We had left the largest and most famous of all temples in Cambodia until last. So there we were standing face to face with Angkor Wat on the last afternoon of our 3 day pass, along with about four to five hundred other people. We had wanted to catch the sun rise that morning, but would have had to gotten up at 4:00 am to ride the bikes that we rented in the dark to catch the sun rise at 5:00 am. It was something we had planned to do, but after hearing the disappointment from some of the friends we had met along the way, we decided against it and got a couple more hours of shut eye.
It was about 3:30 pm when we finally entered the gate into Angkor Wat dogging hoardes of people along the main entrance to take a quick picture here and there. The size of the temple was far larger than any of the ones we had seen thus far and the height of the central tower was something to be marveled at. Being over 1000 years old, the integrity of the temple was still intact due to their superb understanding of the property of the masonry and the power of gravity, as slabs of massive stone were positioned on top of each other in an interlocking manner. Although most of the décor has been lost due to the natural decay over the centuries, we saw glimpses of what remained and our minds filled in the rest. We moved through the temple at a meandering pace stopping frequently to observe the many intricate carvings and openings within the temple proper. We found ourselves at the top of the temple after climbing about 20 m straight up to some spectacular views of the central spire. There we sat and watched as the sun set over our shoulder illuminating this spire and changing its colour ever so slightly. It was a little disappointing, as we had heard so much of the colour change. We descended and found shade at a distant shrine and watched as the sun disappeared into the night.
And that was the end of our three day journey back in time at Angkor Wat.
Dawn came too soon once again as we woke the next morning to catch the bus to Bangkok, Thailand. A small minivan came by the guest house at about 7:00 am to pick us and drove around the city for about 5 min and dropped us off at a gas station, where we were told to wait for the bigger bus along with 6 others. After 15 minutes of anxiously waiting, a bus from the 60’s came by and the air conditioning that we had been assured was included in the price and what you would think would be fully functional was of course broken. Now this “big” bus seated only 14 people and there was no room at the bottom for any of our luggage. Since there were only 10 of us it was not too bad as we were able to stick the luggage in between the rows of seats but we were of course wrong….what we thought was okay turned to very, very bad……
The road from Siem Reap to Bangkok was very uncomfortable and bumpy we had heard, so we were prepared for the long 12 hour journey into Thailand. After about 3 hours of jostling around the bus uncontrollably, we stopped at a restaurant to have lunch and realized we were completely covered in red dust from the unpaved roads – it was pretty disgusting. The fresh air and cold drink was a welcome change from the constant rocking back and forth between pot holes. The scheduled half an hour lunch break became a 1 ½ hour delay as we waited for the passengers of another bus that had broken down. So the 14 seater bus with no air conditioning, carrying 10 foreigners, three locals that they picked up along the way and 3 bus employee sat there waiting for 10 more foreigners along with their luggage to head for the Cambodian/Thailand border. Needless to say we were not very happy with the situation and demanded an explanation and an alternative solution. Much to our surprise one of the three bus employees were extremely rude and told us if we did not like the situation, we should walk back to Siem Reap and discuss it with the bus company. The entire bus load was furious and at one point we all tried to kick him off the bus. So the next hour and a half was the longest hour and a half we had spent on the bus thus far. Just picture 26 people crammed into a 14 seater bus with loads (and we mean LOADS of luggage) in a non air condition bus..we had some people sitting on the luggage as seats….suffice to say, not our idea of our money’s worth. We were sure glad to be off that bus and on our way through the border.
On the Thailand side a new double decker bus, with air conditioning and a bathroom on board awaited our arrival. It was a comfortable 3 ½ hour ride to Bangkok from the border and we both were smiling from ear to ear, as we discussed what a difference a couple of hours can make. As the sun set, we arrived at Khoa San Road, a place I was familiar with, it did not appear to have changed at all in 8 years. The sidewalks were lined up with food stalls and shops, while the streets were filled with people walking back and forth eating, drinking, shopping and just having a good time. Walking through the streets brought back a lot of memories of my last trip here to Bangkok. As we searched for a comfortable place to stay, Rav kept on saying over and over again “I am going to like this place.” We finally found a place to call home for the next week or so as we wait for our Chinese Visas to be processed.
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