Day 9 - Angkor Wat Sunrise Tour

Day 9 - Angkor Wat sunrise tour

This morning started off at 4am for those who wanted to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I slept in so once again I'll have a guest blogger, this time I'll have Kim write for me: "we woke early and began getting ready to head out for the sunrise. Reanna and I almost missed the bus because we are not morning people! We arrived at the checkpoint to show our tickets when it hit me, I left mine at home. I proceeded to pay an additional $20 to watch the sunrise that morning but it was soon worth it. We. Got there and began the trek along the water and accross the bridge in darkness. We made our way through the crowds of people to find the best spot to watch the sun come up. We stood there anxiously waiting for what seemed like forever and then it happened. The sun began to rise up over Angkor Wat and the sky turned from grey to pink to blue, it was beautiful but the description is best told by Phil: bright pinks and blues painted the skies behind the dark silhouette of Angkor Wat as if were God's cotton candy. The amazing spectacle of colors was only momentary for the sun rose too quickly and we began our journey back to the bus to start the rest of our day." Kim and Phil enjoyed being descriptive... I think they did a great job!


My morning started off at 7:30 when the bus left for a second time to go see yet another temple. It was about an hour drive to a deserted parking lot where we were dropped off at a trail head. Once we stepped foot out of the bus we were immediately surrounded by children. These are the children who are forced to sell books and scarfs by their parents. After I told them no I'm not interested they told me "mister when you come back you remember me, im candy and this is my sister pepsi". We all laughed at their obviously fake names. We started hiking up a mountain trail putting us in the middle of the jungle. The trees were unlike ones that I have ever seen before. Their branches reached the ground and then curled back up towards the sky forming what looked like a swing. They were a blast to swing from and were surprisingly strong. The trek was 1500 meters over rocky terrain reminding me of the time when I got lost camping in humbolt county with Nick and Phil except a lot less extreme. We finally made it up to a waterfall and looked down at the creek bed. There were ancient carvings under the water which were really neat to look at. Where is the temple I kept asking myself as we hiked through more forest? Funny enough we hiked a mile not to see a temple but sand stone carvings under water. Haha I was fooled. This hike however was excellent and a great way to find relaxation in Cambodia.
Our next stop was a buddist temple which was also made of sandstone. The cool thing about this temple was that the french discovered it while they were burning down the Forrest to make rubber trees. So yes this temple was completely burned yet still standing. It was the smallest temple yet but one of the coolest.
We returned back to the hotel for our usual banana shakes and chicken curry when a tuk tuk pulled up with Nate and Amy inside (two doctors both from the Seattle area of washington). I think they were pretty excited to arrive after over 20 hours of travel. We welcomed them with some beer and banana milkshakes. When we ran out of beer Amy made a beer run in a tuk tuk and insisted on going by herself. We had the afternoon off so Nate, Amy, Kim and I decided on getting 6 dollar/hour massages. When we arrived at the massage place they washed our feet and told us all to go into a room. The room was pretty tiny and this is where we were handed pjs and were told to get into them. We all looked at each other and laughed... They were serious. Once changed we all were told to lay down on little mats 4 in a row. 4 young ladies came in and started in uniform. It's almost like they learned th massage as a dance. All and all it was a very interesting experience as they stretched beat and massaged us into relaxation...Haha

Tomorrow will be the first of our 5 days of serving in Siem Reap. Three days will be at an orphanage and two will be on a floating... Yes floating village. We all can't wait.