Angkor Wat, day one

I woke up at 7 this morning without an alarm, and was ready to go at 8. Stepping outside the hostel into the gorgeous heat and humidity, we were immediately greeted by the several tuktuk drivers lining the street. We picked one, and had him drive us to the ATM for Augie. He offered to drive us somewhere else. Rather than turn him down directly, we said we wanted breakfast first, figuring he'd take the hint.

We ducked into a restaurant appropriately named "Why Not?" Bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns ran me $3. There was a white guy seated next to us, eating by himself, so we invited him to join us. His name is Noah, and he's a Canadian teaching English in Korea.

After saying goodbye to Noah, we headed out of the restaurant... and found the same tuktuk driver cheerfully waving at us. He'd waited the half-hour it took us to eat. His name is Theng, and he offered to drive us anywhere for the day for $15. We agreed and set off for Angkor.

Angkor is the name of the region that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, the second-largest empire in Southeast Asian history. The Khmer reigned for about four hundred years, from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries. The region contains the ruins of many temples, palaces, and other structures. (Angkor Wat is the most famous surviving temple complex in the area; we're going there tomorrow.)

The ride to the entrance to the complex took about fifteen minutes. Three-day passes cost us $40 each. From there, Theng proposed a route for us to take. Joey, Mike, and several others had told me not to even try doing everything in one day, but it wasn't until I saw the map that I understood why: there are easily twenty points of interest spread across the region. Theng's plan would take two days; we agreed to it and headed in.

We decided to save Angkor Wat itself for tomorrow, so we drove right past it as we entered the complex. Bypassing it, we made our way north. Stopping for pictures at the southern gate to Angkor Thom, we were waylaid by the first of many hawkers.

As we stopped, we were greeted with several chants of "Sir?" except without the "r" pronounced, so it came out sounding more like "Suh?" This group had booths set up, selling everything from Lonely Planet books and Angkor guidebooks to hats and bracelets. We had no desire to buy a guidebook, and Augie politely told them no.

Being good and persistent salespeople, though, they didn't take no for an answer. I decided to try a different tack, and declined in Japanese. The lady didn't miss a beat, and replied in Japanese as she brandished guidebooks in Japanese. I thought of Tsushima High's library, and caved.

We moved on, already sweating from the gorgeous heat and humidity. There were huge cottonball clouds drifting overhead, and the tuk-tuk provided a very nice breeze. Out first stop was at the Bayon. We ran into a Brazilian guy who we'd met earlier at the border. We also saw some tourists riding elephants around the city ruins.

There's way too much to say about way too many temples to mention, so I'll just say each was amazing. I understand that restoration has been necessary for all the structures, which were in varying degrees of disrepair. Much like Prambanan and Borobudur, the walls use no mortar of any kind. Beautiful carvings and sculptures adorned every structure we visited.