see the lake, of course. No, having seen Lake Superior multiple times, it takes more than just another big lake to impress me: it takes a big lake with people LIVING ON IT. More specifically, people I could go stare at/take pictures of while thinking, "Look at these crazy people--the live ON a lake!" Did I feel bad while driving down very bad roads for an hour to go stare at really poor people living on a lake? At first. But only a little. I mean, after all, I figured they could use the money. Because, really, when you live on a lake, you don't have a lot of career options. You can be a fisherman and ... a fisherman's wife, I guess. So really, I thought I was probably helping them out by going to stare at them and take pictures.
Of course, when we actually got there--hordes of tourists had already arrived, of course--and found out how much we had to pay per person to be ferried around in a crappy little boat, I was a little less pleased about the entire situation. I can't remember exactly how much they made us each pay--it was a while ago, at this point--but I remember thinking it was a lot. Like 15 US Dollars or something. And when you're in a country where everything costs a dollar, that's a hell of a lot of money. More than I would normally be willing to pay to go stare at poor people living on a lake. But of after driving all that way out there, we couldn't really say no--well, we could, but I don't think anyone was looking forward to the hour ride back to Siem Reap down the dirt "road" we had come in on, especially considering the "shocks" on our van--so we paid our money and got taken for a ride.
All that being said, it was actually pretty cool. Was it $15 of my not-very-hard-earned money cool? Possibly. Well, possibly to probably. After all, in the US, you can't go gawk at poor people living on boats, no matter HOW much you pay. (Plus, in the areas of the country where I imagine people living on boats--I'm thinking the South and swamps--you have to worry about getting winged with a shotgun.) Plus, while we had seen people living on the water in Halong Bay, this was slightly different: in Halong Bay, people were living in tiny little communities in houses that were clearly primarily boats; on Tonle Sap lake, people were living in houses that just happened to float, as you can see in the following picture.
(Side note: That green plant-stuff was everywhere around the village. It seemed to only grow in places where the water was very calm, which it definitely was around the village due to, I presume, two things: the amount of houses/boats, and their proximity to the shore. Once you got out into the actual open water of the lake, the plants disappeared. And if you're wondering why they live right next the shore but on the water, I have one word for you: flooding.)
Main street:
Women hard at work doing ... whatever it is women there do. Something with fish, possibly? Well, that or laundry. That's only partially a joke, as you will see shortly:
If you think this looks like a school, guess what? For once, you're right: it is a school. A FLOATING school. (To be fair, Halong Bay also had floating schools. Just not such schooly-looking ones.) How much cooler would school have been as a kid if your school actually floated? Way cooler, obviously. And much safer in a flood to boot ....
See? Laundry. I don't know if we came on laundry day or what, but there was laundry everywhere. And since it made for colorful pictures, I have a lot of snaps of said laundry. I kept hoping they had some way of doing their laundry other than dunking it in the lake, since--while I did see much laundry--I did not see a lot in the way of septic systems. Which is something the Halong Bay houses definitely had ...
What do you do for recess when you go to a floating school? Go play on a floating basketball court, natch. Already, the kids I saw playing here were more fundamentally sound than 95% of NBA players. And really, that's not saying a lot:
More laundry. Some of that looks like it might need to be washed again. I'm just saying:
I think this counts as taking a stroll around the neighborhood:
For all you men out there, you think it's bad when your wife wants you to rearrange the furniture? Check out this poor guy. "I think our house would look better over there. Oh no, wait. Over there. But maybe if you turn it the other way? Actually, maybe it was better where it was ...."
Apparently I have a laundry obsession. Unfortunately, I never took a psych class in college, so I have no idea what that might mean:
My favorite part about this picture is the fact that one kid is using an old plastic jug for a life preserver. I wonder if this counts as recycling?
I like this picture:
A beefcake photo for those with a predilection for in-shape subsistence fishermen. I'm sure there's a website somewhere for you ....
Another photo I like. The laundry is coincidental, I swear:
Some slice-of-life photos, for those of you who don't want to go to Siem Reap (which you should) and drive an hour out of town and pay $15 (or whatever) to stare at poor people and so will never see the floating village of Tonle Sap Lake. I'm sure there are many of you out there. Go figure:
One plus of living on a lake: You can totally jump off your roof. And not in a suicidal/cry for help type way either, but just for the hell of it ...
I think this is the local mansion. Maybe:
More eye boats. The better to see you with, my dearies:
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why all the boats had water tubes like this hanging over the side. (Did I mention I work with computers all day, ever?) For those of you who also work with computers, I will give you a hint: water cools engines ...
I love this picture because it is so overly dramatic. These guys are heading to the open water--you can see all the green plants disappear suddenly. Where they are going, I have no idea .. based on the standing guy's pose, I'd say across the Delaware to fight the Hessians. I'd be wrong, but that's what I'd say ...
If you see this kid, float the other way. Sure, he looks cute now, but just wait until he latches on to the side of your boat like a lamprey and won't let go until you give him money. Luckily, I took this picture while he wasn't looking, thus avoiding the boat-latch. The people in the boat next to us, however, were not so lucky:
Our next event is the boat-pulling competition, ladies and gentleman. Boat pulling!
The Cambodian flag, for those of you who haven't seen it:
And with that, we made our way back to Bangkok, to spend not one but two nights. And if you think I didn't sing that song approximately 5,000 times when I was there, you'd be wrong. Ask Holly if you don't believe me.
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble ....
Previously, on my vacation:
- Siem Reap: Angkor at Dawn.
- Siem Reap: The Angkor Temples.
- Ang Thong Marine Park.
- Koh Samui.
- Tay Ninh: The Cao Dai Temple.
- The Cu Chi Tunnels.
- The Mekong Delta.
- Saigon: the Random.
- Saigon: Reunification Hall.
- Saigon: the War Museum.
- Saigon: the Streets.
- Hoi An: The River.
- Hoi An: My Son.
- Hoi An: the People.
- Hoi An: the Streets.
- Hue: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hue: the River.
- Hue: the Imperial Tombs.
- Hue: the Imperial Palace.
- Hue: the Streets.
- Halong Bay: the Videos.
- Halong Bay.
- Hanoi: the Random.
- Hanoi: Water Puppets.
- Hanoi: the "Hilton."
- Hanoi: the People.
- Hanoi: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hanoi: the Streets.
Why go to a great lake? Not just to see the lake, of course. No, having seen Lake Superior multiple times, it takes more than just another big lake to impress me: it takes a big lake with people LIVING ON IT. More specifically, people I could go stare at/take pictures of while thinking, "Look at these crazy people--the live ON a lake!" Did I feel bad while driving down very bad roads for an hour to go stare at really poor people living on a lake? At first. But only a little. I mean, after all, I figured they could use the money. Because, really, when you live on a lake, you don't have a lot of career options. You can be a fisherman and ... a fisherman's wife, I guess. So really, I thought I was probably helping them out by going to stare at them and take pictures.
Of course, when we actually got there--hordes of tourists had already arrived, of course--and found out how much we had to pay per person to be ferried around in a crappy little boat, I was a little less pleased about the entire situation. I can't remember exactly how much they made us each pay--it was a while ago, at this point--but I remember thinking it was a lot. Like 15 US Dollars or something. And when you're in a country where everything costs a dollar, that's a hell of a lot of money. More than I would normally be willing to pay to go stare at poor people living on a lake. But of after driving all that way out there, we couldn't really say no--well, we could, but I don't think anyone was looking forward to the hour ride back to Siem Reap down the dirt "road" we had come in on, especially considering the "shocks" on our van--so we paid our money and got taken for a ride.
All that being said, it was actually pretty cool. Was it $15 of my not-very-hard-earned money cool? Possibly. Well, possibly to probably. After all, in the US, you can't go gawk at poor people living on boats, no matter HOW much you pay. (Plus, in the areas of the country where I imagine people living on boats--I'm thinking the South and swamps--you have to worry about getting winged with a shotgun.) Plus, while we had seen people living on the water in Halong Bay, this was slightly different: in Halong Bay, people were living in tiny little communities in houses that were clearly primarily boats; on Tonle Sap lake, people were living in houses that just happened to float, as you can see in the following picture.
(Side note: That green plant-stuff was everywhere around the village. It seemed to only grow in places where the water was very calm, which it definitely was around the village due to, I presume, two things: the amount of houses/boats, and their proximity to the shore. Once you got out into the actual open water of the lake, the plants disappeared. And if you're wondering why they live right next the shore but on the water, I have one word for you: flooding.)
Main street:
Women hard at work doing ... whatever it is women there do. Something with fish, possibly? Well, that or laundry. That's only partially a joke, as you will see shortly:
If you think this looks like a school, guess what? For once, you're right: it is a school. A FLOATING school. (To be fair, Halong Bay also had floating schools. Just not such schooly-looking ones.) How much cooler would school have been as a kid if your school actually floated? Way cooler, obviously. And much safer in a flood to boot ....
See? Laundry. I don't know if we came on laundry day or what, but there was laundry everywhere. And since it made for colorful pictures, I have a lot of snaps of said laundry. I kept hoping they had some way of doing their laundry other than dunking it in the lake, since--while I did see much laundry--I did not see a lot in the way of septic systems. Which is something the Halong Bay houses definitely had ...
What do you do for recess when you go to a floating school? Go play on a floating basketball court, natch. Already, the kids I saw playing here were more fundamentally sound than 95% of NBA players. And really, that's not saying a lot:
More laundry. Some of that looks like it might need to be washed again. I'm just saying:
I think this counts as taking a stroll around the neighborhood:
For all you men out there, you think it's bad when your wife wants you to rearrange the furniture? Check out this poor guy. "I think our house would look better over there. Oh no, wait. Over there. But maybe if you turn it the other way? Actually, maybe it was better where it was ...."
Apparently I have a laundry obsession. Unfortunately, I never took a psych class in college, so I have no idea what that might mean:
My favorite part about this picture is the fact that one kid is using an old plastic jug for a life preserver. I wonder if this counts as recycling?
I like this picture:
A beefcake photo for those with a predilection for in-shape subsistence fishermen. I'm sure there's a website somewhere for you ....
Another photo I like. The laundry is coincidental, I swear:
Some slice-of-life photos, for those of you who don't want to go to Siem Reap (which you should) and drive an hour out of town and pay $15 (or whatever) to stare at poor people and so will never see the floating village of Tonle Sap Lake. I'm sure there are many of you out there. Go figure:
One plus of living on a lake: You can totally jump off your roof. And not in a suicidal/cry for help type way either, but just for the hell of it ...
I think this is the local mansion. Maybe:
More eye boats. The better to see you with, my dearies:
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why all the boats had water tubes like this hanging over the side. (Did I mention I work with computers all day, ever?) For those of you who also work with computers, I will give you a hint: water cools engines ...
I love this picture because it is so overly dramatic. These guys are heading to the open water--you can see all the green plants disappear suddenly. Where they are going, I have no idea .. based on the standing guy's pose, I'd say across the Delaware to fight the Hessians. I'd be wrong, but that's what I'd say ...
If you see this kid, float the other way. Sure, he looks cute now, but just wait until he latches on to the side of your boat like a lamprey and won't let go until you give him money. Luckily, I took this picture while he wasn't looking, thus avoiding the boat-latch. The people in the boat next to us, however, were not so lucky:
Our next event is the boat-pulling competition, ladies and gentleman. Boat pulling!
The Cambodian flag, for those of you who haven't seen it:
And with that, we made our way back to Bangkok, to spend not one but two nights. And if you think I didn't sing that song approximately 5,000 times when I was there, you'd be wrong. Ask Holly if you don't believe me.
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble ....
Previously, on my vacation:
- Siem Reap: Angkor at Dawn.
- Siem Reap: The Angkor Temples.
- Ang Thong Marine Park.
- Koh Samui.
- Tay Ninh: The Cao Dai Temple.
- The Cu Chi Tunnels.
- The Mekong Delta.
- Saigon: the Random.
- Saigon: Reunification Hall.
- Saigon: the War Museum.
- Saigon: the Streets.
- Hoi An: The River.
- Hoi An: My Son.
- Hoi An: the People.
- Hoi An: the Streets.
- Hue: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hue: the River.
- Hue: the Imperial Tombs.
- Hue: the Imperial Palace.
- Hue: the Streets.
- Halong Bay: the Videos.
- Halong Bay.
- Hanoi: the Random.
- Hanoi: Water Puppets.
- Hanoi: the "Hilton."
- Hanoi: the People.
- Hanoi: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hanoi: the Streets.
4.15.2007
Siem Reap: Angkor Wat at Dawn.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: if you are ever in the general vicinity of Cambodia, you need to go to Siem Reap to check out the Angkor Temples. I know that sounds crazy--oh, I was just in the general vicinity of Cambodia last week!--but come on people, Thailand is right there so why wouldn't you go? It's just like Mexico, but cleaner and with better food. And the beaches aren't bad, either. And just so we're clear, by "not bad" I mean "better than the ones in Mexico." Well, at least if you like your beaches to include things like, oh, golden sand, hot sun, warm water, etc. (If you prefer your beaches otherwise, I would humbly suggest that you are, in fact, missing the point of a beach ...)
(Side note: for non-dawn pictures of Angkor, look here and here.)
And--to get back to my point, or at least to further approach my point--when you do go to Siem Reap to see the Angkor temples, you need to get up at dawn to go watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. (To clear up some confusion, Angkor Wat is the biggest and most famous of the Angkor temples--but there are a lot more ... you can't use the names interchangeably. Well, you can, but you'll sound like a jackass. Whether or not you're okay with that is something you'll have to figure out for yourself.) On the plus side, I guarantee it will be one of the coolest things you'll ever see. On the negative side, to get there at sunrise, you'll have to get up and on your way somewhere between 4:30 and 4:45 AM, AKA "at the ass-crack of dawn." Although now that I write that, I'm not sure why anyone would ever refer to the ass-crack of dawn. I mean, where do you go from there? The full-moon of the afternoon? The sphincter of sunset? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Anyway. Angkor at dawn. Yes, you have to get up early, and yes, no matter how early you get up, you will have been beaten to the front gate of Angkor Wat by anywhere from one to six hundred Korean and/or Japanese tourists. But don't worry, it works out. When we pulled into the parking lot (it seems a bit strange that ancient, moldering jungle temples HAVE parking lots ...), I was a little annoyed at the fact that about 50 tour buses seemed to have beaten us there. There's a place in front of Angkor Wat where there's a little pool where you can see the reflection of the temple, which makes it THE picture-taking spot; I had been planning to take my pictures from there, but I was worried about having to push my way through rows and rows of people to do. (I mean, I totally would have done it. I just wouldn't have enjoyed it.) (No, I take that back--it would have been fun.)
Either way, I never even got the option, because the crowds all seemed to stop at the main gate. I wasn't sure why, since I figured if you were going to get to Angkor Wat at 5 AM, you might as well take a picture, but later I realized it was probably because they wanted an actual picture of the sun rising over the temple, whereas I only wanted the silhouette at dawn. So while it looked very crowded, once I got on the path toward the temple, things thinned out remarkably. So much, in fact, that at one point I was actually able to get in front of everyone else there (as far as I could tell) and take a picture with no one else in the frame, which is difficult at best at any tourist attraction in Asia, and which I would have thought was completely impossible at one as overrun at Angkor, but here's the proof:
(Side note: depending on the camera you have, you might want to bring a tripod. My camera has pretty serious image stabilization, so I was able to take this by kneeling on the ground, but I had to take six or seven shots to get one that was usable. My friends who had standard point-and-shoots had a really hard problem getting decent pictures in the light--or lack of it.)
A shot featuring the reflecting pool I mentioned above. You can't tell, but in the middle of the day there would probably be one to two-hundred people taking this exact same shot on either side of you; at 5 AM, there's only ten to fifteen:
This shot is same-same, but different. (That's a Southeast Asia joke, for the record: people say it there all the time. Except one girl, who told me "same-same, but better," which made me laugh. I still didn't buy her postcards though. I mean, how many postcards I'll never send of Hoi An do I need?) Anyway, in this picture the person standing next to me took a picture at the same time with her flash on. What she thought the flash on her tiny little Casio camera would do to improve the picture I have no idea--nothing, I strongly suspect--but it created a pretty cool effect:
Approaching the temple itself, with my friend out in front of me ruining the picture. (Thanks, Mike!)
One more, sans-Mike. It's bright out, but the sun hasn't actually come up yet:
Remember how I mentioned that you wouldn't be alone? This is what I mean. Remember, this is like 5 AM. Although I am a little jealous of the person in the hot-air balloon:
Inside the temple, it's still pretty dark, which also led to some cool photo ops. Because really, why else go a famous UNESCO world heritage site if not for the photo opportunities?
Last shot, which was maybe the coolest thing. At this point, I'd climbed to the top of the temple and walked to the far side, where I sat there by myself and watched the sun come up over the jungle. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, as you can imagine:
Next, Tonle Sap Lake! Which is cooler than it sounds! Which wouldn't be hard! Because, you know, most things that involve the word "sap" just aren't that cool!
Previously, on my vacation:
- Siem Reap: the Angkor Temples.
- Ang Thong Marine Park: the Video.
- Ang Thong Marine Park.
- Koh Samui.
- Tay Ninh: The Cao Dai Temple.
- The Cu Chi Tunnels.
- The Mekong Delta.
- Saigon: the Random.
- Saigon: Reunification Hall.
- Saigon: the War Museum.
- Saigon: the Streets.
- Hoi An: The River.
- Hoi An: My Son.
- Hoi An: the People.
- Hoi An: the Streets.
- Hue: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hue: the River.
- Hue: the Imperial Tombs.
- Hue: the Imperial Palace.
- Hue: the Streets.
- Halong Bay: the Videos.
- Halong Bay.
- Hanoi: the Random.
- Hanoi: Water Puppets.
- Hanoi: the "Hilton."
- Hanoi: the People.
- Hanoi: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hanoi: the Streets.
(Side note: for non-dawn pictures of Angkor, look here and here.)
And--to get back to my point, or at least to further approach my point--when you do go to Siem Reap to see the Angkor temples, you need to get up at dawn to go watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. (To clear up some confusion, Angkor Wat is the biggest and most famous of the Angkor temples--but there are a lot more ... you can't use the names interchangeably. Well, you can, but you'll sound like a jackass. Whether or not you're okay with that is something you'll have to figure out for yourself.) On the plus side, I guarantee it will be one of the coolest things you'll ever see. On the negative side, to get there at sunrise, you'll have to get up and on your way somewhere between 4:30 and 4:45 AM, AKA "at the ass-crack of dawn." Although now that I write that, I'm not sure why anyone would ever refer to the ass-crack of dawn. I mean, where do you go from there? The full-moon of the afternoon? The sphincter of sunset? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Anyway. Angkor at dawn. Yes, you have to get up early, and yes, no matter how early you get up, you will have been beaten to the front gate of Angkor Wat by anywhere from one to six hundred Korean and/or Japanese tourists. But don't worry, it works out. When we pulled into the parking lot (it seems a bit strange that ancient, moldering jungle temples HAVE parking lots ...), I was a little annoyed at the fact that about 50 tour buses seemed to have beaten us there. There's a place in front of Angkor Wat where there's a little pool where you can see the reflection of the temple, which makes it THE picture-taking spot; I had been planning to take my pictures from there, but I was worried about having to push my way through rows and rows of people to do. (I mean, I totally would have done it. I just wouldn't have enjoyed it.) (No, I take that back--it would have been fun.)
Either way, I never even got the option, because the crowds all seemed to stop at the main gate. I wasn't sure why, since I figured if you were going to get to Angkor Wat at 5 AM, you might as well take a picture, but later I realized it was probably because they wanted an actual picture of the sun rising over the temple, whereas I only wanted the silhouette at dawn. So while it looked very crowded, once I got on the path toward the temple, things thinned out remarkably. So much, in fact, that at one point I was actually able to get in front of everyone else there (as far as I could tell) and take a picture with no one else in the frame, which is difficult at best at any tourist attraction in Asia, and which I would have thought was completely impossible at one as overrun at Angkor, but here's the proof:
(Side note: depending on the camera you have, you might want to bring a tripod. My camera has pretty serious image stabilization, so I was able to take this by kneeling on the ground, but I had to take six or seven shots to get one that was usable. My friends who had standard point-and-shoots had a really hard problem getting decent pictures in the light--or lack of it.)
A shot featuring the reflecting pool I mentioned above. You can't tell, but in the middle of the day there would probably be one to two-hundred people taking this exact same shot on either side of you; at 5 AM, there's only ten to fifteen:
This shot is same-same, but different. (That's a Southeast Asia joke, for the record: people say it there all the time. Except one girl, who told me "same-same, but better," which made me laugh. I still didn't buy her postcards though. I mean, how many postcards I'll never send of Hoi An do I need?) Anyway, in this picture the person standing next to me took a picture at the same time with her flash on. What she thought the flash on her tiny little Casio camera would do to improve the picture I have no idea--nothing, I strongly suspect--but it created a pretty cool effect:
Approaching the temple itself, with my friend out in front of me ruining the picture. (Thanks, Mike!)
One more, sans-Mike. It's bright out, but the sun hasn't actually come up yet:
Remember how I mentioned that you wouldn't be alone? This is what I mean. Remember, this is like 5 AM. Although I am a little jealous of the person in the hot-air balloon:
Inside the temple, it's still pretty dark, which also led to some cool photo ops. Because really, why else go a famous UNESCO world heritage site if not for the photo opportunities?
Last shot, which was maybe the coolest thing. At this point, I'd climbed to the top of the temple and walked to the far side, where I sat there by myself and watched the sun come up over the jungle. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, as you can imagine:
Next, Tonle Sap Lake! Which is cooler than it sounds! Which wouldn't be hard! Because, you know, most things that involve the word "sap" just aren't that cool!
Previously, on my vacation:
- Siem Reap: the Angkor Temples.
- Ang Thong Marine Park: the Video.
- Ang Thong Marine Park.
- Koh Samui.
- Tay Ninh: The Cao Dai Temple.
- The Cu Chi Tunnels.
- The Mekong Delta.
- Saigon: the Random.
- Saigon: Reunification Hall.
- Saigon: the War Museum.
- Saigon: the Streets.
- Hoi An: The River.
- Hoi An: My Son.
- Hoi An: the People.
- Hoi An: the Streets.
- Hue: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hue: the River.
- Hue: the Imperial Tombs.
- Hue: the Imperial Palace.
- Hue: the Streets.
- Halong Bay: the Videos.
- Halong Bay.
- Hanoi: the Random.
- Hanoi: Water Puppets.
- Hanoi: the "Hilton."
- Hanoi: the People.
- Hanoi: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hanoi: the Streets.
4.03.2007
Siem Reap: the Angkor Temples.
After resting for a few days to recover from the murderous hill climb (described in more detail in the previous post), we flew off to Cambodia to see the Angkor temples, mostly because we loved marching through the hot, sweaty jungle so much in Ang Thong Marine Park that we decided we should probably just do that for three or four more days. And, rather than do it for free, we should pay money--not just for admission into the jungle, but also for someone to drive us around to different places in the jungle where we could walk around and, if we were lucky, climb some hills. Oh, and there was also some stuff about some temples or something--I forget exactly what. I'd been there before (photographic proof!) but our friends hadn't, so they wanted to check them out, so we decided to go to Cambodia where we could walk around the jungle for three or for days ... I think you know the rest.
Whatever. The point is that, from Samui, we flew to Siem Reap. Again. (Thank you, Bangkok Airways, which is actually a nice airline, for any of you who might be planning trips and wondering just how sketchy it might be.) Which I was totally fine with, because the Angkor temples are pretty amazing, and seeing them twice is not really what I would call a hardship. It was also interesting to see how different things were. Last time, we'd gone in May, during the hot season--also, not coincidentally--the low season for tourists, and arrived to find a scuzzy little airport and a completely dead town, by which I mean that we would often be the only people in whatever restaurant we chose to eat at, and the cleverly named bars--Temple Bar, Angkor What?, etc.--were all completely empty. This time, things were totally different. It was July, the airport was brand-spanking-new, school was out everywhere, and the place was completely packed, to the point where sometimes it was hard to find a seat in places. And when you got up from said places to leave, you would be swarmed by motorcycle drivers trying to take you home. And when I say swarmed, I mean swarmed. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of said swarming, but think Jesus and the lepers and you'll have some idea. But, you know, without all the religious stuff. And the leprosy. So more just the being surrounded and being grabbed at as they tried to earn the right to take you home for a single US dollar. Really, if it wasn't so depressing, it would be funny. Although, now that I think about it, it was still a little funny, but maybe that was just the beer talking.
Anyway, despite July being high season (apparently) it was still, as far as I could tell, incredibly hot, so I'm not sure "hot season" really has any meaning in Cambodia. But it did rain more this time--much, much more--which meant you didn't notice the heat so much. Not that it was actually any cooler, so far as I could tell, but you didn't notice the heat because you were too busy doing things like trying to figure out how to walk around gigantic mud puddles that were deep enough to qualify as ponds, or possibly even lakes, in some parts of the world, and wondering how much rain your digital camera can take before it stops working. (Quite a bit, as it turns out.)
But enough of this pointless talking about ... pointless stuff. Like last time, the main thing to get out of this is that, if you ever have the chance to go to Siem Reap, you should. And when you do, this is not only a place you'll see, but a place you'll probably go--for a drink, if nothing else. Because hey, if the Red Piano is good enough for Angelina Jolie, it's good enough for you. Although now that I think about it, the food wasn't that good and the menu was pretty limited, if I recall correctly, but it's still a nice place to sit and have a beer. Or four. Your choice:
Don't be fooled. He's not really sleeping. The second you walk by, he'll spring to live and start following you around, asking if you need a ride:
Downtown Siem Reap. The streets are a little on the muddy side after it rains, what with being dirt and all, so definitely bring shoes that you don't mind getting dirty. Shoes that can be washed off in the sink and/or shower are a plus ....
Besides being swarmed by taxi drivers, you may also be surrounded by small children trying to sell you something. This foolish couple made the mistake of stopping to look at something a kid was selling--most likely postcards are bracelets (whatever it is, everything's a dollar!)--and were immediately surround by kids trying to sell the same thing at the same price. Have fun choosing:
And here we are at the temples themselves. To be more specific, the bridge at the entrance to Angkor Thom. To be even more specific, the left side of the bridge--the one with the "Gods." I think I might have posted almost this exact same picture last time, but I'm too lazy to go look. But if you aren't too lazy, feel free to check. Just don't tell me about it, because I don't care. Thanks!
The right side of the bridge. These are the demons:
The Bayon--the temple with all the faces on it. From afar, it looks like a pile of rubble. But when you get close, it looks like a pile of rubble, but with faces! Somehow, I managed to get a picture with no one in it, which was more difficult than you could possibly imagine:
Faces! This is supposedly the only place where you can get a shot of three faces in row like this. Of course, being the overachiever I am, I got four:
More faces:
An apsara--some sort of mystical nymph/dancer hybrid, as far as I can tell. There are tons of them carved into the stone in pretty much every temple you'll see at Angkor:
Including, apparently, evil vampire apsaras:
Along with a bunch of other stuff, mostly about old battles between the Khmer (the temple builders) and the Cham (from Vietnam--the ones who made My Son):
Angkor Wat, the big 'un. At least, as far as temples go. I think those skies could accurately be described as "threatening":
Can you tell from this picture it was raining? Ha-ha. This also illustrates the primary reason the temples were so crowded: Japanese, South Korean, and (increasingly!) Chinese tour groups. Obviously, one reason there are so many tourists from those countries is because they are all fairly close (compared to the US and Europe, at least). The problem is that they tend to move in very large groups, which can get frustrating when you are trying to get somewhere or take a picture. One time, I thought I had a cool, clear shot of a temple when, just as I was about to pull the trigger, a Korean tourist (I could tell by the writing on his shirt) popped into the frame. Five minutes and 60 or so picture-taking tourists later, I gave up:
Smoking is illegal at the temples. Unless, apparently, you are a monk. Although I guess it's hard to tell from this picture, so you'll just have to trust me:
The steps at Angkor. They are steep. And fun in the rain:
How steep? THIS steep!
I couldn't help but wonder if this neatly folded orange monk's robe meant a naked monk was running around somewhere in the temple complex. Thankfully, I never found out:
The moat around Angkor Wat:
The rain makes going to the temples lots of fun, especially for people with tennis shoes. Luckily, I had rubber sandals on. Unluckily, they really stunk because of all the walking around and sweating I did for a year or so while wearing them. Luckily, this water washed them off. Unluckily, the smell came back as soon as they were dry ...
Preah Khan--the Sacred Sword--temple. In the rain:
This was the Women's temple. Or the Citadel of Women, or something. Why was it for women? As far as I could tell, because the stone was pink-tinged, and--as well all know--chicks dig pink. Also, I think the brain of this temple was slightly smaller and more feeble than those of the bigger, more masculine temples. Ha-ha. I keed, I keed:
A women ... at the Citadel of Women. The irony is, of course, palpable:
One thing the Women's Temple did have going for it was loads of cool carvings. Which, now that I think about it, were more interesting than the actual temple itself, in my opinion:
This kid was yelling for us to tell Angeline Jolie to adopt him. I told him I'd try to get in touch with her. So far, no luck though, sadly:
Speaking of Angelina Jolie, this is Ta Prohm, better known as the "Tomb Raider Temple" (they filmed it there), and even better known as "the temple with all those crazy trees growing all over its shit":
Naturally, it also has some apsara dancers. Because, you know, when I said they all had apsara dancers, I wasn't lying about it:
Normally, I might say something about how it even has this apsara dancer, and if you weren't looking very, very carefully, you might miss her, followed by some pithy comment about my remarkable, Sherlock-Holmes-like powers of observation. But I won't. Mostly because, as with everything like this at the Angkor temples (like the place at the Bayon above where you can snap three faces at once), everyone knows about this and our guide naturally pointed it out as we passed so that we could all take pictures. Oh well:
There is, of course, more from Angkor. But not much more, at least not in proportion to the number of photos I took. For this, I am sure, you are grateful:
Previously, on my vacation:
- Ang Thong Marine Park: the Video.
- Ang Thong Marine Park.
- Koh Samui.
- Tay Ninh: The Cao Dai Temple.
- The Cu Chi Tunnels.
- The Mekong Delta.
- Saigon: the Random.
- Saigon: Reunification Hall.
- Saigon: the War Museum.
- Saigon: the Streets.
- Hoi An: The River.
- Hoi An: My Son.
- Hoi An: the People.
- Hoi An: the Streets.
- Hue: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hue: the River.
- Hue: the Imperial Tombs.
- Hue: the Imperial Palace.
- Hue: the Streets.
- Halong Bay: the Videos.
- Halong Bay.
- Hanoi: the Random.
- Hanoi: Water Puppets.
- Hanoi: the "Hilton."
- Hanoi: the People.
- Hanoi: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hanoi: the Streets.
Whatever. The point is that, from Samui, we flew to Siem Reap. Again. (Thank you, Bangkok Airways, which is actually a nice airline, for any of you who might be planning trips and wondering just how sketchy it might be.) Which I was totally fine with, because the Angkor temples are pretty amazing, and seeing them twice is not really what I would call a hardship. It was also interesting to see how different things were. Last time, we'd gone in May, during the hot season--also, not coincidentally--the low season for tourists, and arrived to find a scuzzy little airport and a completely dead town, by which I mean that we would often be the only people in whatever restaurant we chose to eat at, and the cleverly named bars--Temple Bar, Angkor What?, etc.--were all completely empty. This time, things were totally different. It was July, the airport was brand-spanking-new, school was out everywhere, and the place was completely packed, to the point where sometimes it was hard to find a seat in places. And when you got up from said places to leave, you would be swarmed by motorcycle drivers trying to take you home. And when I say swarmed, I mean swarmed. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of said swarming, but think Jesus and the lepers and you'll have some idea. But, you know, without all the religious stuff. And the leprosy. So more just the being surrounded and being grabbed at as they tried to earn the right to take you home for a single US dollar. Really, if it wasn't so depressing, it would be funny. Although, now that I think about it, it was still a little funny, but maybe that was just the beer talking.
Anyway, despite July being high season (apparently) it was still, as far as I could tell, incredibly hot, so I'm not sure "hot season" really has any meaning in Cambodia. But it did rain more this time--much, much more--which meant you didn't notice the heat so much. Not that it was actually any cooler, so far as I could tell, but you didn't notice the heat because you were too busy doing things like trying to figure out how to walk around gigantic mud puddles that were deep enough to qualify as ponds, or possibly even lakes, in some parts of the world, and wondering how much rain your digital camera can take before it stops working. (Quite a bit, as it turns out.)
But enough of this pointless talking about ... pointless stuff. Like last time, the main thing to get out of this is that, if you ever have the chance to go to Siem Reap, you should. And when you do, this is not only a place you'll see, but a place you'll probably go--for a drink, if nothing else. Because hey, if the Red Piano is good enough for Angelina Jolie, it's good enough for you. Although now that I think about it, the food wasn't that good and the menu was pretty limited, if I recall correctly, but it's still a nice place to sit and have a beer. Or four. Your choice:
Don't be fooled. He's not really sleeping. The second you walk by, he'll spring to live and start following you around, asking if you need a ride:
Downtown Siem Reap. The streets are a little on the muddy side after it rains, what with being dirt and all, so definitely bring shoes that you don't mind getting dirty. Shoes that can be washed off in the sink and/or shower are a plus ....
Besides being swarmed by taxi drivers, you may also be surrounded by small children trying to sell you something. This foolish couple made the mistake of stopping to look at something a kid was selling--most likely postcards are bracelets (whatever it is, everything's a dollar!)--and were immediately surround by kids trying to sell the same thing at the same price. Have fun choosing:
And here we are at the temples themselves. To be more specific, the bridge at the entrance to Angkor Thom. To be even more specific, the left side of the bridge--the one with the "Gods." I think I might have posted almost this exact same picture last time, but I'm too lazy to go look. But if you aren't too lazy, feel free to check. Just don't tell me about it, because I don't care. Thanks!
The right side of the bridge. These are the demons:
The Bayon--the temple with all the faces on it. From afar, it looks like a pile of rubble. But when you get close, it looks like a pile of rubble, but with faces! Somehow, I managed to get a picture with no one in it, which was more difficult than you could possibly imagine:
Faces! This is supposedly the only place where you can get a shot of three faces in row like this. Of course, being the overachiever I am, I got four:
More faces:
An apsara--some sort of mystical nymph/dancer hybrid, as far as I can tell. There are tons of them carved into the stone in pretty much every temple you'll see at Angkor:
Including, apparently, evil vampire apsaras:
Along with a bunch of other stuff, mostly about old battles between the Khmer (the temple builders) and the Cham (from Vietnam--the ones who made My Son):
Angkor Wat, the big 'un. At least, as far as temples go. I think those skies could accurately be described as "threatening":
Can you tell from this picture it was raining? Ha-ha. This also illustrates the primary reason the temples were so crowded: Japanese, South Korean, and (increasingly!) Chinese tour groups. Obviously, one reason there are so many tourists from those countries is because they are all fairly close (compared to the US and Europe, at least). The problem is that they tend to move in very large groups, which can get frustrating when you are trying to get somewhere or take a picture. One time, I thought I had a cool, clear shot of a temple when, just as I was about to pull the trigger, a Korean tourist (I could tell by the writing on his shirt) popped into the frame. Five minutes and 60 or so picture-taking tourists later, I gave up:
Smoking is illegal at the temples. Unless, apparently, you are a monk. Although I guess it's hard to tell from this picture, so you'll just have to trust me:
The steps at Angkor. They are steep. And fun in the rain:
How steep? THIS steep!
I couldn't help but wonder if this neatly folded orange monk's robe meant a naked monk was running around somewhere in the temple complex. Thankfully, I never found out:
The moat around Angkor Wat:
The rain makes going to the temples lots of fun, especially for people with tennis shoes. Luckily, I had rubber sandals on. Unluckily, they really stunk because of all the walking around and sweating I did for a year or so while wearing them. Luckily, this water washed them off. Unluckily, the smell came back as soon as they were dry ...
Preah Khan--the Sacred Sword--temple. In the rain:
This was the Women's temple. Or the Citadel of Women, or something. Why was it for women? As far as I could tell, because the stone was pink-tinged, and--as well all know--chicks dig pink. Also, I think the brain of this temple was slightly smaller and more feeble than those of the bigger, more masculine temples. Ha-ha. I keed, I keed:
A women ... at the Citadel of Women. The irony is, of course, palpable:
One thing the Women's Temple did have going for it was loads of cool carvings. Which, now that I think about it, were more interesting than the actual temple itself, in my opinion:
This kid was yelling for us to tell Angeline Jolie to adopt him. I told him I'd try to get in touch with her. So far, no luck though, sadly:
Speaking of Angelina Jolie, this is Ta Prohm, better known as the "Tomb Raider Temple" (they filmed it there), and even better known as "the temple with all those crazy trees growing all over its shit":
Naturally, it also has some apsara dancers. Because, you know, when I said they all had apsara dancers, I wasn't lying about it:
Normally, I might say something about how it even has this apsara dancer, and if you weren't looking very, very carefully, you might miss her, followed by some pithy comment about my remarkable, Sherlock-Holmes-like powers of observation. But I won't. Mostly because, as with everything like this at the Angkor temples (like the place at the Bayon above where you can snap three faces at once), everyone knows about this and our guide naturally pointed it out as we passed so that we could all take pictures. Oh well:
There is, of course, more from Angkor. But not much more, at least not in proportion to the number of photos I took. For this, I am sure, you are grateful:
Previously, on my vacation:
- Ang Thong Marine Park: the Video.
- Ang Thong Marine Park.
- Koh Samui.
- Tay Ninh: The Cao Dai Temple.
- The Cu Chi Tunnels.
- The Mekong Delta.
- Saigon: the Random.
- Saigon: Reunification Hall.
- Saigon: the War Museum.
- Saigon: the Streets.
- Hoi An: The River.
- Hoi An: My Son.
- Hoi An: the People.
- Hoi An: the Streets.
- Hue: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hue: the River.
- Hue: the Imperial Tombs.
- Hue: the Imperial Palace.
- Hue: the Streets.
- Halong Bay: the Videos.
- Halong Bay.
- Hanoi: the Random.
- Hanoi: Water Puppets.
- Hanoi: the "Hilton."
- Hanoi: the People.
- Hanoi: Zoom, Zoom.
- Hanoi: the Streets.
