The beauty of the mangosteen
I arrived in Siem Reap yesterday. Siem Reap is a fairly small town, it reminds me of small beach town, except instead of the beach they have Angkor Wat. My hotel is a bit far from the main area of town, whereas I was too in the thick of things in Bangkok, now I am a bit far away. It's walkable, but the tuk-tuk to the center of town is about a dollar, though its two dollars back! Yesterday after I arrived I explored the old market and main town area, and its a bit strange, whereas the sidewalk may not exist on some streets, there may be a brand new modern club or restaurant with automatic glass doors, which maybe next to a ramshackle building. It seems that the town came up from nothing, the majority of it exists for travelers. I asked someone Cambodian what a good khmer restaurant in the area was, but she said she never ate in them she only at home. I felt like a pretty big ass for being that stupid. There are these brand new restaurants, like a japanese restaurant I passed that looks like something out of nyc, and then in the front is a small child begging. It takes you aback. One child who was trying to sell me books, said to me after I said "No thankyou", "if you buy a book, I will leave you alone." It was one of the more honest things I have ever heard.
This morning I saw Angkor Wat and Bayon in Angkor Thom. I would have seen the rest of Angkor Thom except I broke out in a rash and got a terrible headache and dehydrated, I really underestimated just how hot the sun is and I returned back to my hotel early. The temples were pretty empty because we didn't head out till 8:00 right when it starts to get very hot. Tomorrow I will start out earlier in the morning and hopefully will be able to last longer. The rest of the day I laid in my hotel room in the air conditioning, drinking water and taking cold showers and watched Little Britain on my ipod. (Sidenote, Little Britain is a hilarious british sketch comedy show that mixes potty humor and satire, you can purchase it on itunes, I suggest starting with the first season). Anyway, this evening I am feeling a bit like myself again. I have to say when I noticed the rash, I was my usual rational self and was convinced that I had dengue fever and/or heat stroke. While I don't have either of those things, the effects of the sun and the heat was scary.
Anyway, after seeing Angkor Wat, and seeing the detail of the stone carving and sheer size of it, I am totally and utterly awestruck. There was a feeling that I can only describe as a quiet smallness, that I felt at angkor wat, it puts things a bit in perspective. Those who believe it was built by magic seem perfectly rational, the size and scope of the work without any modern equipment and tools seems like a feat that could only be accomplished with some divine intervention. There is also a sadness, while angkor wat is amazing, what it looked like before the khmer rouge must have been awe inspiring. My guide told me a bit about khmer rouge history, and what it was like in siem reap during the reign of the khmer rouge. He was apparently born on liberation day in 1979 when the Vietnamese seized control.
Tomorrow I am seeing more of Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm, which my guide (read further on him) calls the Tomb Raider temple. If I didn't like Angelina Jolie so much, I might be offended by the influence a movie based on a video game has on the world.
I hired an english speaking guide and car for the temples, which is the best decision I made, especially after my reaction to the heat, I think if I had to travel around tuk tuk today, I would have passed out. My guide is named Makara and he is pretty funny, except he is a racist. He dislikes thai people, and says that they buy looted stone buddhas from the temples of angkor wat. He also really really hates koreans, he even shared with me a code phrase that he uses when they are around, which means we should hurry on. I really had no idea how to react or what to say to any of this. Aside from his assertion that Koreans are loud and rude, I think the real issue is that the korean tours that are very common even in the off season do not hire local cambodian guides.
The other highlight of time in cambodia so far was trying some new exotic fruit. This morning a mangosteen came with my breakfast and it has to be one of the best things I have ever tasted, hands down! This early evening when I finally emerged from the comforts of my air conditioned room, to get an early dinner after sleeping through lunch, my sole focus was on going to the old market and getting more mangosteens. Those of who you who are concerned about me eating raw fruit, mangosteens are a small purple fruit that you cut open. Inside is a white flesh, with a taste I can't really describe other than to say, it doesn't taste like mango. According to one of my many guidebooks, Queen Victoria once offered some ridiculous sum of money to any person who could bring her a ripe mangosteen. The rambutan is also an interesting fruit that I have enjoyed, and I also have had dragon fruit and some other fruit thats like a lychee. So why am I waxing poetic about fruit, aside from the fact that the mangosteen was just that good. I think trying new foods is one of the most important parts of traveling, for those of who you know my mother, know where I get that from. That being said a very popular staple of cambodian food is fermented fish paste that you add to your food for flavor...I haven't gotten that brave yet, and more importantly being in such a touristed area it hasn't been served to me yet (apparently its quite smelly.)
Anyway, the evening rains have started and I hope they will cool things down a bit for the morning. I don't think it rained yesterday. Tomorrow morning I meet the guide at 6:30 am, keep your fingers crossed that its a bit cooler, I would hate to travel to other side of the world and not be able to see something so absolutely incredible.
Lots of love from a sweaty-mangosteen eating traveler,
Caroline
This morning I saw Angkor Wat and Bayon in Angkor Thom. I would have seen the rest of Angkor Thom except I broke out in a rash and got a terrible headache and dehydrated, I really underestimated just how hot the sun is and I returned back to my hotel early. The temples were pretty empty because we didn't head out till 8:00 right when it starts to get very hot. Tomorrow I will start out earlier in the morning and hopefully will be able to last longer. The rest of the day I laid in my hotel room in the air conditioning, drinking water and taking cold showers and watched Little Britain on my ipod. (Sidenote, Little Britain is a hilarious british sketch comedy show that mixes potty humor and satire, you can purchase it on itunes, I suggest starting with the first season). Anyway, this evening I am feeling a bit like myself again. I have to say when I noticed the rash, I was my usual rational self and was convinced that I had dengue fever and/or heat stroke. While I don't have either of those things, the effects of the sun and the heat was scary.
Anyway, after seeing Angkor Wat, and seeing the detail of the stone carving and sheer size of it, I am totally and utterly awestruck. There was a feeling that I can only describe as a quiet smallness, that I felt at angkor wat, it puts things a bit in perspective. Those who believe it was built by magic seem perfectly rational, the size and scope of the work without any modern equipment and tools seems like a feat that could only be accomplished with some divine intervention. There is also a sadness, while angkor wat is amazing, what it looked like before the khmer rouge must have been awe inspiring. My guide told me a bit about khmer rouge history, and what it was like in siem reap during the reign of the khmer rouge. He was apparently born on liberation day in 1979 when the Vietnamese seized control.
Tomorrow I am seeing more of Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm, which my guide (read further on him) calls the Tomb Raider temple. If I didn't like Angelina Jolie so much, I might be offended by the influence a movie based on a video game has on the world.
I hired an english speaking guide and car for the temples, which is the best decision I made, especially after my reaction to the heat, I think if I had to travel around tuk tuk today, I would have passed out. My guide is named Makara and he is pretty funny, except he is a racist. He dislikes thai people, and says that they buy looted stone buddhas from the temples of angkor wat. He also really really hates koreans, he even shared with me a code phrase that he uses when they are around, which means we should hurry on. I really had no idea how to react or what to say to any of this. Aside from his assertion that Koreans are loud and rude, I think the real issue is that the korean tours that are very common even in the off season do not hire local cambodian guides.
The other highlight of time in cambodia so far was trying some new exotic fruit. This morning a mangosteen came with my breakfast and it has to be one of the best things I have ever tasted, hands down! This early evening when I finally emerged from the comforts of my air conditioned room, to get an early dinner after sleeping through lunch, my sole focus was on going to the old market and getting more mangosteens. Those of who you who are concerned about me eating raw fruit, mangosteens are a small purple fruit that you cut open. Inside is a white flesh, with a taste I can't really describe other than to say, it doesn't taste like mango. According to one of my many guidebooks, Queen Victoria once offered some ridiculous sum of money to any person who could bring her a ripe mangosteen. The rambutan is also an interesting fruit that I have enjoyed, and I also have had dragon fruit and some other fruit thats like a lychee. So why am I waxing poetic about fruit, aside from the fact that the mangosteen was just that good. I think trying new foods is one of the most important parts of traveling, for those of who you know my mother, know where I get that from. That being said a very popular staple of cambodian food is fermented fish paste that you add to your food for flavor...I haven't gotten that brave yet, and more importantly being in such a touristed area it hasn't been served to me yet (apparently its quite smelly.)
Anyway, the evening rains have started and I hope they will cool things down a bit for the morning. I don't think it rained yesterday. Tomorrow morning I meet the guide at 6:30 am, keep your fingers crossed that its a bit cooler, I would hate to travel to other side of the world and not be able to see something so absolutely incredible.
Lots of love from a sweaty-mangosteen eating traveler,
Caroline