Angkor Wat

I was excited about touring the Temples when I woke up this morning, but part of me KNEW how tired I would be at the end of the day.

I am NOT a museum/temple/pagoda/history buff type of girl. So, I spoiled myself and hired a guide. I LOVED having my guide in Beijing..(there was SO much to see so I did about half on my own and half with her) and I loved my FREE guide (Mr. Long) in Vietnam! I am finding that traveling alone is EXHAUSTING so I reward myself by having a guide who will do all the hard work (getting me from place to place) and tell me everything I need to know. Also, I feel a lot more comfortable and safe and know I won’t be taken advantage of (I kinda stick out being a blond American).

I used trip advisor (obviously) to find a guide who was highly recommended. He picked me up with a driver and car at 7:30am. For whatever reason it is a law that tour guides can’t drive and drivers can’t give tours. Honestly, I felt a little too spoiled in a car. I haven’t been traveling in anything enclosed in over a week and it felt strange! It was definitely nice and I welcomed the AC..but it was almost like it was too much (yes, this is coming from the princess).

We headed off and made our first stop at Angkor Wat, the biggest and most well known of all the temples. We worked our way from back to front and it really was beautiful. It had only been about 5 minutes into the tour when I realized I was SO glad to have a tour guide! I probably could have brought a guide book with me but 1) I would have had NO clue what to look at/where to go, etc. 2) I would have given up after an hour and 3) I would have gotten HASSLED by people selling things.

Dara, my guide, was great. Personally, he gave too much history etc. but I know that’s just how I am and could have done everything in half a day. He was worth it just for the PICTURES! He knew exactly where to go, how to stand etc. to take the best pictures! Sometimes I felt like a model..it was awesome! I was also glad to have him because he pushed me, in the sense that I really wanted to see EVERYTHING I had on the list for the day, but if I didn’t know what I was looking at I would have gotten bored. Some of the stories were actually interesting (a lot were not haha!) but he was great for his knowledge of the temples and his knowledge of where to go and what to see! I also saw other people (without guides) get hounded by everyone trying to sell things. While they asked me as well, they weren’t as bad which was a WELL needed break!

As we were leaving Angkor Wat we passed a number of wedding parties having their pictures taken. Just like the reception I went to the woman wore beautiful clothing and lots of makeup. McGunnigal family..I think you should also start saving for flights over to Angkor Wat for wedding pictures. Just giving you a heads up!

From there we took the car to Palilay Temple and to be honest I think I actually would have preferred a tuk-tuk! It felt way too formal to be in a CAR of all things..but I didn’t REALLY complain because the AC felt great.

:Side note: as I have been typing this three different types of bugs have walked across my computer screen and now I kill them with one hand. CRAZY!

Continuing on..Palilay was alright, but it was very small and a bit remote which in a way was very nice. It was quiet and peaceful but nothing special.

We continued back to Angkor Thom which has the faces of Bayon. There are a ton of faces all throughout the temple and most of them are smiling. It really is a happy place with all these faces smiling at you (in a creepy way I guess!)

:Side note: Just killed bug numero four!

After Angkor Thom and Bayon I was definitely ready for the morning to be over. It was SO hot and I was sweating like crazy and everything was starting to look like ROCKS (which I knew would happen). I made sure I was drinking lots of water and stuffing my face with snacks so Dara wouldn’t see the, “I am hot, tired and hungry” Julie..which really..nobody should EVER have to see.

At the end he asked if I wanted to see more in Angkor Thom or if I was ok leaving and I said I thought I was all set. I am SURE he has tourists who want to fill up EVERY minute..I’m just not one of them!

The normal schedule for touring the Temples is to do some in the morning and then leave to take a break, rest, recharge your camera and have lunch. From about 11:00am-2:00pm the heat, sun and humidity is AWFUL! If it were up to me I would change that time from 9:00am-4:00pm but the general consensus is 11:00am-2:00pm. I came back to the homestay for a WELL needed nap! I was exhausted! Between the heat and the walking and the climbing I passed out! I woke up to have a quick lunch and then we were back at it!

We want to Bantaey Kdei which again wasn’t anything special but it was near ODA (where I volunteer in the afternoons) so it was cool to see something nearby.

After that we did the last of the three major Temples (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom) Ta Prohm. This one is best known for the trees that are growing out of the rocks and because it was featured in Tomb Raider, which I have never seen but feel I should after having been there. I, like everyone else, had my picture taken in front of the door where the one and only Angelina stood! The trees were really cool at this temples and it was AMAZING how the trees and rocks have become one and the same!

Dara kept saying how we had plenty of time, seeing as this was the last big Temple of the day before sunset, and I think I did a pretty good job filling up the time until we left. From Ta Prohm we drove to Pre Rup, the last stop of the day. The temple wasn’t much but it was supposed to be a great spot for sunset. We had a little extra time before the sun dropped enough that it wasn’t going to be hot so we sat at the bottom of the temple. A young girl (in her school uniform) came up to me selling things. I was about to give my rehearsed response of, “No thank you” until she said something about Christmas! She was holding these little 3D fishes made out of paper that were “ornaments” for Christmas trees! I can’t remember if I mentioned this but I collect Christmas ornaments everywhere I travel. This way, when I have my own Christmas tree I will able to decorate it and remember all my past adventures! (I shouldn’t take credit for this idea as it was my mom’s) but I really think it’s a cool way to collect things from traveling. Anyway, I didn’t have anything from Cambodia yet, and granted this fish isn’t very “Cambodian”, but I knew I would think of this little girl. So I bought one and had my picture with her and of course I then got flooded with everyone else trying to sell me things. I hope that every Christmas I will look at that ornament and think of this little girl and my Christmas spent in Cambodia.

We climbed to the top (it was NOT an easy climb) for sunset. The sunset was beautiful and it reminded me of something you might see in Africa (I don’t know why I thought of that). It wasn’t that I was disappointed, but I think maybe I was expecting more. I think tomorrow night I might see sunset from an area that sets over the Temples. This was just a sunset over the fields which was still very beautiful but I didn’t think it was very unique.

After that my day was over and I was so tired! I came back to the homestay and my plan was to shower and head downtown for dinner and my skype date with my boyfriend! However, Dara said he and the driver would wait for me since I was so far away from town. I thought that was really sweet that he went out of his way to make sure I would get into town safely.

I didn’t have a ton of time before my date so I stopped at a pizza place (I knew it would be fast). Surprisingly this was my first pizza stop in Cambodia..and sadly it was just ok. I then went to the internet café to have a well needed skype date with Steve! Granted he just had a webcam so we could only look at each other and then type..we think this is great practice for when we are old and can’t hear each other anyway.

After that I headed back to the homestay as I was exhausted! I am however, so excited to sleep in tomorrow. After that my plan is to switch rooms! Woo hoo!

Hugs and kisses from Angkor Wat!