Angkor Wat

An early morning wake up call, a delicious breakfast, and we're off for our first day at the Angkor Wat temples. The guide that Laura had worked so hard to find had to send a replacement because he's suffering from kidney stones. There must be an epidemic (Laura and Beverly have both had recent experiences and know his pain!). So our guide is Watai (or something like that...she says to just call her Jolie). But she's very sweet and capable. And like most Cambodians, she has an incredible life story to tell.

Everyone was quite impressed and overwhelmed with the beauty and magnificence of the temples. It's hard to imagine how they could have moved all those massive stones into place, and carved those endless murals. And Watai said it only took 40 years to complete! One of the most interesting aspects is how the jungle appears to be trying to swallow it up. There are massive trees and root systems growing out of the walls or wrapped around the towers. Some look like they could topple over at any time.

One thing that Augie and I found most interesting was the crowds. When we were here 11 years ago, we had the whole place to ourselves. Now there are parking lots with rows of tour buses, and every temple was crawling with tourists. We often had to wait for the crowds to get out of the way so we could have our shot at that one special picture.

But soon the heat of the day began to swallow us up. It was time for our lunch break. Our hotel had provided us with a picnic lunch, but it was sweet rolls and bananas...not what we had in mind. So we all ordered from the restaurant menu. We had a nice break and were ready to tackle the second half of our day. Finally, to the main temple, where we got our photograph standing in front of the lake with the temple reflection that everyone sees in the travel magazines.

The heat began to drag us all down again, and we began to have visions of dips in the pool, pitchers of gin and tonics, and massages...all waiting for us back at the hotel.