Day 4 - Siem Reap & Angkor

I woke up at 4 am. It wasn’t too hard I must confess. Still under the effect of the jet-lag I found myself opening my eyes few minutes before the alarm started. My tuk-tuk driver, Tohl, was already waiting for me downstairs. It was very dark but already very warm and humid. I had everything with me, camera, water, sunglasses and the raincoat. We arrive in front of the Angkor area and a little bunch of tourists was already there buying the tickets. I paid 40$ for 2 days entrance and free excursion in the entire area. Considering the living standards of the Cambodian, 40$ is a huge amount of money. However I realized that there are thousands of workers in Angkor, with a massive area to cover. Moreover, Angkor was one, if not the only real reason of my passage into Cambodia, so it was definitely worth the price. Tohl left me in front of a sort of old bridge, an antique passage which went through the old main portal of Angkor Wat. It was still very dark but the first few timid rays of light were about to start coming from east. All of a sudden I could see it: Angkor Wat in all its splendour right in front of me. It was a place I have always dreamt about and finally I was there, right in front of it.

I was only annoyed by the thousands of local people trying selling you all sort of stuff, including temporary chairs in order to sit down to watch the sunrise. One dollar for coffee and a chair is a good price, but sitting next to many other loud tourists wasn’t really my cup of tea. So I decided to keep walking a little bit and sitting down under one little temple in the area. Sunrise came quickly but it wasn’t that great. The weather was very cloudy and the sun could barely show its beautiful morning face. Never mind; I started exploring the temple and the surrounding area. It was a great idea to go there so early; I spent 2 hours visiting Angkor Wat and when I left it was still 6.30am with the entire day in front of me to explore as much as I could. My faithful driver was waiting for me outside and we started the tour that we agreed the night before. Obviously he tried to push for more money but at the end he gave up. He was a nice guy, and like many Cambodians, always smiling. He told me at the end of the day he considered me like a big brother, but I was also wondering how many big brothers he might have had, trying to make his customers more docile and inclined to pay an extra tip. Anyway, all the same he drove me everywhere to visit all the major temples and it was exhausting but also terrific. I am not going to explain here all the temples and all their features, but the strongest feeling I had was given by the perfect blend of the remains of an ancient civilization with its environment and the surrounding nature: these massive trees growing around and inside the temples, making their roots an integral part of history, merging with the bricks and the statues of forgotten divinities. Toward the end of the day, when many tourist left, I decided to stay a little longer, climbing one of the highest temple, so steep and high that for once I was extremely worried knowing how hard it would have been to go back down. I left the fear apart and It was the right decision: on the very top of it, I was completely alone, with the monsoon rain hitting my face and the sun at the same time saying goodbye like a swan’s song on the west side, enlightening the surrounding jungle. It was an incredible moment... I am still not too sure about it but I think that the feeling I had was freedom. I must admit that it was one of those moments that I will always remember.

Anyway... it was time to go back to the hotel. It was 7pm and all of a sudden, I felt really exhausted. 15 hours walking and climbing would have also killed an expert guide I guess. It was raining a lot; I went back to the hotel, had a shower and went again to the same restaurant of the night before. That catfish was too good not to having it one more time.
Back in the hotel I tried to recollect my mind and all the overwhelming images of the day. The rain was so strong that I thought it was a bit too noisy to have a goodnight sleep.
I didn’t even finish thinking about it, that without even noticing it, I was already sleeping.