Angkor Wat Was Well Worth the Price of Admission

Spent my last few days climbing on, over, and around temples dating back to the 9th-12th centuries. So much fun, especially from a photographic standpoint. I experienced ancient ruins in Rome, Greece, and Pompeii a few years ago during my 2 months in Europe. Something about ruins that just captivate me. These temples were no different. I'm gonna go old school Nipsy Russell $25,000 Pyramid on you guys right now with my description of the temple experience.

Dick Clark: "Alright. You have 60 seconds on the clock. Just take deep breaths. Look into your partner's eyes and focus on the clues. I know you can do this. Here is your first subject...GO!"

Nipsy Russell: "The shadows. The statues. The weathered old stone and brick. The thick trunked trees. The steep stairs. The symmetry. The intricate detail in the stone work."

What are Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples

Angkor Wat

The tuk tuk. The bicycle. The scooter. The elephant. Your feet. A Car.

What are modes of Transportation around the temples

The sad eyes. The cheap gifts. One dollar. Maybe when you come back, you buy. United States-president Barack Obama, capital Washington DC. --- What are the kids who will try and sell you stuff and sell you stuff and sell you stuff and sell you stuff from the moment you step off the tuk tuk until the moment you get back on the tuk tuk? You could buy food, bracelets, books, musical instruments, ornaments, and paintings all for the low price of $1. They will spout off info about the USA to get our tourist dollar and give you sad eyes and a story about how if you don't buy they won't have money to learn English at school. Somebody has trained these kids well. Some were worth engaging, but the majority were just an annoyance.


Oodles of Noodles. $3 dollar menu unless you haggle to the $2 dollar menu. Coconuts. Pineapple. The flies. ---What are lunches at the temples? So you go to lunch anywhere in the temple complex, and around town for that matter, and you get a tourist menu. Prices are $3 for most meals, which given the prices we would pay for meals at tourist attractions at home, sounds like a real bargain. Except that they actually have a $2 menu behind the counter that lists the exact same food in the exact smae order as on the $3 menu. You have to haggle and threaten to take your business elsewhere, but they will give you that menu to keep you around. You can even haggle down to $1 if you try hard enough, or at the very least, get a free coconut thrown in at the $2 price.


Poses. Silly poses. Annoying poses. Poses in front of everything significant or otherwise...mostly otherwise. Poses in front of temples while Jeremy tries to take pictures of said temple. Sun umbrellas. ---Who are just about any other tourist not named Jeremy. Is it hypocritical of me to say that I hate tourists? OK. I despise tourists that stand in front of the thing I am photographing until all 10 of the people in their group have their pictures taken individually in front of said temple, all the while oblivious to the fact that some other person named Jeremy might actually like to take a picture of said temple at some point during this lifetime. I'm not bitter though.


Monkeys. Water. Sneak a peak. Personal space invasion. Laughter. Scaredy cat.



What is the moment when monkeys stole Lori's water bottle, opened the water bottle, drank water from the bottle....

...looked up her skirt and then jumped on her back and head looking for more food and beverage...

....while "brave" Jeremy was running away from the situation until Lori stated, "If you're not going to do anything to get the monkey off my back, at least take a picture!" You can call me a coward, but you can't say I didn't listen.

Really a memorable 3 days. Great company, which really made all the difference in the world, and a world class tourist attraction. Not gonna spend more than tomorrow in Phnom Penh before moving on to Vietnam on Wednesday.

And now for some thoughts on Asia and my travels to date.

I spent some time on the long bus ride today from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh calculating how many beds or other places I have slept overnight to date. 32 different beds at 30 locations and counting. Includes sleeper buses, sleeper trains, hostels, hotels, huts, airplanes, and the Kentucky Fried Chicken the night my ATM card was swallowed alive by an angry Malaysian ATM.

The Orioles are 3-0 and in 1st place. Must be April.
The Red Sox and the Yankees are 0-3 and in last place. Must be April.

I got to watch coverage of the Masters for 4 days, which made me a happy boy. Congrats to Bubba Watson.

Tuk tuk drivers are really annoying except for when you are in their moving tuk tuk and can escape the children trying to sell you cheap goods for a few blissful moments until arriving at the next temple.

He who drives the vehicle with the loudest horn has the right of way.

Walk predictably and you will make it safely across the street.

Have I mentioned, "It's hot?"

I wonder when the next time I will be clean might be. Probably the day after I get home.

I always used to think that people in Asia wore surgeon masks over their nose and mouth to keep disease from spreading. Now I know they wear them to avoid breathing in the dust and dirt and smog that fill the air 24/7.

Clothing is optional for kids. Whether by choice or simply because of poverty, there have been lots of naked kids running around villages.

Tourists and scaffolding can really ruin a picture.

"For you mista...$1"