Angkor Wat…..peace & love

The morning began at 3:40 AM when my alarm went off. Met Mr. Kat at 4:20am out front of our new home. Off we went in the pitch black dark. We were so surprised how many people were out already. As we drove to Angkor Wat to get the best spot for Sunrise it started to rain. It was sort of a sprinkle, but with a humid little chill in the air. We arrived extra early, as Mr Kat is seriously here to please and make sure our every experience is beyond perfection, he is a genius in how he plans our strategy of not being with crowds. The ticket team punches our Temple pass and we await for the gate to open at 5am. We walked over a floating squishy bridge to get you across the big body of water in front of the grand entrance to the largest temple on earth. This is a once in a lifetime must do item to add to the bucket list, at least 1000 tourists show up every morning at Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. Mr Kat has plastic garbage bags for us to sit on in the dirt along the water in front of the Temple. We have front row seats. Thankfully the rain has stopped, but its moist out. BTW, Mr Kat is not married I learned and he has 11 nieces and nephews between his 3 siblings. The sky begins to change shades of blue , but we never got a real sunrise. The experience in itself was worth it, we still got cool pics. Ill try to attach, but uploading pictures has become a bit temperamental. I have posted 20 pics on FB if you want to see. It had started to rain upon leaving that we hid for cover in the library section, so many Chinese tourists and I’m stunned how they are dressed to the nines to tour temples. We see people in red dresses and heels, while we are in sneakers and comfy clothes. 

As you exit a temple there are always things to buy and kids trying to sell you something. I again pay children a dollar to take a photo. I get a crowd of kids this time as one sees me give out a dollar they all want one. It was comical and so sweet how cute they all are and the begging tactics. They truly know how to win you over or cause guilt. Rachel ends up taking her own kid photo too and hands out money. We jump in the Tuk Tuk and are off to find our picnic spot for breakfast. The hotel had prepared us a to go breakfast box, what they do for the travelers heading to Sunrise at temple. Mr Kat truly treats us like Royalty as do most Cambodians. I have never been bowed to more in my life than on this trip. I have learned a whole new level of showing respect. As we enter our hotel everyone greets us by name and bows with hands clasped in our direction, we have started to reciprocate and actually do it first as I love it! Lol Anyways Mr Kat has parked us lakeside with a view of a beautiful gate, he laid out a scarf for us to sit on since its wet and bugs are always everywhere. He had brought us iced Nespresso , our baskets had baked goods and my favorite- 2 hard boiled eggs. We ate our lite meal 🐷 and chatted with our new Cambodian friend. He showed us pictures of his home on his phone, shared with us that he had recently used all his savings of $6000 to rebuild a new home which consists of 2 rooms. Sadly someone had driven by and thrown out a cigarette which caused his home to burn down due to its tiny size. The small burn was not good for him. In the natural buddhist way, something new was rebuilt and better. They ( he and his mom), he’s such a good son, now have their home on top of there business. Besides a Tuk Tuk driver, he also runs a tourism company booking bus tours, while his mom sells water/soda/snacks at a mart connected. It may sound spacious but its all very small, just enough. 

We leave this area and start our drive to another temple. The cool morning breeze is incredible, almost cold. We have the wind blowing as we once again drive through the most green jungles and grassy fields, we actually look at each other in awe that this is our life, pinch me now. Is life, but a dream!? 

As we approach Ta Prom, the temple with the crazy tree roots, see photos- insane! Tickets are checked and the ticket guy is listening to country music, we are shocked that a Josh Turner song is being played, so out of character for the scenery, but the choice for these guys on a normal workday in never never land. We walk the long dirt pathway to the Temple, with sounds of nature…birds singing in the background. This temple is dedicated to the Kings mother. The roots of the 200+ year old trees were like out of a Hollywood movie as is this whole place to me. Its really crazy that it all exists. They are like braided into the stones of the temple.  I get another string added to my wrist as a Nun blesses me, this time I request only one red string. Mr Kat is also our personal photographer and he has many great ideas for poses and where yo capture the best shots. We seriously were like 2 school girls today posing all over these places.  We stood back to back, reached out for each other, laid on our belly’s hands on cheeks, pretended like we were in jail, made silly faces, linked arms, held hands, sat indian style meditating, did an air backbend, and were plain old silly! I have laughed so hard many times. It was truly such a care free, relaxing, educational day. I definitely learn better in person as opposed to reading or being taught in school, traveling to me is the BEST education you can receive with the most value. Soaking up the knowledge and history of the 12 the century when most of this place was created. We actually learned that it took 90 years, 2 generations and 15 million people to build Angkor Wat. To me this is a fascinating fact. It was originally a Hindu Temple and is now Buddhist. 

We exit the temple, each time we leave, we end up having deeper conversations with Kat. I had taken a rock from one of the temples to bring back to my dad. Since buddhism has many rituals related to death, I explained the fact that we are Jewish and the tradition with death is to bring a rock when you visit the cemetery.  He than shared with us that his dad died when he was 16, I inquired his dads age and if it was related to the paralyzed legs he told us about yesterday. He than told us that he died from Black Magic. We were now both very intrigued and he shared a whole story that seriously could have been a mystical scary movie, yet fascinated both Rachel and I. The conversations we are having with him are all over the map. From educational facts about history, to the divorce and infidelity rates in Cambodia, psychics and predictions- if he believes in it or not, reincarnation, the soul, karma, how to live a good life. All 3 of us have a different view on these topics that the conversations are beyond interesting. He shared with us that one of his brother in laws cheated on his sister, but because they have many kids, average family in Cambodia has 4-7 kids and the moms stop working to care for kids. The parents, so extended family mediates/negotiates for the couple. 1-2 chances as acceptance and forgiveness is necessary. I tell you lots of lessons gained. 

We go to two more temples before lunch, remember we started at 4:20 am and its about 11am. Ta Keo Temple is unfinished due to a king dying before he completed it. Its there but not one to walk through, so we just take some photos. We go by The Victory Gate of Angkor Thom, this beautiful structure is yet another unreal monument with faces of tye Buddha. We snap some very colorful photos, I try out my color/ blank-White settings and have a masterpiece.  The Elephant Terrace was a walking terrace, with elephant statues. This was the most peaceful stroll, we did this on our own and had moments of reflection. You truly feel at peace and the energy of this whole place. Lunch is at a lovely restaurant with Air Conditioning….the sun had come out and we are sweating, actually by shirt is always damp in this weather. Its a pretty site, the glistening soft shiny skin and sticky feel. The A/C does wonders for our bodies. I ordered a yummy Chicken Satay with a Watermelon Smoothie, Rach got Fried Rice with chicken in a Pineapple with a Coconut Smoothie. We are recharged and ready to finally see and visit the Big Kahuna…. Angkor Wat is finally up on the schedule. 

On the drive we learn more Cambodian facts, that Nike, Adidas, and Puma have their factory’s here in the city of Phnom Penh. The labor workers earn $160-$180 per month, the reason the factory are here were tax related, as they have no tax. These factories employ over a million workers. He told us about the corruption within the government and even in the schools. Children must give $ to teachers even though they already get paid. It all sounded a bit shady. We have seen many school children riding their bikes in the morning to school, they are dressed in uniform and a girl today was so studious with her fancy little yellow purse. Everyday life here fascinates me. 

As we approach Angkor Wat from the back entrance this time, its now 1 pm and blazing hot temperatures with thick dense dripping wet humidity. We learn Angkor Wat means City of the Temple. We make our way through to climb the middle main tower. Its very steep steps with a spectacular view from high above, WOW!! According to Kat and all else inside, the center of the world on a compass is in the middle of this entire temple. The big thing everyone is doing is placing their phones in compass mode and it shows 0% as absolute middle. We posed as did every other tourist in this spot. I have since researched once on wifi and google does not agree, so im not certain. None the less its a beautiful structure, purely magical and breath taking. I still cant believe we are here and its not pretend. After literally sweating SO much Kat provides us each with a soda. We sit in the Tuk Tuk under a tree to  cool down a bit. So many Tuk Tuk drivers are lined up, Rach and I discus how cool it would be to interview Tuk Tuk drivers abd write a memoir of their lives. Im sure each is more interesting than tye next. I certainly feel like I won the lottery in the Tuk Tuk driver category as we struck gold getting Mr Kat. He is not like the rest, he takes his work very seriously and it shows! Kat tells us he to is enjoying our company, he loves US & Canadian tourist best as we are most friendly once we trust, his words, for which I agreed.

We arrived back to our hotel by 3:30 pm, are greeted by our Royal Family and head straight to the pool after getting suits on, we need to cool off. We relax by pool with a cocktail. Swimming and relaxing is the perfect way to unwind after another long day of touring, hard work 🙂 Im loving the fact that my phone has been in Airplane mode for 12 days and has not been able to ring. Its truly a break I think we all need. The sound of my ring has not been heard, its truly a miracle. We realize we only have one day left of this escape from reality and wonderful adventure. I could totally stay in Cambodia longer. I would love to go to the beaches here, yet they are 10-11 hours away by bus or an hour flight. Feeling SO grateful for the opportunity and possibility in my life to have gotten away for 2 weeks. 

We shower and I wear my last nicer outfit. Packed perfectly for once, just right amount of clothes. We decide to walk to the Park Hyatt Hotel, which was close by for a cocktail. Its Happy Hour, and my Gingerbread Martini is only $4, we decide to order 4 appetizers for $25. It was all so yummy, this ended up being dinner. The best of the four that deserves mention was the Cheese, walnut, pear crepes. Omg…..

We walked around the Night Market and Pub Street, bought more gifts. We ended the night with a 30 min foot massage, back to the room by 8:15 pm. Time to rest and we get to sleep in a bit tomorrow. Mr Kat will pick us up at 9 am for our last full day.

Love Laurie Sue XO