Thursday, January 24, 2008

Siem Reap


The moon rose fiery pink orange last night, an exaggerated color through the layers of dust and haze in Siem Reap. Stevo and I sat on the roof of our guesthouse in the outskirts of town and listened in 360 degrees to the chickens and cows next door, an English lesson sung back in chorus, ("Are you happy?"yes! "Are you sad?" no! "Are you angry?" yes! noyesno yes!) There was a Hindu-sounding amplified chant and I spied on the family below us sitting down for dinner. We could also make out distant karaoke, a soccer game and gamelan drumming.


We landed two weeks ago in sticky-hot, amazing and mad Bangkok around midnight. The next day we dragged our jet-lagged and blistered selves to see breath taking wats, huge golden buddhas and stupas surrounded by dozens of little boys playing ping-pong. Then directly to meet Sarah on Ko Pha Ngan, an island off the coast of southern Thailand for lots of efficient chilling to the backdrop of white sand and perfect turquoise water. We ate green curry and homemade ice cream, rented motorbikes and rode through the deliciously cool soft black morning to the watch the sunrise on the east side of the island. Sarah looked awesome, grinning widely in her big sunglasses and maneuvering her made-in-Thailand Honda "Click."

Back to Bangkok, then Ayuthaya and then all day in motion, a requisite $10 bribe at the confusion and we are in Cambodia. The wildly awful road from the border town of Poipet is lined with some of the most devastatingly impoverished places I've ever seen. We narrowly miss bicyclists with handkerchiefs over their faces, squinting hard against the thick red dust. Then, the sudden opulence of Siem Reap's 5-star hotels.

The Angkor temples are amazing. The last three days we've rented bikes and explored the massive group of complexes. Despite floods of tourists that pour off of buses it is a powerful place and it is possible to find quiet corners. Yesterday we climbed to the top of a 5-tiered pyramid (Phnom Bekeang) and were all alone with the blue sky and awesome view except for a quietly snoring Khmer and the strains of American classic rock on his portable radio. Stevo remembers the names of the temples. So far, I've liked the big heads the best.