Siem Reap, gateway to Angkor

If the bus journey was uneventful, arriving into the station at Siem Reap made up for that.  While picking up my bags on the bus, I could see the tuk-tuk drivers come running, but that didn't prepare me for the scene when I emerged from the bus.  I wasn't even off the last step before i was surrounded by about 30 of them, shouting at me to come with me, look at my hostel, free tuk-tuk, nice rooms, cheap cheap.  It was possibly the most insane experience of the trip - it was even worse that the airport in Lima.  Every time I took a step forward the crowd moved around me.  It felt like they should have had cameras with them, because they were behaving exactly like the paparazzi do when you see them on tele.  I decided the best option would be to pick up my bag, walk over to the side, sit down and wait for Larissa to make it through the crowd, so that we could decide together.  I did that, and of course the mob followed.  They weren't losing interest at all, so I told them I wasn't going anywhere until I could speak to my friend.  That had the Moses effect, because with that, the crowd parted, and a pathway formed between the two of us.  It was crazy.

Among all the shouting, there was one guy who was speaking really quietly in my ear, which worked really well, since he was the only one I could make out.  Apparently the same fella had been using this tactic on Larissa, and had told her that if we just pick one, they would all go away.  There was also one white guy telling me about his guest house, and I had almost decided to just go with him, when one of the tuk-tuk drivers started to get a bit mad, telling me that I was a bad tourist, and that I should support Cambodian people.  I'm sure it was just a tactic of his, but it worked.  It's funny how you're automatically drawn to 'your own', and that out of about 40 people, I almost chose the one westerner.  Anyway, after all that, we went with the guy who shouted at me, ironically enough.  And with that, the madness ended.

There were two guys in the tuk-tuk - the guy who had come out to the station, who drove, and another guy, Hom, the self-proclaimed best looking driver in Siem Reap, who sat with us in the back.  He was all smiles and jokes, until we had a look at his guest house and decided we didn't want to stay there.  He took us to another place, which was lovely, and good and cheap, so we checked in there.  After that, it was time for the hard sell - the real reason the drivers want you to pick them - the Angkor drive.  We agreed for him to take us to Angkor that night for sunset, but at $10 each his price was a bit much for the day trip the following day, so we told him we'd see what prices we could get in town, and get back to him.

We took a walk to the centre of town, and stopped in an internet cafe to get an idea of what we should have been paying for a driver for Angkor.  We also got a nice surprise in our emails - Brad and Chelsi were still in town, hurray!  So we gave them a call, and headed over to their hotel to meet them.

We found them (unsurprisingly!) in the hotel bar, and there were hugs and kisses all round.  The mood was dampened a little, however, when Larissa and I told them of our Operation Dry Cambodia.  They were NOT impressed.  So we sat catching up (it had been a week!) over their beers and our fruit shakes.  Larissa and I had to head back to our guest house though, since we were meeting our driver at 4 to go to Angkor for sunset. He was waiting for us when we got there, and wanted to know if we would go with him for the day trip the following day. We managed to get him down to $10, so agreed to it.

We set off for Phnom Bakheng, a popular sunset spot, but the sky was totally overcast, so I wasn't holding out great hope for the photo opportunities. We stopped at the entrance to buy our tickets for the next day, but that day was free since it was after 5 - not bad! We set off again, and got dropped off further in the ancient city. We headed up the hill, and there was quite a sight awaiting us at the top. The ruins were quite spectacular, and I'm sure watching sunset from there would have been pretty special, had the heavens not opened at that point. We had managed to climb down the incredibly small, steep steps just before the rain started, otherwise I think we would have been going down on our asses rather than our feet.

So the suset was a bit of a disaster, but the little taste of Angkor had left me quite excited about the next day. We headed back, changed, and headed back out to meet Brad and Chelsi.  Joe was also there with some of his mates, so there was a good crowd of us.  We stayed in their hotel bar for a while (the dry Cambodia mission had been aborted at this stage), before the 5 of us headed out to 'Ecstatic Pizza' for food.  We later learned why it was not just called 'Happy' like the rest of them.  After dinner we went to 'bar street', where we spent the rest of the night.  It was a bit of a messy one.

The next morning, the alarm went off early, and we were up at 7 to head to Angkor for the day.  I wasn't up very long before I had to go back to bed - and no, it wasn't a hangover!  Larissa went down to ask Hom if we could leave an hour later, so I decided to see how I felt then.  I  wasn't much better though, and still felt like I would faint and/or be sick every time I stood up.  It was so frustrating, because I knew Larissa was keen to get going, but I just felt terrible. The thing was, I felt absolutely fine when I was lying down, so I kept thinking I was ok and trying to get up again, only to have to go straight back to bed.  After several attempts, I was resigned to the fact that I wasn't going anywhere any time soon, so Larissa headed off.

A couple of hours later I woke up, and felt fine, so got up and headed into town in search of an internet cafe to phone Larissa, to arrange to meet up with her.  The only problem was that I didn't have any cash, and couldn't find a cash machine that would give me any.  Uh oh.  Luckily, I ran into Joe having breakfast, and the wee star lent me some cash.  The next problem was that I couldn't get through to Larissa's phone, so I had to just jump in a tuk-tuk, and do Angkor on my own.

My first port of call was Angkor Thom, which wasn't usually the order in which the short circuit was done.  Nevertheless, my driver dropped me off, explained where I was, and told me where he'd meet me when I was finished.  So off I trotted, to discover the ancient ruins.

It's all very well and good seeing these things, and they are incredibly impressive, from the minute detail in the stonework carvings to the very idea of how old they are, but it's never so much fun on your own.  I don't think I'd be very good at travelling on my own; I know you meet lots of people, but I just don't really enjoy Patrice time.  I was just getting to thinking that it was going to be a rather depressing day, when the rain started.  Oh dear, I'm starting to sound like Eeyore.  I took shelter in one of the ruins, and took the time to examine inside it.  After a while the rain stopped, and I ventured out.  You can imagine my delight - and indeed surprise - when I found Larissa standing there!  Hurray!!  The chances of it happening were pretty slim - she had left town about 3 hours before me, and had done the ruins in a whole different order, so it was a massive coincidence that we happened to be at the same site at the same time.  It was even lucky at that, given the size of each site, that we managed to bump into each other!  So things looked better from then on.

We spent a few hours in Angkor Thom, which was the largest of the ancient cities (I think!).   The ruins really are fabulous, and while I'm sure you'd get a little more out of the visit with a tour guide, or even a book, I quite liked just wandering round with our map, and taking it all in at our own pace.  The attention to detail on the carvings is astonishing, and you can't help but marvel at some of the craftmanship.

We had some lunch, and then met our drivers, who took us next to Angkor Wat, which is regarded as the masterpiece of Khmer architecture.  We spent a good two hours looking round here, which included climbing up exceptionally steep steps (which were made for people with baby-sized feet), and then freaking out a little about having to get back down the steps from such a height.

That took us to about 5, after which Larissa was ready to go home.  I had yet to see Ta Prohm, which is famous for having not been restored - it is surrounded by jungle, and has a large tree growing out of the middle of it.  My driver, however, said that I wouldn't have time, since it took some time to get there, and it closed at 5.30.  Oh well, I guess I can rent Tombraider.

We headed back to Siem Reap, showered and changed, and walked into town to meet the others.  We found them on Brad and Chelsi's balcony (that's usually the place to meet people!), and headed down to the market, where Larissa and Chelsi bought several scarves.  After that, we went for food - Khmer food is so good.  Joe reckons he's gonna be one of those people who, when their mates ask them what they want to eat, suggests "Let's go for Cambodian", to which their friends reply ""Dude, why do you have to be so weird?!"  He's so right, and I think I will be too!!

We went on the net (I was still struggling to change flights), and mid-call said goodbye to Brad, Chelsi and Joe - this time for good!  Or at least until Cuba '12 - the agreed reunion holiday.

The next morning, Larissa was up at 4.30 to see the sunrise at Angkor.  I couldn't afford to stay an extra day, after finding out that the India visa takes 4 days.  So I was on the bus at 7am, did the usual drive round for an hour picking people up, then started on the road to Bangkok.

There's a bit of a story about the road on the Cambodian side - I don't know how true it is - but it's suggested that an airline (I won't say who) has paid the government not to make desperately needed improvements, ie a surface, to this road.  Seems a strange thing to suggest, until you realise that Bangkok Airways, despite an open airways policy, are the only company to fly from Siem Reap to Bangkok (I'm not for a moment suggesting that the two are linked).  So anyway, the main road from Cambodia to the Thai capital is abismal, so say the least.  It's a mud track, and it's really slow going.

Ironically, I realised on the bus that, since I wasn't able to change my flights, I didn't have to rush back to Bangkok, and could have applied for my visa in Hong Kong.  So I could have had an extra day in Angkor, and Larissa as company for the bus ride!  Oh well.  I got chatting to another Canadian, Neil, from Toronto.  He was pretty sound, and at least it wasn't 12 hours of Patrice time all the way!

We arrived at the border, changed to a shuttle bus, and jumped off before the checkpoint.  After the usual stamps, and a change in the side of the road the traffic drives on, which is weird on a land border, I found myself back in the land of smiles and kaaaaaaaaaas.