Temple time, part 2

I'm a bit delayed on posting our second day at the temples, due to a bit of an issue with the blog website. But, it seems we're up and running today, so here I am!

Last Sunday was our second day of exploring the many temples around Siem Reap. We didn't have plans to see all of them, since there are so many, so we visited some of the larger and more popular sites. Of course, with that comes more crowds, but that's just to be expected.

Our first stop was Angkor Wat. Built by Suryavarman II from 1113 to 1150, it was a temple dedicated to Vishnu, with whom the king identified. After his death, the temple became his mausoleum. Angkor Wat was eventually converted into a Buddhist Wat in the 13th century. Examples of both religions are evident throughout the vast complex, mainly in the large bas relief carvings that tell stories of the gods and kings. As I previously mentioned, pictures can not convey how truly amazing this, and all of the structures are, but I hope you like them anyway.

Angkor Wat from a distance

Small section of wall carvings

A devata, or female deity

One of the large center towers, with Jeff for size reference :-)

Next on our list was Angkor Thom, a complex that includes numerous temples within its walls. The most well know, I'd say, is Bayon. As with Angkor Wat, this is a temple that has been altered numerous times and was both a Hindu and Buddhist temple at times. The most prominent feature of Bayon are the Lokeshvara, or faces of the Compassionate Lord. It is estimated that there were, at one time, more than 200 of these faces to be found in Bayon.

Bayon

One of the many faces of Bayon

We couldn't resist playing with a little optical illusion

A fun carving I noticed at Bayon

After exploring Bayon and the other temples enclosed in the Angkor Thom walls, our last stop for the day was Ta Prohm, a temple you may have seen before without even knowing it. Ta Prohm, built in 1186, is largely unrestored and is famous for having very large trees growing in and on the structure. It was this jungle taken appearance that lead to it being filmed for the original Tomb Raider film, a novelty that is still quite played up around Siem Reap.

Ta Prohm

A tree growing fro a corner of the temple

Another tree located on the roof

An interior hallway that demonstrates some of the original arched ceilings

Finally, another fun size comparison :-)

 There you have our visits to just a few of the amazing ruins of Siem Reap. I hope you can someday visit these structures yourself, because there is simply no comparison to experiencing them first hand.

Border crossings are fun!

Hello from Cambodia!

Jeff and I left Koh Tao on Thursday afternoon and decided to head straight for the Cambodian border. It took roughly 24hrs, but we arrived Friday in Siem Reap with no issues. Our easy crossing was largely due to travelers that have come before and have posted warnings about the well established scams awaiting us at this particular boarder crossing. Armed with as much info as we could gather, we arrived in Aranyaprathet, ignored the Thai "officials" who claimed to be the only way to get a visa into Cambodia (and at twice the actual price), and walked out of Thailand. We proceeded to decline the unofficial Cambodian "expedition fees" when purchasing our visas, pointing out that we were the only travelers in the office and were sure we could wait the few minutes for processing. We thankfully did not encounter the fake police that sometimes haunt the area, and proceeded to the bus station on the Cambodia side. Easy. In fact, it was as easy as walking through a mile of scams can get!

Once at the bus station, we decided to hire a taxi to take us in Siem Reap, both for comfort and due to the fact that the bus wouldn't leave for another 4 hours. Shortly before leaving, our cab driver got into a fist fight with another driver. We suspect the fight was over us, but we're not exactly sure what the specific complaint would have been. As we were safely tucked into the back of the taxi, we watched our driver take the upper hand in the fight (seriously, he sent the other dude flying) until security showed up, when he proceeded to jump into the taxi and speed off with us in tow! With the exception of that unusual start, the final leg of our trip was uneventful and rather enjoyable.

Siem Reap is a beautiful city, with all the creature comforts anyone could want and at any price you want to pay. I'm very happy to be back, as I didn't get to explore it very much the last time I was here. In fact, I'm thrilled to be back in Cambodia. The differences between here and Thailand are abundant and obvious, and we're having a good time experiencing the changes.

Today was the start of our temple exploration. After a week being a beach bum, a dose of culture and history was welcomed.  Going off of a guide book that has landed in our hands, we decided to see a few of the older temples before seeing the real biggies like Angkor Wat tomorrow. Although we did not see them in this order, I'm presenting them to you according to their age.

The Roluos group - Preah Ko, Lolei, and Bakong - is one of the oldest sites in the area. The temples reflect the changing religions and architectural styles of the various eras, including Hinduism, Buddism, and worship of the ancient Khmer gods. The construction and artwork are awe inspiring. Pictures do not do them justice, though I've certainly tried.

Preah Ko is a temple dedicated to Shiva and was built in 879 as a honor to the ancestors of then king Indravarman I.

Preah Ko

Bakong is huge, and the first that we've seen built in the more pyramid like style. It was constructed in 881 and was the first to be built out of sandstone. Scrambling to the top was fun!

Bakong

Top of Bakong

Lolei is small, and some of the prasats (towers) are now heavily supported by scafolding, but it was one of my favorites of the day. Built in 889 by Yashovarman I, it was also a temple built to honor ancestors.

Lolei

While I was taking a few pictures, Jeff was approached by a young Khmer man who spoke fantastic English. He asked if he could chat with Jeff, explaining that he was an English teacher, and eventually took us to see the small school he had set up at the monastery that shares the grounds of Lolei. He lives there for free room and board in exchange for teaching the monks English.

Monks studying

Banteay Srei is located a considerable ways outside of Siem Reap, but was well worth the trip. Very small compared to the rest, Banteay Srei was built in 967 by two Brahmans (religious men), rather than a king. This temple was my favorite of the day due to the incredible carvings found all over the small site. The intricacy of them all is impossible to capture, since they spread up the walls, across the doors, and over most of the temples' surface.

Jeff, at his first temple of the day

Example of the amazing carvings on the buildings

Banteay Srei

So there you have our first two days in Cambodia. Tomorrow will be a day full of ancient sculptures, incredible architecture, and lots of really big, old rocks. I'll be back with more pictures soon!

Swimming with the fishes

Much to my delight, I've returned to my own personal paradise. Last Friday we arrived in Koh Tao, a place I'd stay forever in. Sun and sand, chill atmosphere and no demands beyond the choice of morning, afternoon or night diving. I'm so happy to be back.

Sairee Beach

Buddhist blessing at the bow of the boat, where the spirit of the boat lives

 We arrived via a night ferry. Basically, a large open room padded wall to wall with 1 inch thick mattresses. As far as night travel goes, this was actually one of the better options I've come across. Sure, you may find yourselves quickly making friends with a neighbor, but at least you can sleep most of the trip.

Night ferry

As soon as we landed, I made my way back to Big Blue, the dive shop where I learned to scuba dive. Much to my delight, some friends still work here and my favorite beach dogs are still around. I took a refresher course, since I hadn't been diving in a year and a half, and was pleased to find that it all comes right back. Since then I've been out on at least one, but usually two dives a day. The whale shark is here, but he or she still eludes me. I'm hoping I'll get lucky and see it before we leave.

Ugly, my favorite beach dog, chilling in front of Big Blue

The rest of my time here is spent doing very little. Relaxing and eating are legitimate time passing activities. Jessica and I had pedicures yesterday, and Brigitte and I wandered around town taking pictures. I haven't worn shoes in 4 days. It's rough, let me tell you.

Many businesses here keep these sweet singing birds

A typical street. Our room resides in the purple building

Beach food vendor offering grilled corn

Sadly, we have run into one small mishap here. On Saturday Jeff went snorkeling and came home terribly sunburned. He's pretty much spent all his time sine then in our room, recovering. We won't be moving on until he'll be comfortable to travel again, but when we do we think we'll be heading over to Cambodia. Maybe that's where we'll be the next time I write!

Let's head south

On Monday we met up with our friend Jessica from back home, who is also on vacation here. Since I also wanted to catch up with a college friend who was in the south of Thailand, we decided to head for the beach. Some sun (or a lot of sun!), sand, and surf sounded just right.

We booked three tickets on the overnight bus/ferry combo from Bangkok down to Koh Phi Phi, an island in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of southern Thailand. Our bus arrived late, which, looking back, was just the first indication of what was to come. When the bus finally arrived, they loaded us up into what would have been better used as a freezer than a bus. The AC blew strong and cold non stop, leaving everyone to scramble for any blanket or scrap of fabric they could cling to. The bus crept away from the starting line, but it was immediately evident that our driver could not drive stick on a large vehicle. That, or our bus was having very severe transmission problems. The grinding of gears and revving sound of an engine in neutral had everyone cringing. Then, he stalled. He stalled the bus right in the middle of a very busy Bangkok intersection, and called for all the men to get off the bus and help push. They did, and amazingly they push started the darn thing!

We spent the next two hours or so in 1st or 2nd gear, never seeming to reach more than 20 miles an hour. We had little hopes of arriving on time. Thankfully, at some point in the night our driver either figured out the whole stick thing, or switched out with someone who did, because we finally found ourselves traveling at a normal speed down the highway. Although the night was absolutely miserable due to the cold, we did arrive in one piece to Krabi, and only a few hours late. A comparatively short ferry ride later and we were settled on the beautiful island of Koh Phi Phi.

Having had a long day, we didn't do much at first other than find the best fruit shake stands and street market food. It was here at a street food cart that I ran into my friend Matt, who I know from college, and his beautiful wife Erica. I was thrilled to see Matt again after so many years, and we had a great time as a group for two days. They are on their own great adventure and are traveling the world for 2 to 3 years, having left their "regular" lives in the States behind for a while. If you're interested, the tales of their travels are great, and they're much better bloggers than I. Head over to www.livingif.com to see for yourself. They'd love to hear from you if you have comments (and so would I!)

There's really not a lot to do on Phi Phi, and that's the beauty of it. A tourist mecca, you'll find sun worshipers on the beach throughout the day and followers of the gods of party dancing the night way. Diving can be found at any number of the dive shops on the island, but we instead went the snorkeling route. For a mere 7 dollars a person we were taken to all the beautiful spots around the island by longtail boat, which is like a large canoe powered by a car engine and a super long propeller. We got to see monkeys (which are evil), to snorkel amid beautiful fish, to sun on a white sandy beach and finally to watch the sun set into the ocean. It was a great trip, followed by a great night on the beach with some drinks and fire shows as entertainment. I hope to share some pictures soon. I just need to find the right cable for my small camera, as we must have forgotten it.

We didn't stay long on Phi Phi, but we got exactly what we wanted from it. We're headed to Koh Tao, an island off the West coast, where we'll continue our lazy sunny days and where our friend Brigitte will be join us. It's great having so many friends to share our fun times with!

Day two in Bangkok

(A slightly delayed posting :-)

We only spent three days in Bangkok, since we'll be back there again before we leave. On Sunday, we set out for the Vimanmek Mansion, which is believed to be the largest teak home in the world. According to our map, we should have been able to easily walk there. As it turned out, the walk became one of the more interesting activities of the day. When we started out from our hostel, the streets were filled with businesses catering to us. A few blocks out and the signs contained more Thai than English. A few more blocks and we started to comment on how the English had disappeared completely and that it was very nice to see a more local area of the city. After a while, though, we realized we hadn't seen another foreigner in a long time and people were starting to look at us like a bit of a curiosity, rather than a meal ticket. We'd been looking for our cross street, but hadn't seen it, and thought the landmarks we'd crossed matched up with our map. As it turns out, we'd overshot our cross street by miles and had walked off our map completely. While it was an extremely hot day for such a error, we didn't mind much as it wasn't hard to turn around and make our way back, and we got to see part of Bangkok that we otherwise wouldn't have.

We finally made it to our destination, the Vimanmek Mansion. It is a massive 74 room, three story building built in Victorian style. The Mansion was constructed for King Rama V to live in while his palace was being built. He only lived there for five years, and for the majority of the next 75 years the house saw very little use. It is now a museum filled with his treasures collected from around the world. King Rama V was a fan of the modern European world and is credited with opening Thailand up to the rest of the world. His collections only further prove his love of all things international. Inside the rooms are displays of furniture, china, dishes, silverware, and decorative items from all over the world.

We were provided with a English speaking tour guide who explained the history of this beautiful house. The house and grounds were gorgeous, and we both were glad we'd made the trip to see it. We were not allowed to take pictures at the mansion, but you can see it here: http://www.vimanmek.com/exhibit/vimanmek.php

We could have seen more, since our tickets allowed us entrance into a number of other buildings and exhibits, but we decided it was time to call it a day. We hadn't completely adjusted to the heat and time change, so we headed back to the area of our hostel and planted ourselves in a quiet restaurant for cool drinks and good food. Food, much like everything else in Thailand, is approached with a slower pace. Sitting down for a meal is one of my favorite times here, since you're never made to feel rushed or unwelcome. Most places allow plenty of time for browsing the always ample menu and then do not care how long you stay after the food has arrived. We usually have to call for the bill, rather than having it arrive at our table before we've even finished our food. Meals are peaceful and enjoyable, something to savor, rather than the heartburn inducing grab and go that we all to often fall victim to.

Besides the sleep issues, we're both very much enjoying exploring Thailand and look forward to more. The southern provinces appear to be next on our stop, so I may have lovely pictures of beaches to share next time!

Kate and Jeff are in Thailand!

Proof!

After too many hours on the plane, some interesting ice cream in the airport in Korea, and a poor first nights sleep, Jeff and I are now happily wandering around Bangkok.

We spent our first full day, yesterday, taking a lazy walk around the city. We made our way down toward the river and ended up visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Being Saturday, it was probably a bad day to visit, since we found ourselves lost in the swarms of organized tour groups, but we still enjoyed the experience. The palace and temples are incredible.

Part of the Grand Palace

A temple guard Jeff was fond of

Beautiful lotus flower

Jeff being "regal" in front of the palace

Between the Palace and Wat Pho, we accidentally wandered into the thick cluster of shop stalls and food markets that are clustered around the river ferry terminal. I loved being back around the sights and smells of the street food.

Market Stall

Market stall featuring fish and warm food

What we didn't exactly love, though, were the constant and persistent scams being thrown at us. There's only so many times you can be asked if you want to see "big Buddha" because all of the official sights are closed due to a "ceremony" (the palace and temples were, of course, open). Thankfully, we know better and know to ignore them, but we still saw a few people on the streets get taken in.

At Wat Pho we saw the amazing and huge reclining Buddha. Even though I'd seen it once before, the sheer size and beauty of it is still amazing.

Reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha

Line of Buddhas at Wat Pho

We wrapped up the visit with a half hour at the hands of the massage therapists at the Thai Academy of Massage. Half an hour of being twisted, pushed, pulled, and contorted by small Thai women with fingers like stone. It was great.

By 4pm, we were barely keeping our eyes open due to the time change, so we had a small dinner of yummy coconut chicken and called it a day. We'll be around Bangkok for a few more days before heading South to do little more than sit on a beach with a cold drink in hand. It's a hard life.

Happy garden statue at Wat Pho

New trip, new blog!

This week Jeff and I are finally leaving on our honeymoon. Jeff picked the destination, so we are headed off to Thailand and Cambodia! I'm very excited to be returning to SE Asia. The food, the culture, the...sun!! Yes, it's exceptionally warm and sunny there, and after what seems like an entire year of rain in the Pacific North West, we are more than ready for some vitamin D.

Now if we would just start packing...