Backpack in SEA for 15 days: 29the Dec (Angkor wat & siem reap town) (part 3)

After a whole 1 1/2 hours of trees and super ruined temples, the place that we head to was.... (Drum roll!!!)
yeah! the most majestic and most well protected temple in the Angkor Temple archealogical site: Angkor Wat!!! (yes! i'm finally going to lay my eyes Angkor Wat again!!!) i'm not too sure y am i so fascinated with Angkor Wat.... i guess perhaps i always have a penchant for archealogical sites... ancient buildings... and it never fail to amaze me how smart, resourceful the ancient people is! coz it muz have take them lots of years to construct such a majestic structure and furthermore, its not juz 1 structure but numerous structures and also all these structures are constructed deep in the jungle and all these structures are begin contructed using huge huge stone slabs!)


anyway, our tuk tuk drivers drop us off at the East Gate of Angkor Wat! yeah! its the 1st time for me to be at the East Gate of Angkor Wat! so checking our guidebook, we started to walk to the main temple.... and this part of the Angkor wat is really very serene! i mean the sights lah... the surroundings.... coz the whole place was well shaded by the numerous trees grown there... and we walked along the path tat was juz beside the moat (this was constructed by the ancient people to protect the temple from intruders) and with the clear skies and the cool breeze tat gently caressing our heated bodies (exposed to sun & physical exertion due to walking and climbing) it was really a very nice stroll to the main temple compound.


and along the way, we saw a monkey stilling on a huge rock (like a king) staring at us... hahaha... he was not even afraid of us when we went nearer to him...



finally we came to the temple compound! and we saw tat a stage (a modern structure lah) was constructed juz next to the Angkor Wat temple.... and its really a stark contrast of mordernization in an ancient site.... most likely the cambodians are going to have some sort of celebration on 31st dec huh... to welcome the new year.... but seeing this stage sort of to me... like destorying the ancient site....


by the way... do u kno tat Angkor Wat is one of the UNESCO wolrd heritage site?? yeah... it was even classify as one of the 7 ancient world wonders! so tat's how majestic this temple is!!! anyway we started to make our ascend to the temple's top... and we had to walk through a gallery where there are lots of stone carvings on the walls of the gallery... and all these stone wall carvings are depicting a hindu buddhist story.... abt the Champs fighting the devil.... (by the way, Angkor Wat temple was constucted based on Buddhism but in those days Buddhism was also greatly influenced by Hindusim and Brahamism).
then we've reached the main hall where we're to make our climb to the 2nd level where there is a gallery tat was named as the "Gallery of Thousand Buddhas". but most of these Buddha structures had been destroyed.... and their remains are still lying around in the gallery.
and in this level, there are 4 huge 'pools' tat are surrounding the area.... hmmm... initially i din kno what are these 4 squarish areas for... coz they are not on the same level as the level tat we were on... then after consulting the guidebook, then understand tat these 4 squarish compounds were in fact 'pools'. Yes pools as in those swimming pools filled with water... and in the past, they were bathing pools (filled with water) for the monks to bathe themselves in the mornings! hahaha... interesting isn't it?? =D

then as u ascend to the next level, u'll reach another compound tat do not have any roof at all...and right smack in the middle of the compound is the 3 majestic stupas we always associate Angkor Wat to!! pity tat the top-most leve of the Angkor Wat was under re-construction... so we did not have any opportunity to climb up to the top-most level...else we would be able to see the surrounding lands of Angkor Wat! but its ok... we juz walked around this level and snapped as many photos as possible.... =D

and as we walked around the temple, u'll realised the huge slabs of stones tat were being used to construct the temples. and something unique of these stone slabs are there will be about 4 nice holes on each one of them! and 2 holes will be at each ends of the stones... and we believed tat these could be the holes tat the ancient people used to transport the stones over here in order to use them to construct the temple! really smart thinking!!! =D
and yeah forgot to mention about the design of the Angkor Wat.... in fact as u walked around the gallery earlier on, all along the walls of the temple (interior section) u'll be able to see carvings on the walls... and these carvings are shaped in the form of women dancers! Yup, they are called the Apsaras....
and the stone columns tat held the whole temple erect, have very intricate wordings or lotus carvings on them... think all those wordings on the columns are from the Buddhist sutras....
but its juz amazing.... and u kno wat? in fact the Angkor Wat initially was not constructed as a place for religious means... in fact the King who had this temple constructed had wanted it as his resting place in other words... his tomb lah! hahhaa... but because after the whole building was constructed, it was too majestic beyond words... and the King decided to convert it to a religious site rather than his tomb! interesing isn't it??  shared this wil my friends... and they were also presently surprised by the background of the temple! =D
and something interesting about the 3 main stupas of the temple, they are shaped after the Lotus Bud on the verge of opening! and tat's y the stups are 'plump' at the bottom but sharp at the tip! and on the stupas there are numerous shapes of the 7 headed snakes! and these are called the Nagas!!! in fact u'll see lots of these 7 headed snake structures along the walkway of the Angkor Wat.
then after taking our needed photos, we strolled to the Lotus Pond to take some last photos before heading back to Siem Reap Town to do somemore last min shopping... hahaha.... =D








Keiko & I went back to our guesthouse to take a shower 1st before heading out again (in fact because keiko wanted to change her shoes to slippers) and i accompanied her... then the rest juz head on down to town to do shopping 1st....
hahhaa....so after our shower, we went to town to join the rest... and we were presently surprised... coz u kno wat? the whole town had breakdown in their electricity supply!!! and the whole market was in total darkness and when we went to a convience store to buy a couple of drinks and yoghurt, the cashier had to do calculations using the calculator and jot down the product no. on paper... =P


anyway we bought our last min things... before heading to 1 more thing on our agenda!!! hahaha...yeah we went for massage again! and this time round we tried the Khmer massage!! but the massage was not as good as the one we had in Bangkok....hmmm... tat's wat i felt... perhaps is because my masseur has sweaty palms....

but the massage was cheap...hahaha... we paid USD $4 for 1hr (complete massage lah)
anyway after our massage we went in search for our dinner... and as we were walking... we happen to walk past a group of ladies sitting outside a hairdresser shop eating eggs... and juz beside them was a young lady selling some hard-boiled eggs in her basket! and i juz had the niggling thinking tat the eggs that they were eating were the eggs tat we had been searching for.... and i juz asked them if the eggs were nice... and whether the eggs were 1/2 formed eggs!! and juz to my joy, the eggs were 1/2 formed eggs!!! hahaha... finally we've find the 'exotic' food after travelling so many day.... this was commented by Keiko... fancy us managed to find it on our last day... hahaha... u can say its a huge accomplishment huh... =P


anyway the 5 of us (in fact me and keiko) were really excited... and bought an egg to share... hahhaa... and we knocked a little part of the shell off and scraped some of the egg to eat... and it tasted nice.... surprisingly!! hahhaa.... well... by now u'll be thinking wat's a 1/2 formed egg... but i think some of u already have an idea wat it is...=P
its an egg whereby inside there is a 1/2 formed chicken while the other 1/2 of the egg is the yolk and albumin.... yeah... it sounds disgusting... not to say the taste... and some will say tat its very cruel to eat these sort of thing... coz i've gotten lots of comments from my mum when i came back and told her wat 'exotic' food we ate... and she told me tat its a live tat we've killed... hmmm... yeah yeah.. i kno... but then these sort of thing i'll only try it once in my life time... hahaha... =D

anyway the 5 of us enthusiastically dig the egg out and ate... but we did put some prepared sauce on the egg... and i can tell u tat it tasted nice! not as horrible as come people had described it to me... hahhaa... but when u put that spoon of egg into ur mouth, u'll be able to feel parts of the feathers or wings in the midst of the egg... and yeah..tat's wat i felt... and in my 2nd spoon, i felt the beak of the chick as i chew on it... hahhaa... yeah i kno its quite gross... but its an experience isn't it?? =D


then after tat we had our dinner at the road-side stalls.... wah... tat dinner was really nice and super super cheap manz! but as we were eating, come beggar children came up to us to ask us for food and also for the cans.... but we din drink any canned drinks, so we got not empty cans to give them... but me & nobuko did take a picture with one of the poor gals... yeah... its really sad to see these children roaming the streets looking for empty cans or food.... such is the life in Cambodia.... =(

anyway after our dinner we went back to our guesthouse and we've got to pack! by now i really dread packing my stuffs... coz i realy got too many things! and whilst i was packing, i realised tat my backpack has got 2 holes in it! Shit shit!!! i was thinking of ways on how to seal up the 2 holes... and i tot perhaps i can go to the registry counter to ask for thread and needle... but they did not have... so i asked them for some tape... thinking tat perhaps the tape can hold the holes together until i reach home the next day... and u kno wat? the tape was not strong enough lor... double shit!


then i think this cannot carry on... and decided to take a risk/gamble in going to the convinece store outon the main road to ask for thread and needle.... and along the way i saw a clinic...thinking tat in clinic they will do some sewing... so they should have... but when i went to ask and show them wat i wanted, they told me they dun have it... and i also asked some smaller stalls along the way... coz it was really dark and now and then u'll have tuk tuk drivers coming up to u to ask u if u want to take their tuk tuk... so u can say tat i was really scared and somemore i had to walk past a night club with blasting music coming from inside and u can see bouncers standing at the doors... really make the walking scary. and i was like juz walkingvery fast and jogging at the same time. until i reached the convenience store did i let out my breathe... and i started asking the cashier if they sell needle and thread... they did not understand despite my actions... then i showed them the threads on my shirt... then they understand wat i wanted... and the saleslady helped to search for it! wah... my goodness! there was only 1 packet of the needle and thread lor... and thinking back now... i'm super super lucky to be able to buy it! and having purchase the needle and thread (1USD), i had to walked back the ominous path again...but this time round my heart was lighter....


back in my guesthouse, i sewed up the 2 holes... before packing my stuffs... by then Harumi had already slept... its ok for me... hahaha.. coz i was able to have a bit of solitary time by myself... and recall the days of our trip! =D


after having managed to squeeze all the things inside my backpack, i realised tat i've got an extra 2 bags...meaning tat i've got 4 bags now!!! imagine how many things i've bought in my trip! =D

Backpacking in SEA for 15 days: 29th Dec 2008 (part 1)

was writing this entry then realised tat there are so many things to write tat i think i'm going to break up this day into 2 or 3 entries... =D

Yup! this is the final day in Siem Reap and YES!!! we're going to see the majestic Angkor Temples!! (hahahaha.... this is one of my favourite places)

As usual, we woke up extremely early tis morning... and packed our breakfast (sandwiches tat we bought the night before. I shared mine (omelette & baugette) with keiko, harumi & keiko) then we head off to Angkor Wat, which is our 1st destination tat day. and whilst we sat in the tuk tuks begin driven there, the siem reap streets were already starting to be awake...meaning tat u're able to see tuk tuks with passengers. and most of these tuk tuks were heading to the angkor temples. =D

well, u'll be thinking y did we take the tuk tuk... other than because its early in the morn and u can't see or know the streets well, the other reason is because, the Angkor Temples compound is too huge.... and its not possible to cover the entire area by foot.... tourists usually will either take the tuk tuk or if they are very adventurous will rent bikes to cycle round the area... but tat way will not be able to cover the whole area in 1 day...

and it was really cold in the early morning... and worse still no street lamps... so u can say hahaha... the streets were a little eerie and worse when we enter the jungle coz all around u can hear those insects making some noise in the jungle and it was even colder as we enter the jungle.

hiaz.. by now u'll be thinking why make urself suffer so much right?? hahaha... we've got a hidden agenda one... coz we want to go and capture the sunrise over at angkor wat!!! hahaha... yeah tat's wat we wanted to do... and when we reached there, immediately the 5 of us headed to the lotus pond and stood there to wait admist the huge crowd.... hmmm... wonder what time those tourists were already waiting there huh??

coz they reach the place even earlier than us (we reached at 5.20am) coz most of the professional photographers already set up their tripod stand to get ready to take the perfect shots!! hahaha... and soon, 6.10am, came... and u kno wat?? all the cameras were directed toward the direction where the sun will rise... and the 4 of us (except keiko, coz she went to another place to take picture) stood there and wait and we see the skies getting brighter and more orangey... then suddenly, toshiko turned to me and commented "The sun has risen! but no sun!!" and that's when i realised tat the professional photographers already packed their tripod stands and left the place! hahaha... wat a disappointment! the clouds were too low and thick, so it was not possible to view the sun rising... hahaha...

anyway later when i talked to our tuk tuk driver (coz he asked us if we managed to capture nice pictures of the sun-rise) and he told us tat at this time of the year, its not possible to see the sun rising due to the thick clouds. hmmm... and the colder the morning, the thicker the clouds... so we learning something interesting today huh!!

anyway, after the sun rise, we head off to Angkor Thom 1st! and this is one of the 3 major sites we'll be visiting in the Angkor Temples. y did we head here 1st instead of climbing up Angkor Wat is becoz, there are too many tourisits there... so it makes it very difficult for us to walk around and view the temple to our hearts content... so our tuk tuk drivers with wisdom, drove us to Angkor Thom 1st... and both Keiko & me managed to stop our tuk tuk driver at the South Gate. As we wanted to take a very nice picture with the gate at the background.



in my last trip to the Angkor Temples, tat time, my tuk tuk driver told us (my frens & I) that the South Gate was used by the soldiers & warriors to enter the temple. and in times of battles, the soldiers and warriors when won the battles will then enter Angkor Thom via the East Gate which is also known as the "Victory Gate' (we'll be using it later). However, if there were to lose in the battle, then they will need to use the West Gate and tat is also known as the 'Death Gate or 'Hell Gate'. hmmm very interesting right?? =D

anyway, when we were in Angkor Thom, our tuk tuk driver dropped us off and told us to walked around until we want to go to the next temple, then we go back and look for them. So with the guidebook in hand, we decided to climb & explore Bayon 1st!

Bayon is one of the majestic temples found in Angkor Thom and its one tat u can't miss it coz its sort of situated right in the center of Angkor Thom area. This temple is very special because on each of the stupas, u there are 4 faces per stupas! and these faces are the replica of the Buddha, Deties etc. with a serene smile on their faces and these faces are staring down coldly were u to look up at them...



perhaps is because of the faces... but its juz tat when u're at the temple, it juz feel very cold.... and the temple here are very black and grey... hahaha... anyway we stayed for awhile and took quite a no. of pictures before heading to another temple tat is beside Bayon.

We went to Baphuon but could not enter the temple as its was under re-construction... hmmm quite disappointing... coz it was the 2nd largest temple in the Angkor Thom area.

when we were at Baphuon, 1 Cambodian guy started explaining to us about Baphuonthen.... in fact he was explaing to Toshiko rather than us coz he invited her to go down and take pictures of the columns whilst the rest of us were on top....and i told the rest (except Toshiko) that this guy muz be up to no good.... and they asked me y... then i tell them tat when someone u dun kno is very nice to u... then most likely tat person is up to no good... so cannot anyhow trust people... and true enough, later when Toshiko came and join us, she told us tat the guy asked her for money... yeah... so when u're in these 3rd world countries.... its really really very important tat u're very alert and weary of people!!! =D


we head down to Phimeanakas and also another temple tat was deep in the jungle! hahaha... but tat was a well wort trek coz when we reached the temple we were awed & amazed by it! coz the temple was sort of being destroyed by the huge trees! if u dun believe take a look at the amazing trees urself!

after tat we head down to take a look at the famous Elephant terrace


and I also took a picture with the Leper King... which was explained in the guidebook that the Leper King did not have a gender!! (Imagine tat!!) hahaha.. so tat means he/she was neither guy nor gal huh...

then we went to some 1/2 destroyed structures tat were on the opposite side of the road North & South Kleang). These are not really temples hmmm.. the guidebook says that the buildings were built by the king for entertainment... meaning tat between each building, a string will be strung from 1 building to the next and this was for the tight-rope walkers to walk (perform) and also when there are no performances, the buildings are used to keep convicts/prisoners!! hahaha... interesting huh!!


after exploring the place, we went for our lunch! after lunch, we head down to Ta Phrom!! =D can't wait to see the temples in Ta Prohm again!! =D    

anyway, at this time, Keiko told me tat she was feeling uncomfortable in the abdomen area and she kept having diarrohea... hmm... i din bring any medication out... so i can't help her either... so she has to go to the toilet now and then....