Angkor Wat Day 2 and Recent News

First, the recent news. There isn't much, so this should be pretty brief. We've pretty much been sitting in the teachers' office at school doing nothing since we got back from Cambodia (March 10th) but tomorrow we start teaching a summer camp again.

It will be nice to have something to do at work again, but it means we won't be paid to surf the internet any more!

Anyway, back to Cambodia. Here are the signs that were up on the walls in our hotel, charmingly broken English.




If you have ever been to Cambodia, I think you will sympathize with the hotel on this. Fascist as these signs might seem in the comparatively clean US of A, , in Siem Reap they are a necessity. For reasons I can't explain, while Thailand is lush and green and verdant seemingly all year round, Cambodia is dry and dusty any time other than the wet season. And the dust is all a deep orange color that slowly dyes your clothing to match. White clothes are the first to go, other light shades follow next, but not even your dark clothes are safe. Evan charmingly wore the first two shirts I bought him in Thailand, white shirts, to see the temples. Needless to say, they have suffered a change of hue.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from dawn on the second day. (That week, I was awake to see the dawn 6 days in a row, my new and unlikely to be soon broken record.) We saw dawn from Srah Srang.










Clearly, there wasn't really enough light at dawn for really fast shutter speeds. All the same, I kind of like the way this one turned out. It reminds me of an article I read recently on Luminous Landscape about artistically blurred photos, which you can read here.
After Srah Srang, we saw Banteay Kdei, which was lovely in the early morning light.

Here I am.

Some strangler figs at Banteay Kdei as well.
Behind Banteay Kdei was a beautiful wooded path. But we were on a schedule, so we only went down it a short way. Can't get behind when you're visiting temples! Every minute wasted in the early morning becomes another minute you spend sweating in the middle of the day. There are few motivators as compelling as this.







After Banteay Kdei we visited Pre Rup. It is commonly believed that funerals were conducted here.







Evan was taking pictures with my little Leica the second day. I had to be careful to conserve my battery power, as midway through the morning I realized the backup batteries I thought were charged weren't really. Fortunately there was some residual charge when I put the batteries in my camera one at a time rather than putting two in the battery grip as I usually do. Still I was a lot more careful with the shots I took on the second day.

Let this be a lesson to you: check your batteries!

Some of the finer details at Pre Rup.
Lions to keep out unwanted visitors.
After Pre Rup, we sat down and had some breakfast across the road. Danny ordered pineapple fried rice, so the lady making our food went to the stall two doors down and bought a pineapple. The food was delicious, although I saw some small bugs in my fried rice. In Cambodia you just sort of have to go with it. The bugs I saw, I didn't eat. The ones I didn't, I'm sure were consumed.

I refrained from mentioning the insects to anyone else at breakfast, though, in case it would put anyone off.
After breakfast we made our way over to East Mebon. East Mebon was built in the 10th century and used to be on an island. The waters that surrounded it have long since evaporated, so our tuk tuks got us there quite comfortably. I will always think of it as the temple with the elephants. The last time I was there we were a couple hours earlier and Hannah and I were the only visitors there, so I took a picture of her atop one of the huge stone beasts. This time we were later and not alone, so we were more circumspect.
Me with some of the lions.

Evan with one of the elephants.

After Pre Rup we tuk-tuked to Ta Som, a small unrestored temple.
Danny chills out.
Some cute kids at the temple. Naturally, they wanted to sell us anything and everything we were willing to buy. Still, despite their dedication to plying their trade, they for the most part remain sweet and friendly. I snapped this picture when they weren't looking.
A strangler fig at the western gopura (opening, or doorway) of Ta Som.
Next on the list? Neak Pean, famous for its really long nagas (sea serpents). This is probably my least favorite temple, just because its pretty basic in structure. But then again, I've only seen it in the dry season, and it is supposed to be much more interesting when it is filled with water.

To get to it, you have to walk down a short tree lined pathway.

Because I'm not a fan of the temple, and I was worried about my batteries, I didn't take many pictures. These were taken by Evan.
After Neak Pean, we went to my favorite temple of the day, Preah Khan. Preah Khan is much larger than the other temples we had visited, easy to get lost and turned around in if you aren't careful, with many doorways, and a lot of rubble to step carefully around. This is the northern entrance.
A photo of me.

This little boy would not stop trying to sell my mother his bracelets (4-5 for a dollar, if you're interested). Finally, to get him off her back, and because he seemed pretty desperate, I offered to pay him a dollar if I could take his picture. I didn't get a smile out of him, but at least the 'peace sign in all pictures' trend is alive and well in Cambodia.
By this point we were all really sweaty and gross. Picture of Evan to prove it.
And a picture of me as well.
Some doorways within doorways, always a ubiquitous theme at the temples.
A strangler fig that has suffered some sort of mishap. Perhaps a lost battle with a saw?
Some rubble.
And Evan's lunch afterward. We were all supposed to meet at the Eastern entrance, but somehow we missed each other and ended up waiting in different places (i.e., Evan and I outside the temple, Danny and my mother inside). While Evan and I waited, he ordered this monster of a sandwich. I had iced Cambodian coffee, which, if you don't know, is almost worth the price of a trip to Cambodia itself. It is rich and thick and super sweet, but also really strongly brewed so that it's the perfect balance. And there are always lots of grains in your cup. Yum!
A huge spider at the restaurant where we ate. The size of my hand. No kidding. Sorry about the terrible exposure, but when there's not enough light, sacrifices must be made.
A photo Evan took of our tuk tuk on the way back. Note that I am covering my nose with my scarf.
A view of some field workers from the road on the way to Tonle Sap.
Here is the Cambodian dust. Can't you just smell it? Please note: that wall to the right used to be green. Soon it will be entirely orange. Nothing is safe.
Some roadwork, perchance?
Signs like this are just made to be ignored. Our drivers hesitated not a second, and drove on in.

That's it for the second day, I'm working on photos for the third. TTFN!