Cambodia - Siem Reap. Angkor Wat Day 2
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On the second day we decided to take a tuk-tuk since the distances we needed to travel were much shorter. Initially we were in downtown Siem Reap breathing in fumes and this didn't seem to be such a good idea, but twenty minutes later we were enjoying the breeze away from traffic. Our first stop was Angkor Wat, which is the largest of the temples. It involves a long walk across a bridge and then an even longer unshaded courtyard path in the exposed sun. Luckily we all had hats but the boys still had a couple of tantrums on the way from the heat. Toby also managed to balance along the edge of an upturned slab, fall and lose his drink, without breaking his neck. Ethan also dropped his drink somewhere along the way as well.
The carvings were very impressive and detailed, more extensive and numerous than at any of the other temples. We followed the main tour path through the temple and arrived at an elevated area where there was a long queue of people waiting to climb to the highest point. Since it was so hot we decided to avoid standing in the queue for an hour and keep touring. We went north away from the crowds, outside the area of the main temple to the outer wall.
The boys had a great time running up and down the slopes of the river banks, yelling and screaming as they did so. I took some video shots of them since it was a spectacular backdrop. While we were there, two young waifs appeared and proceeded to play with a plastic bottle, setting the opening on fire and blowing on it before throwing it away. We returned to the tuk tuk along the edge of the inner wall, running the usual gauntlet of touts on the way.
We then went to Banteay Kdei ("Citadel of the Cells", built in 1181), which although a bit run down, had a very raw feel and some interesting edifices. We entered on the east side and left from the north. Few other tourists were there and there were numerous touts, many children, and one who claimed to be six but didn't look a day over four, repeatedly plying us with bracelets, all the while saying: "ten for one dolla-eaeauuuaaa". We bought mango, which was conveniently cut up in a very hygenic manner, pineapple, bracelets and some wooden flutes. They followed us all the way to the tuk tuk, but we never felt the high pressure sales tactics that we did in India or Sri Lanka.
The tuk tuk took us for lunch, but we took one look at the menu and walked out as it was more expensive than the States, let alone downtown Siem Reap. Although we sympathize with the plight of poor Cambodia, Siem Reap is well off and it's easy to see why when tourists like us willingly pay whatever prices are shoved in front of them. Not to mention the driver who takes you there and gets a cut. Although the price of the grilled chicken was lowered immediately from $10 per plate to $3 by the time we reached the tuk tuk, we had already made up our minds to move on. The next place place wasn't much cheaper but we were not quite ready for the 30 minute journey back to downtown Siem Reap.
After lunch, we went to the famous temple of Ta Phrom, which has the large roots strewn around. There s one particularly famous set of roots which had a platform built in front of it, but actually there are also several locations with large roots spread around the temple walls. We had to queue for the platform shot and there were a surprising number of people waiting. Nevertheless, it was a worthwhile stop as there were many other interesting areas to see.
Our guide then informed us that we had seen as much as could be seen for the day, so we headed back, stopping briefly at the Terrace of the Elephants.
That evening, we went into Siem Reap on the shuttle and ate at the Khmer Kitchen again, before purchasing a few items in the night market. On the way there, we passed a travel agent advertising bus tickets back to Bangkok. The agent assured us that we would leave around 8 a,m, and be back in Bangkok by 4 p.m. the next day. This turned out to be wildly optimistic.