BECCA!!! I heard it snap….seriously!
As promised we dragged our weary bones up at 5:30am to make our way toward the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat, the centerpiece of Angkorian civilization. Well, all the build up and it didn’t disappoint. Being there first thing in the morning is fantastic. Of course, you aren’t alone but the quiet and calm is quite noticeable as you walk toward the monsterous, gorgeous monument that the most successful Angkorian king built to honor Buddha.
The colors and architectural shadows make you think that it must have been built so everyone could see it at sunrise. Surrounded by 300 of our closest Japanese friends we made our way up the long dragon-lined walkway to the entrance of this famous temple. We would like to share our impressions of its grandeur, pain-staking detail, and overall superior craftsmanship (sorry Fred, these guys are really good), but we want each of you to experience it without our impressions crafting too much of an expectation. So we will leave it at that and help with a few logistical comments. First, go in the morning….it’s the only time you are going to get up THE STAIRS to the top (yes, you have to go!!…..well, maybe not our mothers) without an extreme wait. The monks are still praying and cleaning and the sun hitting the stone makes for some striking photos. Second, enjoy the first floor bas-reliefs, by a guide book for explanations of the scenes, but be selective or you will be there all day and never appreciate the bas-reliefs of the many other temples. Lastly, if you want a photo in front of the entire building plan on coming back after noon.
By 8:00am (before we ususally even wake up) we were at The Bayon but this time we didn’t beat the tour buses. This is a good one to do mid afternoon if you can deal with the heat. We still had a blast seeing the center of Angkor Thom, the ancient Royal city, and waiting ten minutes for this picture…..It is quite amazing to see the level of respect and admiration this civilization had (and has) for Buddha yet only years before and just a few years after their beliefs (or their King’s beliefs) would revert to Hinduism. We followed the well chosen path that Becca had set out due to her research on her own and Jeff got to see just enough of the old city (Terrace of Elephants, Terrace of Leper King, Baphuon, etc) to keep him interested as they hit the rest of the big temples later in the day.
Sticking with our efficient yet extremely ambitious plan Mr Chantha (our driver) took us through many of the outerlying highlights we hadn’t seen the day before. Becca was waiting to unleash her surprise of Ta Prohm on Jeff and they were both looking forward as they made their way into the back jungle of the untouched Ta Prohm. It is a completely different temple from the others and a must-see on any trip to Angkor. As previously explained when Bec toured it the temple has largely been purposely ignored from restoration and allowed to exist within the towering silk and fig trees, which are now overtaking it. Conveniently, we beat the tour bus rush through the opening gates and made our way almost halfway through this gorgeous relic. Oopss….they caught up…let’s go this way. We wound our way through the labyrinth of Ta Prohm and enjoyed getting lost amidst the praying Buddhists and surprisingly overreaching trees. As we sped up to get away from the next wave of Prada-wearing tourists and finish our tour of Ta Prohm it happened…..SNAP! The under-hydrated and over-heated Jeff stopped dead in his tracks. This is more how it happened:
Jeff: “No, really Becca I think my Achilles just snapped….I really can’t walk”
Becca: “What…your Achilles!! Try and walk it off.”
Jeff: “Oh no….we can’t continue the trip”
Becca: “Are you sure you can’t walk on it?”
Jeff: “Well, a little but it hurts to walk”
Becca: “Come on…let’s be solution-oriented.”
Jeff: “Okay….we are leaving”
Well, needless to say after making our way back to the tuk-tuk, drinking a few gallons of water, your fearless travellers found the issue to be nothing more than a over-cramped muscle which was cured a few days later with much water and a few good meals (that didn’t consist of Jeff’s previous All-Carb diet). Who calls Jeff, Mr. Drama!!??
Ok….have your laughs!!! We had a great time and are so happy to be sharing these experiences with you and not on the next plane home. We loved Siem Reap, loved the Angkor temples and can’t wait to hear all your stories once you have a chance to visit. We are headed to Phnom Penh for a brief big city interlude, a cooking class, and some more Cambodian history lessons before gallavanting west to Sihanoukville and the (what we’ve heard) lovely Cambodian beaches……Stay Tuned!!!!
By the way….we just uploaded a boat load of pictures so please access our Flickr site and view because linking them to specific words in this text gets to be a little much after 2 hours at the Internet Cafe, but we love you all….so we continue to do it!
Tags: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel
Jeff and Becca
Hey, Jeff and Becca – I just wanted to let you know we do sign on from time to time – I showed the guys the pictures with the school kids the other day and they were suitably entertained for about 20 seconds – I am enjoying your reports for longer than that! Hope all is well!
Bye from Chicago,
Cindy Baran
HELLO Becca! We’re here in Seattle for confernece and we’ve all been asking each other where in the world are Becca and Jeff??? Can’t wait to tell everyone that you told Jeff to buck up and walk it off…sounds about right. 🙂 We love you, we miss you, and are happy to report that it is NOT raining in Seattle for Regional Conference. Let’s see, who’s all here that says hello…PNW Team: Kate, Carol, Jennifer, Joanne, Kary, Ayme, Angela; Patricia and Susan B from Foundation: Shana, Susan S and Billie; Linda, Lindsay, Megan J; and many more… Wish you were here, wish we were there! :::HUGS::: –Carol
We are overwhelmed, don’t know where to begin….we got up and here was a butt-load of fabulous pictures. What an adventure. We loved the temples, mom remembers studying this in college, recalling all those history classes on southeast asia she had forgotten about. It is great seeing this through your eyes (camera), sunrise and sunset was a great idea. We are overwhelmed with the manhours it must have taken with no machinery.
The cooking class, we will expect a complete Southeast Asian dinner party when you get back. Judy wants the princess and her tools on her team. Lets have a cookoff. Iron Chef style.
Glad you told Jeff to walk it off, and glad that was possible to walk off. We would have hated to have you come home for a repair. :-O
You are really getting some outstanding pictures, must have had a great photography teacher.
This blog and flickr thing is the greatest. We read and look repeatedly and feel real close to you and your adventure. thanks for taking the time and effort. it is really great. We miss you both and xoxoxoxoxox
It was great to talk with you this morning on the IM….imagine me being up at 3:30 and just checking to see if you had emailed. Love the BLOG entry…especially the dialogue about the Achilles tendon..sounds a little like the one I had with your Dad when we were in grad school and he tore his playing basketball…we were at the campus medical facility…I’m telling Fred..we have no insurance and I’m sure you are going to be fine. Well, as you know the rest of the story…unlike Jeff, he wasn’t fine. Had to wear a cast for 3 months in E’burg in 3 feet of snow and 15 below weather. I’ll never forget the great Dr. in Yakima who felt sorry for us and only charged us under 100.00..not too many of those Docs around any more. The pics are so good. The comment about the Moms not being able to make the trip in early morning and up the stairs is a challenge…ok Judy, we’ll have to show them what we’re made of when they get back home. Enjoy the beach and please drink water, eat good healthy food, and don’t sweat too much.
Love,
Mom JA
Hi Becca & Jeff! We just wanted to let you know that we have been checking your blog every day. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you are putting into it. The pictures are spectacular & combined with your great descriptions and stories… well it’s just amazing. Keep those bits uploading! You guys rock! 🙂 Tracey & Andrew E.
Hey guys…Just wanted to let you know that Jill and I just listened to a Cambodian BBC World Service report discussing Angkor Wat and the restoration efforts in place to ensure they are preserved for future visitors. They even noted the bus loads of tourists, just as you described. Have to say it was an amazing coincidence to hear the report while you two are actually there. We very much prefer your narratives over the Beeb’s, however. But, not the titling of this post!…my stomach sank reading it and I had to scroll down to the part where we find out all is well.
Haase…..hilarious we got up on Monday AM, flicked on the TV, and saw the same BBC program. It was great but we didn’t get to watch the whole thing. Thanks for the blog posting and tell Sansoterra to check his email.
Haven’t checked your blog in a while…should do it everyday…it makes me laugh and smile everytime. I would love to MC the Iron Chef competition at Jerry and Judy’s…I would like to witness and call play by play on that competition!
I have the day off tommorow and plan to spend some time getting caught up on the postings and pictures…still wanted to post…I am sure I will have a lot more to say after reading some of the past postings.
Miss you guys like crazy…take care of yourselves…Talk to you soon!
Love love love the shoe pictures! Those are hilarious!!
Love,
Beath
I can just see you telling Jeff to “walk it off”. Glad to know you haven’t lost your take charge attitude! Actually, I read the entry with a bit of apprehension–was hoping that Jeff really is ok. Glad to know the universal remedy of H2O was all he needed.
Thank you for sharing your days with those of us in the States. You are wonderful travel writers! Keep the posts coming!
Happy trails!
I am just glad that one of Jeff’s parents said butt load.
We knew the ” butt load ” comment was going to get some response…hope we didn’t offend anyone but it was early in the morning and it was a butt load….haha
After talking with Jand B the other night ( which was great) we can’t wait to see the rest of the shoes…that was great. We loved talking with you and getting the rest of the story…..hope all is well on your travels….take care of each other…..
Hey guys! Each post makes me miss you more. B, way to make Jeff be solution oriented. That had to be one of my favorite B responses. Jeff, way to suck it up. Glad you didn’t have to come back here to be fixed up.
Have a blast. Keep up the amazing picture taking.
Miss you!
LD
PS: B, we won at Dartmouth!!!
Glad the water helped Jeff out. I really want to make a comment but, I will just be silent as I sit in a hi-rise, sipping my morning cup of ‘bucks. You guys ROCK!
Love reading about your adventures. Way to suck it up Jeff and move! What’s a little achilles incident? Builds character. Sure its nothing some saki won’t cure.
YOu must be happy that Shaun Alexander is sticking with the SeaChickens. Good think you’ll be back in time to join MEG’s fantasy league.
Matt Holley and Jeff Crook say hi. Crook is renting a place in Chicago for summer to escape his job that he hates. MEG renting beach house in OCean Beach for week this summer. George says hi too!
Travel safely! Think of you both often!
MEG