| Great Day! And it's only 1 p.m. I
woke up around 5 a.m. Got cleaned up, packed, and got a taxi to
the airport. Jeff Gordon was my driver - and he finished first
this time. Taxis fare was under 300 Baht. The driver took me to
the wrong terminal, but it was only a few yards from the correct
one.
I went through an initial bagging screening, got to my ticket
counter, then realized I needed to go to another ticket counter to
get my ticket (I booked online). After getting my ticket and
going through the screening again, I got in line. I was
definitely in the wrong one. The people in front of me were having
all sorts of problems. Oh, well.
She gave me my boarding pass and directed me to Passport
Control. On the way out of Bangkok, you have to pay 500 Baht
airport tax, which you pay at a machine. No problem getting
through Passport Control, and finding my gate was no big deal. My
plane took off 30 minutes later than I expected, but I was gellin' like Magellan.
On the plane, I talked to a very nice couple from Vancouver,
Canada. They had just been to Burma. They said it was great and
that I should go some time. I asked them about Quebec City. They
said it was an OK place to visit, if you didn't mind snooty
French speaking Canadians.
Quick flight and we landed at the rather small airport in
Siem Reap. Since I already had my Visa, I went to a very short
line. But, the guy in front of me was taking forever. Why? I
don't know. He must have been French.
Outside of the airport, I meet my guide. His name is Thy, and
I found out about him when I was surfing Wayne Hazel's website.
Thy is great. I am very happy with his English, and he is a very
patient driver.
He took me to my hotel, the Angkor Wat Village Hotel.
Outstanding place. I am so glad I booked a room here, instead of
some place like the Marriott. It is set in a jungle landscape,
with a very nice meditating pond, a pool, and some great
architecture. My room is very cool. Right next to the pool.
Large room and a huge tub. The staff is extremely nice. But,
they aren't backing off the mini-bar prices. Liquor is $4 and
water is a buck. Fortunately, I get 2 bottles of water free. You ain't in Bangkok anymore.
The city of Siem Reap has a lot of new hotels, plenty of
motorcycles, and the drivers are as polite as Bangkok. But,
everything moves very nicely. On to Angkor Wat.
Amazing. Really! Wish you were here. Impressive. Steve,
you should have gone when you had the chance. The temple complex
is expansive. Our first stop is at the main temple, named Angkor
Wat. It is huge. After walking across the moat, Thy shows me all
the detail carved into the sandstone. It is incredible work. I
hope the pictures do it justice.
We walk around and Thy points out the interested parts of the
temple. It's really huge and this is just one part. After
walking around the outer parts for about an hour, we climb to
the top of the complex. OK, I broke my earlier rule from
Ayathaya. Oh well, it was worth it.
The top of the complex had many images of Buddha. The climb
up was very steep. I'm not sure what the builders were thinking,
but I guess it is a pilgrimage unto itself. The view from the
top was pretty good. Unfortunately, just like Thailand, there is a
haze, but that's everywhere.
Angkor Wat
|
