Today was the 3rd day of Wat spotting, they are really easy to find, you just follow the road and maybe a little bit of a walk and you will find a wat. At Angkor there are two tours that you can do the Little tour and the big tour, ones 17 and ones 26kms, it was my day for the big tour, I jumped on the bike and headed out around 9:30ish and after the check point managed to get in behind some motorcycle ricksaws and slip streamed them out towards the big circuit.
The weather was getting hotter and there was only a slight covering of clouds, My rickshaw buddies turned off towards the little circuit and left me with a 5km ride out to the first of a lot of wats. The first Wat of the day was Pre Rup, what is special about this wat it is where they cremated people, they had the area for burning them and a area for the ashes. I only found this out because a local guy who was waiting for his rich tourists, now I call them rich because not only did they have a Guide they had a car too. I am still sure it is as good as my bike, I mean how much fun can it be sitting in a air-conditioned car and just be driven from one Wat to the next and having some guide yammering on all the time. I got a bit of free education from there driver anyway.
I was off to the next Wat, have to say they are a lot alike these wats and after the four or fifth one the only thing that distinguishes them is how run down they are and how many trees have grown up through them. The ones I have liked the most is the ones that are the most over grown.
On I think it was the fourth or fifth temple I picked up a guide, he just started talking to me and then explaining the temple, I realized this was a move to get some money out of me, he was a cop also, so I let him woffle on about the temple and everything, some of it was interesting and some I just did not really take in, by the time we finished the circuit of the temple I was pretty glad to have rid of him, it cost a $1 US for maybe 40 minutes of woffle. Another guy stopped by me on the way out and asked how much I paid him, he said normally he would get $3 so I’m a stingy bugger then. I am riding a bike around if I had lots of money I would be in a Air con car with a guide.
By the time I got to Angkor Thom which I had already seen on the first day I was pretty tired, in fact with all the walking my legs were knackered and I was ready for lunch and a bit of relaxation, I headed off into town and picked up a sandwich from one of the local ladies, it was a Cambodian sandwich which I could only eat half of because my mouth had become an inferno and I had run out of water. Where I was sitting eating my sandwich I was just down the road from some cops who were pulling people over, they signaled for this car to pull over and I think the guy was going to make a run for it, but the cop just stood in the way, the guy in the car did not stop in time and hit the cop, not very hard but enough to get the police man in a bit of a bad mood. At this point I was trying to watch and not be seen.
They knew I was there though. The coppers got the guy out of the car and there was some pushing and shoving and then two more from the looks of things senior cops came alone, it was not looking good for this guy, I think the only reason they did not ruff him up more was because I was there as they kept looking my way. In the end one of the cops jumped in his car and drove off and this guy was left taking to someone on his telephone. As he was walking away the cops were following him, at this point I headed away as I had to find water to quench the fire in my mouth.
Temples seen in the three days so far,
Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm Kel, Phnom Bakheng, Baksei Chamkrong, South, North and West Gates Angkor Thom, Beng Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of leper King, Phimeanakas, Thommanon, ok was going to write them all out but there is way too many, I have pretty much done them all except the Roluos Group which is on the cards for tomorrow. After this I will not be looking at another temple, unless there is something so Amazing that I just cannot pass by.
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