Temple Temper

I came close to losing it with a temple vendor at 5.30 this morning, after days of "Laydee! Tuk tuk?" every 10metres down the road in Siem Reap. Competition for business is fierce here, and I'm too polite to ignore, so 100+ engagements/conversations a day have tested my patience. This morning I arrived at Angkor Wat for sunrise. The lady selling crappy plastic 10cent Chinese torches bore the brunt of my annoyance with myself for not bringing my sexy head torch. Three steps after my grumpy refusal to buy, I realized I was not going to make it across the naga bridge limbs-intact on the torchlight of others, and that my journey from the land of mortals to that of the Gods may be more literal than I'd like. So, I turned back. The worst start to any negotiation: clear need. "How much?" "Five Dollar". "Whaaaat? No waaay man!" This exchange went on for a while, but all those teenage years of haggling for bead necklaces, stone sculptures and crochet tops out there by Newlands shopping centre paid off and I handed over $1.50. I only just managed to keep my temper. But, sadly, not my dignity. As I handed over my photo pass to the ticket inspector, I realized I had my sunglasses on. And, of course, the world appeared much lighter and more navigable without them. Why (you may ask) did I have my sunglasses on before dawn? You will only be asking this question if you have not ridden in a tuk tuk in a dusty, insect-friendly place. Eyeball protection.

Well, the sunrise was breathtaking, literally, drawing gasps and chattering from hundreds of expectant sun-watchers. I nearly missed it, because I've lived in a light-polluted city for so long that I had forgotten that the sun only rises a while after it gets light (my my all this idiocy confessional can't be good for my image). I wondered why the crowds were still watching while I skipped across to the galleries to catch another, untouristed view of the "Churning of the Sea of Milk". Anyway, I caught the sunrise and then made a dash for my tuk tuk to get across to 2 smaller temples, Bantay Srei and Bantay Samre, before the swarm of tour buses.
 
  

The hour's journey was balm for the soul. Hazy palm-dotted plains with cattle grazing, breakfasting villagers, traders setting up shop amongst the coconut trees, very small kids on very large bikes on their way to school. And what a treat Banteay Srei was when we got there: a small pinky-orange sandstone temple bathed in the early morning light. This was my favorite temple: the carvings are delicate, intricate, and mostly well-preserved. I may just have been swayed in my choice of favourite by this information from the travelfish Angkor guide app: "Some have suggested that the temple was built by women as no man could have created something so beautiful and with so fine a hand". 

       

         

I'm currently delighted by the night bus, which has given me an extra day in Siem Reap and enabled me to get a 3day pass and to see these outlying temples.There a few photos below. The app I'm using to blog is quite limited: it doesn't support captions and the Flickr app I'm using is refusing to upload photos properly, so I'll have to try and add more temple pics later. There are some more pics of Bangkok from my last trip through (still loving Bangkok) as well as pics of Siem Riep Old Market (tasty). For now, forgive the higgeldy piggeldy formatting.

I'm off south tonight and then volunteering for a couple of weeks, so will probably catch up with you folk when I reach Vietnam. Cheerio for now.

Posted from Siem Riep, 22 March 2012


Bantay Samre:


Chatuchak Market, Bangkok:





Siem Riep - Old Market:

 

 Foot spa: "Dr Fish - No piranha" (you sure?)