Anchor what? ... Angkor Wat!

The border didn’t open until 8 the next morning but we were there at 8:02 and almost made a huge faux-pas when the Thai national anthem was broadcast and we didn’t immediately stop and pay our respect. Well, nothing happened and we crossed into Cambodia and avoided a 20 dollar bribe (each) from the Cambodian border official for our visas and then got a little food and found a car to take us to Siem Reap. The ride was only about two hours and once we got away from the border, we could pretty much immediately tell that Cambodia was a much poorer country than Thailand. The road was brand spankin’ new but the houses along the side, while not shabby, were definitely made of cheaper and less-durable materials. More wood and corrugated tin, less concrete and shingles.

Rolling in to Siem Reap was a different story, though. About two kilometers from the outskirts of town in to the center these huge luxury resorts and hotels line the roadside. Most of them have some name utilizing the word “Angkor” mixed in different ways with words like “Resort,” “Palace,” “Chateau” and the like. The other guys were a bit surprised and taken aback by these but I’d heard that Siem Reap was touristy and that you could find deluxe accommodations there—for a price.

In Siemp Reap we pretty easily found a cheap guesthouse and then went about walking around. We found a market where everybody got a good dish but me. My dish even sounded good: “Curry noodle soup”. Oh well. We walked around this market for a while and I got a couple Christmas presents and a new pair of sunglasses as my other ones kept breaking. Then we split up because Paul and Henry wanted to keep shopping and Patrick and I wanted to wander around some more. The two of us wandered around the walking streets for a while until we found a bar that had 50 cent draft beers. We had a couple and then went back to the hotel and relaxed.

That reminds me of one thing I found a bit odd about Cambodia: they use US dollars. Sure, they have their own currency and you can use it if you want, but most prices are just made in dollars and the ATMs don’t even offer reap (the Cambodian currency). I realize that we were just in a very touristy area but I’ve heard these things hold true pretty much throughout the country.

At one point during the day, I went to the ATM to try to take out some American cash but my wallet was empty of anything resembling an ATM card. Had I left it in my bag? Maybe in my little card holder with my credit card? Long story short, I couldn’t find it. The only thing I can think of is that I’d forgotten it in an ATM in Bangkok a few days earlier. I immediately checked my online bank account and no other money had been taken out, which was good but I emailed my parents to immediately cancel the card. This left me in quite a predicament, though, as I had another ATM card, but not the PIN. Again, long story short, I couldn’t work it out with Wells Fargo so up until now I’ve been having Paul slowly pay back the money he owes me from the plane tickets in whatever local currency we’re using.

That night, I watched the Manchester United game at a little sports bar. It was a pretty decent place with a very friendly and cute bartender. I became pretty disgusted though by this Australian guy in there who was very obviously just a sex tourist and he was saying some pretty disgusting things to her, things I won’t repeat. It was all I could do to not get up and say to him “Just because you’re a foreigner doesn’t give you the right to be an asshole.” Luckily Paul was there and convinced me at halftime to just go and find another place. People like that Australian disgust me.

I talked to my parents for the first time that night in the hallway of our guesthouse on skype and had a pretty good talk with them. I was about to sign off when a door opened and a pissed off French woman walked out and said to me “Excuse me, but you know zat you are not zee only perzon staying here, right?” I apologized and said I was just saying goodbye but she wouldn’t let it drop. “I have been trying to zleep for a while now but you are being zo loud!” Again, I apologized and she turned around and stamped off back to her room. I later asked the guys if they’d been able to hear me talking and they all said no, and I realized that I’d been there for about 45 minutes so if it was really a problem she should have said something sooner. (To any French person reading this blog, please forgive my stereotypical French accent but that is really how she spoke.)

The next day we got up and had a pretty good breakfast of pork and rice. Afterwards, we rented bikes for the exorbitant price of one dollar per bike.fterwards, we rented bikes for the exorbitant price of one dollar per bike. We started pedaling out towards the ruins of Angkor Wat, only a few kilometers away. Well, about halfway to the ruins my bike broke down. I had to then hire a tuktuk to then take me back to the bike rental place and then back again to the gates of the national park where the guys were waiting for me. The price for the tuk tuk was double my bike rental! Anyway, we spent the day exploring the temples and they were quite stunning. I don’t think I could adequately describe them but I’ll make a few smaller observations.

First, restoration of the temples is still clearly ongoing. The main temple and the next largest one are restored just about as much as they can be but the really cool thing about the park is going to some of the temples that aren’t as well restored yet. In some, there are trees growing out of walls and many times bricks and stones are still lying around, littered about. This won’t be the case for much longer, though. As the Cambodian government sees all the money they make from Angkor Wat, I’m sure they’ll increase the pace at which they put the pieces back together, so to speak.

Secondly, Angkor Wat, along with the Eiffel tower and the Statue of Liberty, is one of the most touristy places I’ve ever been to. Rarely have I ever seen so many tourists in one place. Sure, there were loads of people in Bangkok and on the island but they weren’t all grouped in the same place and doing the exact same thing. But, you know, most of the time tourist places are popular for a reason: they’re stunning. And that was certainly the case here.

We ended up riding the bikes for somewhere around 35+ km. When we finally got back we were pretty pooped and grabbed a few beers in between showering and eating. We went back to the hotel pretty early and watched a soccer game before turning in.