Part XIX - Tuk tuks, Hey Mr? and the Real Tomb Raider.

There are kids all over the place trying to sell stuff... "buy my t-shirt" "buy a guide book"... "hey Mr, you want cold drink/something to eat..." Don't know when or if they go to school but they make more money doing this than their parents ever would have made in the rice paddies. There are ANZ Bank branches here. Alcohol is really cheap here too. A hippy of thai whiskey costs $1 and $10 for a 750 of Gordons gin. The bars have happy hour with 35c tap beer!

Temple Missions.

Day 1

Went on a temple mission today with a couple of brits I met at Naga guest house. Cool chicks. They hired a tuk tuk so I tagged along. A Cambodian tuk tuk is a motorbike with a roofed rickshaw like trailer behind. Does the trick and it costs $10 for the whole day. He's got a pretty sweet job, drive people to a ruin, chill out under a tree for an hour then take them to another ruin. Perfect job for an artist I thought. Chuck an easle on the roof rack. The drivers themselves do absolutely nothing but sit around waiting.

Detail of one of the gates at Angkor Thom

Went to the fortified city of Angkor Thom where lots of kids tried to sell us stuff. I bought a guide book which was excellent reading material while chilling out on the top level of Bayon. A temple ruin with about 200 heads peering out from it. It looks like a pile of rocks as you get up to it but its wicked when you hang out for a while and take in the vibe. There are sooooo many tourists here these days, its insane. Must be 10 times what there was when I was here 6 years ago. That said, most of the Japanese tour bus cretins hunt in packs so theres still peace and quiet to be had. They make great tourists but I think they miss the whole point of visiting an ancient ruin. Its so nice sitting in a shady doorway high up in a temple whilst under the stare of these massive ancient faces.

Bayon and your humble narrator

Saw the terrace of elephants and the terrace of large breasted dancing girls.

Went to the Thommanon but it was more of the same so stayed in our mighty chariot overseeing the whole affair.

Climbed a 50 meter high temple pyramid called Ta Keo and did some Qigong on an out crop right at the top. Was awesome, grooving out to the Qi enhanced view of the forest canopy.

Went to Ta Prom which they used some of for the movie Tomb Raider. The front entrance I think. Its a wicked place. This temple has been left pretty much in the condition the french fullas found it in the 19th century with massive strangler fig trees crushing the 800 year old ruins. Very cool.

Ta Prohm

Day 2

Got up at 10 past 4 this morning to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure on the planet no less. Was an interesting experience crossing the bridge into the complex in the darkness, nice atmosphere. Slowly and rather unspectacularly it got light and half of Japan turned up as it did so.

Angkor Wat and Bayon are both representations of the Macrocosm of the Hindu universe with Mt Meru, home of the gods in the middle. I wandered into the place and climbed straight to the top to commune with Vishnu and co but feeling shattered after a 4am start, I went to sleep for 2 hours instead. Solid sandstone is surprisingly comfortable when you're as tired as I was. Then by the time I walked out and got some breakfast the girls were ready to leave. I'll no doubt mission back out there tomorrow though and check out the impressive bas-reliefs of the monkey army and Vishnu churning the sea of milk. Angkor Wat might be the largest but it lacks the atmosphere of places such as Bayon IMHO.

An unspectacular photo of Angkor Wat

Had a look at another temple called Preah Khan, even more in ruins than Ta Prohm. All sorts of interesting colours going on there with the different moss and lichen patches. Then headed off to a pool that was used for ceremonial bathing with a cool tower in the middle. There was no water in the pool though, it hasn't held water for hundreds of years apparantly, yet they managed to snap it with a good sized puddle in my guidebook.

Preah Khan

Day 3

Hasn't really happened thus far and its now 3:40. Got some sort of annoying cold or sun stroke or something, much to my disgust. Will attempt to mosie on out for an evening mission though.

Update!

Its funny how the universe will throw things up to challenge ones view of things. I was just beginning to think that europeans were a bunch of loud mouthed inconsiderate w@nkers, ever ready to blunder into the perfect photo or spoil the mood with their babbling when this Spanish fulla Santiago turns up at the guest house. He's an amateur photographer and 'environmental expert'. Thats his job title, not what he professes to be BTW. Good sort. The Israelis are currently on the out however for playing hacky outside my room and making a general racket late into the night prompting references to Hamas and Hezbolla on my part.

I managed to get my lurgy ridden arse out to Angkor Wat despite the viral content of my blood and it was awesome. All the masses were on their way out and very few were coming in which was a good sign. I came well provisioned with a huge bottle of water, some scary Cambodian liquor and a Coke chaser. This spirit was some strange stuff. Its made here by Chinese people I'm picking cos its got all sorts of chinese herbs in it. Its supposed to build muscle and fight fatigue which is a good thing as I had it for medicinal purposes. I found a nice spot near the bas-reliefs gallery to loiter and medicate myself. The liquor was some rancid stuff, tasted like the medicinal herbs Tania used to cook up on the Allenby stove. But it went down well and I was feeling well in the mood for a journey around the 600m of bas-relief that encirlces the main temple enclosure.

There were a few lingering tour groups but there were whole stretches with no body in sight. Excellent! I walked past depitctions of Vishnu churning the sea of milk with lots of scantily clad celestial dancers being the result of his toil. There was Rama and the Monkey Army doing battle with the forces of some demon or other and all manner of entertaining fodder. Funny that it was totally different from what I remember 6 years ago. Must have been the Happy Pizza. I found a nice dog to hang out while topping up my blood alcohol and then discovered the place had been over run by monkeys and there was not a person in site.

A quick stroll through the forest took me to the north gate where I killed a bit of time in total peace before wandering back into the temple proper. All the monkeys had left, as had all the people too. There was not a person in site. Awesome, the Tao had lead me on a path to experiencing Angkor Wat at night, all by myself, no sneaking in necessary!

I climbed to the top level and facing the east gate, proceeded to do some Qigong. Not much visualisation is necessary with a sybolic Mt Meru behind and a forest and massive moat in front. Gradually it got darker and darker and the sounds of crickets and bats took over.

Eventually I had worked my way through Ba Duan Jin and Jen Ji Dao Kit Kuen (supreme ultimate fist!) plus once through the Taiji form and it was time to mosie on, in pretty much total darkness. I managed to descend the rather steep stair case from the upper level without plummeting to my death. Its supposed to represent scaling a mountain and is rather an accurate representation. It was more treacherous than climbing Gunung Sibaya! On the way out I passed a really cool shrine which I was going to take a photo off but this old man was there and obviously p1ssed off that I was still there, grunting and guesticulating at the door. He was the only other person in the complex from what I could tell.

Eventually I finished the long walk along the causeway to the front gate and my moto driver was still there waiting for me, so cruised on back into town.

Choice bro!