12/14/13 - 12/22/13

Angkor Wat is one of the most spectacular and well-known temple complexes in the world. I have been wanting to explore it for as long as I can remember. Despite the fact, that up to this point, I have seen countless temples and was somewhat tired of seeing more temples, I was not going to miss Angkor. Besides, Khmer architecture is very unique, making these temples very different than most I have seen and they are very impressive. Plus, this is one of only a handful of sites around the world, that I absolutely had to see. And now I was getting that chance.

Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by a powerful empire called the Khmer. It was originally built as a temple to Vishnu, the Hindu God. However, like most of the other temples in the area, it was converted to a Buddhist temple and then back again to a Hindu temple and then back again several times. One can see the changes the have happened in several temples in the Angkor Archeological Park, as some of them have many Buddha statues or carvings, some have many Hindu carvings and statues, while others have niches where carvings of Buddha have been scraped off. Another important thing to know is that Angkor Wat is just one temple. It is surrounded by several other temples that are quite impressive in their own right. The whole Angkor Archeological Park spreads over 400 square kilometers!

Siem Reap is the closest city to the park and it is where I based myself. To get here, I had to take an eight hour bus ride from Bangkok, which including crossing the border into Cambodia. Crossing the border wasn't too difficult, but there is some confusion with obtaining a visa and I had read about several scams involved with the process. I did my homework and I knew that I could obtain one on the border for $20 without much hassle. However, the bus stopped before the Thai border checkpoint and offered an "express" Cambodian Visa services. I didn't use it, but several people on the bus did and had to paid a larger fee. The fact that so many people signed up for this service made me a little anxious and I worried that maybe it wasn't as easy as I thought to get the visa at the border, but I figured I would risk it and find out. Plus, it did seem a little sketchy. The express service did return the passports with the visa quickly and so everyone had their visas before we crossed the Thai border checkpoint, except for me and a few others. In the long run, it didn't really matter though, because we all had to wait in line to have our passports checked and stamped, first at the Thai border and then the Cambodian border. I was able to get my visa and get through the Cambodian border without any problem and I got through just as quickly as anyone that got the "express" visa, plus I saved some money.

One of the first things I noticed about Cambodia was that it was completely flat! There were little villages and plenty of fields and they just went on forever to the horizon. I could see for miles. A small mountain did appear at one point, and it seemed so odd to me, because it was just all alone surrounded by fields and prairieland. There are mountains in Cambodia and I would seem them later in the South of the country, but here there was nothing. I would be glad for how flat it was later, when I was riding around Angkor!

On the border, I met an Australian named James. We were on the same bus and also happened to be staying in the same hostel. We got to Siem Reap, checked into our hostel and after eating, checked out the hostel bar. The Siem Reap Hostel is, honestly, one of the best hostels I have ever stayed. It has a swimming pool, a really nice bar that serves really cheap drinks and several places to hang out and meet people. James and I took advantage of the cheap beer ($1 a pint and $0.50 during happy hour!) and had several pints together.

The next day, James and I rented some bicycles for $4 and explored the Angkor Temples. We could have rented a tuk-tuk for the day, but this way was cheaper and allowed more freedom, even if it was more work. We ended up riding around 30 km the first day and about 40 km the second day. And then got back in time, both days, to enjoy happy hour!

The very first temple we went to was Angkor Wat. And it is just as impressive as I thought it would be. There are many places where you have expectations and they are not alway met, well this was not one of those places. The architecture and carvings are absolutely stunning. James and I explored the temple, climbing steep steps to get better vantage points and gazing at the amazing carved murals that depict many Hindu stories, such as the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. I was very impressed.

We then rode around some more and went to other amazing temples such as the ancient city of Angkor Thom, which contains the phenomenal Bayon temple. Bayon has hundreds of carved faces of the Khmer king who built it, all over the temple. The faces stare down at you from every imaginable point in the temple. Another amazing temple and my personal favorite was Ta Prohm, otherwise known as the "Tomb Raider" temple. It is called this because scenes from the movie, "Tomb Raider" were filmed there. It is my favorite because of the its atmosphere. It is a ruin in most parts, as the jungle has overtaken and grown up over it. Trees are growing inside and around the buildings and walls of the huge temple. Huge moss-covered stone blocks are strewn about it different areas and some passage are completely blocked by them. It is very famous, so there are lots of tourist walking around, however, I was lucky and I was able to find a part of the temple where I was completely alone. The noises of the jungle was all I could hear and the smell of decay was ripe in my nose. As I walked around the temple all alone, except for James, I couldn't help but feel like an archaeologist discovering this temple for the first time. It was my "Indiana Jones" moment!

The next day, James and I repeated the same activity and explored several other temples, including one temple twice! The temple we saw twice, was very big and so we came upon two different entrances that were several kilometers apart. The funny thing is that we didn't realize that it was the same temple until we had walked all the way through it the second time! It did seem familiar to me, but it also seemed a little different. We rode a little bit farther the second day, but it was still a lot fun. We were both very tired, once we got back to the hostel, but we still had plenty in us to enjoy happy hour again. How can you turn down $0.50 beers?!

I definitely enjoyed the first two days at Angkor. I saw some absolutely amazing temples, met some really nice people and even got in a little workout. However, things were about to change. And since this entry is getting a little long, I will write about that in part two. So, look for that in a few days.