When I got back to the hostel after my first day in Siem Reap I wasn't feeling too hot (or actually maybe a bit too hot.) My fever seemed to have returned and I had a pounding headache. I also found out that I had a roommate, Manon from France. I invited Manon to join me for dinner where I learned about her internship in Shanghai and her ten-day trip to Cambodia. We made plans to rent bikes again the following day to see more of the temples together.
In the morning, we rode first to Angkor Wat because Manon wanted to get some photos while the sun was out. Since I had already seen it, I hung out and read inside the first gate while she went through the temple. Afterward we decided to go back around the other side of Angkor Wat to do the Grand Circuit and check out other temples on the way to Ta Prohm, one of the famous "jungle temples" where they filmed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. We ended up going to at least five or six different temples of all shapes and sizes, including Prasat Kravan, Ta Som, Preah Khan and Ta Keo. My favorites were the ones that had been lost to the jungle with trees growing right out of the walls.
Since it was getting late, we didn't have a chance to get to Ta Prohm and either Preah Khan or Ta Keo (I forget which one) was one of the last temples we made it to that day. We entered through the front gate to find it flooded with about six inches of water and us having to trek though mud along the sides. At one point, one of my flip flops (which were already on their last leg) got stuck in the mud and broke when I tried to pull it out. I was left hobbling around on one foot, but when we got to the temple it was totally worth it. We were among the only people there (probably because of the flooding, though we did later discover there was a side entrance) and felt totally like Indiana Jones. Parts of the walls had collapsed leaving a pile of rubble and other parts were taken over by tree roots growing around them. When we finally got back on our bikes it was nearing sunset and I started to get a bit nervous. We rode back past Angkor Wat just as the sun was setting and then went back through town as darkness was descending. By the time we got arrived, I was relieved and exhausted having ridden at least 40 kilometers throughout the hot, humid day.
For our final day in Siem Reap, Manon and I decided to split a tuk-tuk tour and visit Angkor Wat at sunrise. When we awoke at about 4:30am we could hear the pouring rain outside our window and decided we would rather sleep than get soaking wet just for the slim possibility of seeing the sun come up. Our driver arrived faithfully at 5:00am and we had to sheepishly ask him to come back at 9:00am. We went back to bed, but I don't think he actually ever left since he was still there when I came out of my room a few hours later. I hope he at least got to take a nap at the back of his tuk-tuk!
Manon and I went first to Ta Prohm where we saw the famous sight of the 100-year-old tree growing out of the temple walls. That's what I had been looking for and expecting to see when I was at Angkor Wat. Before I came to Siem Reap, I had thought that Angkor Wat was all one huge complex instead of a series of individual temples all in the same area. I was finally satisfied, though the crowds of Chinese tourists clambering to get their photo with the famous tree did kind of dampen the mood a tiny bit. After Ta Prohm, the driver brought us to Angkor Thom, which is actually a city of temples and other support buildings. We went inside Bayon, which features 216 identical faces on its 54 towers. I loved exploring its many narrow passageways, which reminded me of a haunted medieval castle. We also checked out the Baphoun Temple from the outside and the Terrace of the Elephants, where they used to hold public ceremonies. While we were walking through the large complex, we kept losing our driver who I fortunately spotted from afar driving down the road and indicated to pull over. His English skills were rather lacking so he didn't quite understand where we had been asking him to wait for us.
On the way back to our hostel, Manon wanted to check out Phnom Bakheng where I had gone just before sunset on the first day. Since I had no real desire to trek 15 minutes up the hill again I waited down below and had a snack at one of the local food carts. Thus ended our great tour of the temples after three long days.
Late that night (or rather early the following morning) I had the worst night bus experience, nearly topping the Beijing-Xi'an night train fiasco. The bus didn't leave until 2:30am by which time the streets around the river had once again started flooding. When the bus finally did arrive it wasn't a night bus with beds, but rather one with just reclining seats. Luckily I had a seat to myself, though I had to share it with my backpack since I was nervous about putting it under the bus. We rode four hours to the Thai border and then had to get out with all our stuff and stand around waiting for half an hour until the border control office opened. After clearing the Cambodian border we then had to go through immigration to get into Thailand. The whole process took nearly two hours with us all operating on barely four hours' sleep.
When we finally got on our next bus it wasn't even a regular-sized bus, but rather a minibus... for 15 people... and all their luggage. The seats didn't recline and we were all so crammed in that there was no way to relax. I was able to fall asleep off and on, but certainly wasn't comfortable. We didn't stop once within the final three to four hours of the trip to Bangkok and by the time we were getting close I thought I was going to pee in my pants. Then we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic getting off the highway into downtown. I asked one of the other passengers TWO TIMES to ask the driver to stop since my view of the driver was blocked by a pile of luggage. He either didn't hear or pretended not to so that by the time we finally pulled over, I swore at the driver to give me my bag before racing to the bathroom at the nearest restaurant. It wasn't my finest moment, but by that point I didn't care. I was left in the middle of Bangkok with no idea where exactly I was. After staring in vain at the map for 20 minutes, I finally gave up and hailed a tuk-tuk to my hostel. It was time for a long nap.
In the morning, we rode first to Angkor Wat because Manon wanted to get some photos while the sun was out. Since I had already seen it, I hung out and read inside the first gate while she went through the temple. Afterward we decided to go back around the other side of Angkor Wat to do the Grand Circuit and check out other temples on the way to Ta Prohm, one of the famous "jungle temples" where they filmed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. We ended up going to at least five or six different temples of all shapes and sizes, including Prasat Kravan, Ta Som, Preah Khan and Ta Keo. My favorites were the ones that had been lost to the jungle with trees growing right out of the walls.
For our final day in Siem Reap, Manon and I decided to split a tuk-tuk tour and visit Angkor Wat at sunrise. When we awoke at about 4:30am we could hear the pouring rain outside our window and decided we would rather sleep than get soaking wet just for the slim possibility of seeing the sun come up. Our driver arrived faithfully at 5:00am and we had to sheepishly ask him to come back at 9:00am. We went back to bed, but I don't think he actually ever left since he was still there when I came out of my room a few hours later. I hope he at least got to take a nap at the back of his tuk-tuk!
On the way back to our hostel, Manon wanted to check out Phnom Bakheng where I had gone just before sunset on the first day. Since I had no real desire to trek 15 minutes up the hill again I waited down below and had a snack at one of the local food carts. Thus ended our great tour of the temples after three long days.
Late that night (or rather early the following morning) I had the worst night bus experience, nearly topping the Beijing-Xi'an night train fiasco. The bus didn't leave until 2:30am by which time the streets around the river had once again started flooding. When the bus finally did arrive it wasn't a night bus with beds, but rather one with just reclining seats. Luckily I had a seat to myself, though I had to share it with my backpack since I was nervous about putting it under the bus. We rode four hours to the Thai border and then had to get out with all our stuff and stand around waiting for half an hour until the border control office opened. After clearing the Cambodian border we then had to go through immigration to get into Thailand. The whole process took nearly two hours with us all operating on barely four hours' sleep.
When we finally got on our next bus it wasn't even a regular-sized bus, but rather a minibus... for 15 people... and all their luggage. The seats didn't recline and we were all so crammed in that there was no way to relax. I was able to fall asleep off and on, but certainly wasn't comfortable. We didn't stop once within the final three to four hours of the trip to Bangkok and by the time we were getting close I thought I was going to pee in my pants. Then we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic getting off the highway into downtown. I asked one of the other passengers TWO TIMES to ask the driver to stop since my view of the driver was blocked by a pile of luggage. He either didn't hear or pretended not to so that by the time we finally pulled over, I swore at the driver to give me my bag before racing to the bathroom at the nearest restaurant. It wasn't my finest moment, but by that point I didn't care. I was left in the middle of Bangkok with no idea where exactly I was. After staring in vain at the map for 20 minutes, I finally gave up and hailed a tuk-tuk to my hostel. It was time for a long nap.
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