Cambodia day 5 Siem Reap Angkor Wat

Cambodia day 5 Siem Reap Angkor Wat

Friday, 04.07.2014

Get up 8:30, some others still in bed (dormitory).

Rent bike at hostel for 1 USD per day. Brakes ok, 3 gears. A friend suggested cycling from SR to Angkor.

But first I need protection from sun for my arms. I wanted to buy these sock-like sleeves (without print, not the fake tattoos available in Silom) in Thailand, but didn’t know where and it was not urgent. Now it is urgent and I still don’t know where. Go to the market. But as you can easily imagine, only tourist crap available. Ask in several places, finally find some that are for women. I can’t wear these, but the salesperson tells me to wait and comes back with a neutral style. They cost 6 USD (!!!), but I pay, the only other choice is sunburn or cream (about 4 USD, but I don’t like cream). I reject a request for a tip (the lady was helpful, but I assume the price is already highly inflated). After return check prices in Thailand: fake tattoo sleeves in Silom 100 THB, a friend has normal sleeves that cost 20 THB.

Cycle from SR to Angkor ticket office 9:40-10:12, pay 40 USD for 3 day pass (you don’t need a passport picture, they take a picture). Arrive at Angkor Wat 10:30, parking 0.50 USD for bicycle.

Walking through the ruins, I spot a cute boy. He holds a book in Thai language. I look at the murals to let him pass, then walk past him. He seems interested and finally says hello. He is a tourist guide for Thai people and has been in Cambodia for some years. We chat and have lunch together.

You would assume he knows where best to eat, so I let him lead me to a restaurant in the temple complex. The food is overpriced (total 9 USD for two, bottle of drink alone 1 USD compared to 0.50 outside, and they miscalculated the total bill to 10 USD), and he complains about the food being too salty (can’t judge about that as I didn’t taste his meal) and containing hairs (confirmed, he pulled two long black straight hairs out of his meal). Don’t eat in the temple complex!

Side note: there is no electricity network in Angkor Wat. All devices are powered by batteries.

Then back to the ruins (after spending the hottest and sunniest hour of the day with lunch), where he explains some things to me in Thai (and little English). I have seen enough, time to move on before this will veer off into money request, but too late: he wants to go back to visit his family in Trang but has no money. So I tip him 5 USD.

We exchange phone numbers (my Thai number and his Cambodian number) and proclaim interest to meet again the following day (without specific time and place, which means neither of us is really interested). There was no indication of sexual interest from his side. (But we exchanged a few interested looks before he said hello to me.)

Cycle to East entrance of Angkor Wat 15:08-22. Few tourists.

Cycle to Ta Prom 15:34-16:05. Few tourists, covered sky, not so hot, perfect conditions.

Update: I missed the dinosaur carving:
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dinosaur-angkor-wat
http://www.bible.ca/tracks/tracks-cambodia.htm


(return to SR and nightlife see next post)

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