Our plan today was: see the smaller temples. We rode our bikes out to the Angkor complex. No worries, right? We’re young, fit guys. Well, it was a long freaking ride! We should have measured it on the map beforehand. It turned out to be 7.75 miles (12.5 km) one way. Lesson learned: always know the distance before setting out on foot or bike.
We saw many tourists driven around the temple complex in shady, cool Tuk-Tuks. On the other hand, we were fighting the strong sun and heavy humidity. It was salt in our wounds. Then Homan got a flat tire. That was the last straw. We agreed to take a Tuk-Tuk tomorrow.
Homan and I pressed on. We arrived at our first temple: Banteay Kdei. Some children greeted us at the entrance with Chinese finger traps.
“You buy? You buyyyyyyyy,” they pleaded in a soft high-pitched tone.
“No,” I said. And walked on by.
Oh, but that didn’t stop them. Persistent little buggers they were. They followed me throughout the temple, hawking their wares. I tried to lose them. But it was to no avail. Finally, I accepted the situation and took several photos of them.
“You buyyyyyyyyyyyy?”
“No.”
Homan and I biked over to the next temple: Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm is popular with tourists. It is in the same condition as it was found–with trees growing out of it. It was built circa 1200A.D. The film, Tomb Raider, was filmed here.
And with more popularity come more hawkers.
Hawkers swarmed incoming Tuk-Tuks. It was crazy. Both young and old Cambodians were selling souvenirs, clothing, food and drink. Some hawkers approached me. So I took a picture of them.
Ta Prohm was remarkable, incredible, amazing. It was fascinating to see the jungle reclaim the man-made structure. I heard that the site is quite eerie in the early morning and late evening. I can believe it. This ruin was alive.
We were going to see one more temple, and then sky burst. We found shelter under a tree, but the rain was so strong that we still got wet. The road was empty. Where were those Tuk-Tuks now?
We flagged one down eventually. We crammed our bikes inside and had to hold on to them tight all the way back to the hotel. It was difficult, but certainly the best option we had. We reserved the Tuk-Tuk driver to pick us up at 5am the next morning–to see Angkor Wat at sunrise.
I noticed that there was a black streak in my photos following the rain. Not good. But maybe it was only the LCD screen.
I downloaded the photos to my computer. The black streak remained, unfortunately. Looks like I’ll have to get a replacement camera in Bangkok. Hopefully I can find the exact model in a cheap used-camera shop, sold w/o any accessories.
