Sunday, February 28, 2010

Feb. 28 Siem Reap Day 2

Today I hired a licensed guide, which was a good idea. At first I had a bit of a difficult time understanding his pronunciation, but after I got used to it, he was full of helpful information, including information that helped me with what I saw yesterday. We started early, 5:00 a.m., and drove out to Angkor Wat. It was already quite warm and humid; I was glad for the AC provided by the open Tuk Tuk. At the parking lot I bought an indifferent baguette and an even more indifferent cup of coffee, and we walked out to an open courtyard with a good view of the towers that are still standing. There were crickets, fish jumping in the pond, and the incessant chatter of over a thousand tourists. After a while I thought I heard chanting, and I saw a place off to the side that still had a good view and was about 50 yards from the hubbub. There, the chanting blended nicely with the fish jumping, crickets, occasional frog; eventually the monks started making music with drums and bells, the cicadas started full blast, and I realize that, after all, yakking tourists are also part of the phenomenal world. It was a lovely morning, although not a great sunrise.

I discovered another great snack food today, from a vendor next to one of the temples - a small banana wrapped in sticky rice, then in a banana leaf and grilled over charcoal. Yummy! The tree-ripened mangos are also wonderful - and the Khmer version of curry is excellent.

It is quite warm all day. Yesterday I foolishly left my passport in my shirt pocket and it got soaked with sweat - warped from the sweat. I put a heavy religious statue on top of it and got it mostly flattened.

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