Cambodia - Day 6

Day 6
Our driver, Nara, was to pick us up this morning at 5:30am. All of us finally filed into his van after 5:45. I was starting to get a little nervous that we would miss the sunrise shots at Angkor Wat. On our way there, all of us layered on our mosquito protection. We purchased our 3 day passes for $40 each person. And this money goes to a privately owned company! You would think profits generated from a national attraction like this would end up in the government's hands, but things are a little different here...

By the time we reached the Angkor Wat complex, it was already a little too late to get those sunrise shots. We did, however, have ample opportunities to capture other great shots. (Didn't say that we actually captured them though. Heheh...) When we entered the main courtyard, I was a little surprised to see the huge mass of people milling around. The complex itself was amazing. Here are some pics that were taken...

After a couple hours of checking out Angkor Wat, we decided to get some breakfast. We were driven to a restaurant across the street. Something pretty bad happened there that I don't care to share with the world, but this serves as a reminder for me... =) (If you must know, just ask and I'll tell you.)

Our next stop is the Bayon Temple. There, we were approached by a man wearing a shirt labeled "Police." He asked where we're from, and we said, "U.S." He proceeded to say something like we're "American Copies" and it's rare that "real Americans" visit Cambodia. He didn't mean any harm by his statements, but they just seemed sort of funny. I guess, in many people's eyes, Americans are supposed to be blond-haired and blue-eyed. Well, not this group of Chinese, Filipino, and Mexican American citizens! He started leading us through the temple, sharing very interesting facts and showing us interesting nooks and crannies. When he started doing this, I immediately remembered something I had read in a forum about "police" men who act like a guide through your little romp through the complex. As you are leaving, they ask you for money. I'm sure the sum for his services wouldn't have been outrageous, but I hate it when people try to be sneaky! So as he was trying to show us around, we were to trying to lose him. We would split up and go in different directions. He found us once in a while, but in the end, we managed to lose him. We quickly walked out of the temple, afraid to bump into him again. It was actually kind of funny - like playing a game of cat and mouse.

Here are some pics from the Bayon Temple. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that since it was later in the day, there were hordes of people here!

We stopped by a couple of other temples. A couple more pics...

Our next stop was Ta Prohm Temple. The temples you can imagine from Indiana Jones and Tom Raider are reflected here. As a matter of fact, I think parts of Tomb Raider was actually shot here. These temples are not as grand as Angkor Wat, but much of it have not yet been reconstructed, so walking through paths and corridors made it feel like you've stumbled upon a great discovery. Sort of like that... =)

After all these temples, we were all pretty tired, and requested to be driven back to our hotel for some relaxation. Most of us hung out by the pool, some swam, and we all ate together. That was when we first ordered one of our favorite dishes, egg with minCed pork. =) After the late lunch, we met up once again with Nara, our driver. He was going to bring us to a very popular spot to watch the sunset.

The steps to ascend this temple were extremely steep and narrow.

... so we hung out at the bottom for a bit and took really cheesy pictures.

As more and more people climbed the stairs, we decided to go up as well. We found a great spot to watch the sunset. So did many many other people!

As we were heading back to the city, we saw Angkor Wat lit up at night. Victor and I took a few quick shots before the security shooed us away.

That night was very relaxing. The girls got an aromatherapy massage at the hotel, while the boys ventured out into the city to find their own massage place. Nara took them to an apartment-like complex. From the stories that were told, the boys were really nervous. This didn't seem like a place for tourists. They were given clothes to change into that apparently didn't fit too well... Tommy was given a very small shirt that read "same same" in the front, and "but different" in the back. What the heck does that mean??

All three boys were greeted with giggling women. They said this was a relief. It eased their nervousness and fears that they were going to be mugged. They all received excellent thai massages that night. If there was anything other than that, we weren't told. =)