2 days cycling around angkor
Saturday, November 5th, 2005i understand why people say that cambodia is the most beautiful place on earth. it’s even beautiful, and clean somehow, in its poverty. the khmer are possibly the most tender, kind, jovial, and resilient group of people i’ve ever encountered. the pace is slower here, for me, anyway, because i can’t help but stop to talk more than a few times a day.
rented a bike and spent 2 days cycling around the angkor area. it’s 160 km2, and it would probably take the better part of a year to really discover all of angkor. built nearly 1000 years ago, it is thought to be the largest religious monument in the world. some temples have been restored, others left for the jungle to love as much as the visitors do. i strayed about 4km off track one afternoon and a guy came up behind me on his motorbike and offered me a lift back to my bicycle,. i declined, thinking he’d want money, but he said, ‘no no, no charge. i’m going that way.’ so i hopped on. this is so typical of cambodia. so refreshing.
hitched a ride on a motorbike out to angkor wat to watch the sunrise one morning. as i wrote in an email to a friend: it left me cheesily, utterly breathless. it’s the first time that architecture has ever had that sort of impact on me.
because i’ll forever wake up just after the crack of dawn even if i never step in a rowing shell again, i ate breakfast every morning with all of the guys who worked at rithy vin guesthouse where i was staying. 2.50 US a night for a great room with a double bed, shower, fan that would blow your skin off on the highest setting, and breakfast included. they kept asking me to play pool with them in the evenings. i decided to go for it on the last night there. because the other guys were all ón duty’, chinh (my best guest house friend) took me on his motorbike to a local pool hall. he kicked my ass at snooker, i came close to challenging him at a few subsequent games of pool. it was great, and i was the only foreigner in the room. i tell everyone about rejean.