Great party last night. Everyone is really cool. I think a group of us are going to Ko Samui this weekend. There were some fun costumes last night. One guy attached ice bags to his clothing and went as Chile. Jenni dressed up as a guy with a nametag that said, "Hi, my name is CHAD." Helen was Eurotrash complete with exposed thong and bad makeup. Kate was SuperEngland or possibly England Girl with a cape and her Union Jack underpants over her pants.
There's a party tonight to celebrate two teachers' birthdays and St. Patrick's Day. The theme is dressing as a country. I suggested walking around backwards and looking poor and going as a developing nation. Graham, development worker extraordinaire, was suitably appalled.
He has a wicked schedule that involves working just a couple of hours a day until June, when some teacher leaves and he takes over that teacher's class. On weekends we will go to the beach or islands. This weekend, we plan to go to Ko Samui and go snorkeling. I hope to catch a shark. The only downside to all this is, it's kind of hot here (understatement), and then the other only downside is that if I want to stay for a while, I would need to find some sort of gainful-ish employment. And everyone knows how opposed I am to that sort of thing.
There's another party in a couple of weeks at Penongs's house (she owns the school). The whole place has a family-like atmosphere. Two of the new teachers are staying at the owner's house until the old teachers leave in a couple of weeks and they invite everyone out for dinner on Sundays.
Arrived in Surat Thani the day before yesterday. It is the capital of the province of the same name. Yesterday we went to the beach all day with some of the other teachers. Inge was saying that it isn't one of the prettiest beaches, but it was really lovely and there were less than a dozen other people there and you could call the restaurant on your cell phone and have them bring down drinks and food. The water is lovely and lukewarm. A bit cooler than at Sihanoukville, but the water down there was actually warm, which doesn't cool you down. That said, they did have those tuna fish sandwiches...
Back to the day before yesterday. We arrived in Surat Thani at 6:45am, after a restless night on the train. We were in a sleeper comparment, but the lights stayed on all night. There were fans, but they were blocked by the curtains that were there to block the lights. I ended up getting out my sleeping mask and counting backwards from 5,000.
After taking the bus into town and getting breakfast, we decided to wander around and locate the school. The road was nearby, so we started walking, but then it skipped 100 numbers, which were unfortunately, the important ones. We found a cybercafe and looked up the address again and found someone who was able to help us out. Then we went back, got our bags and took a tuk-tuk to the school. It was Sunday at 9:30am, so no one was there and we sat on the stoop and talked about nothing until the owner of the school randomly drove by (actually, she lives near the school) and took us to our new place. She was very nice. The current apartment is until the old teachers leave at the end of the semester, which is in a few weeks.
Then we got together with the Kate, Peace , and Chris(girl) for lunch and the girls and I went for two hour Thai massages. Good stuff. Kate is from northern England. She's about 22 and recently finished university, where she studied geography, b/c they got to go on vacations. She claims not to have discovered anyplace new. Peace is from Ottowa and is the child of hippies. She's 28 and before she came was working in retail and volunteering at a rape crisis hotline. She studied religion and philosopy in school and hopes to take over the world. Chris is from Oregon and has a master's in something involving teaching. She taught in Alaska for a year or two. They all seem really nice and take my presence as a cue to make fun of Graham, which I support wholeheartedly.
The Thai massage was great for most parts of my body, but my back is still killing me. I am looking into back-ectomy, but I understand that those are still experimental. Part of the problem is still my posture being wrecked by walking on those spit-covered streets. Graham and I keep telling China stories and the girls almost didn't believe us that people in Zunyi spit so much that it affected the street surface. Ahh, the naivety of youth.
Angkor
And now, returning to Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples.
Angkor Wat: Pretty amazing. In excellent condition. Very steep stairs at all the temples. There were pools of water on the third level brought up by some sort of hydraulic-something system. Lower gallery decorated with reliefs. One of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, where the gods and demons needed to use a huge, several-headed snake to churn the aforementioned ocean in order to create the elixer of life. Another depicted heaven and hell. Heaven was kind of boring, but hell was pretty cool -- lots of torture scenes. Also the Battle of Lanka, where some king (or really well-known god whose name I shouldn't have forgotten) is trying to get his wife Sita, back from the evil king of Lanka and some monkeys fight and we get to see them biting guys' faces off.
Angkor Thom: The former capital of Cambodia. The city behind Angkor Wat.
The Bayon: The temple with all those faces on it. Built by Jayavarman VII, adorned with 150-200 sculptures of his face. It also has two series of reliefs. The outer one has genre and battle scenes. Some really cool parts, like a crocodile eating a guy and monkeys stealing coconuts from trees.
Baphoun: Currently being fixed up by the French. We got to wander around the exterior. It is an architectural representation of Mount Meru, as a nine-year-old Cambodian boy told Graham in perfect English, the last time he was there. The English spoken there is just amazing (compared to China).
Ta Prohm: The one with the trees that I visited early in the morning. Great atmosphere.
Banteay Samre: A temple with an outer moat, an inner moat, and then the interior of the temple was filled with water. There is a walkway around the interior and then the temples and libraries all have landings for (presumably) very little boats. The whole thing was fascinating. Not quite sure what it represents, but it seems significant that the temple was designed so you had to take boat to get from the walkway to the temple entrance 10 feet away (or just swim).
Banteay Srei: Known as the Citadel of the Women, because it's pretty. Doesn't explain the long row of lingas (phallic symbols) flanking the entrance walkway. Small temple made of rose-colored sandstone and covered with intricate carvings.
Preah Palilay: We went at sunset and with the overgrown trees and lack of people, it seemed like what a temple in the middle of the jungle should.
Banteay Kdei: Really cool. Not much is known about this temple. It has several distinguishing features, including stacked columns, grew organically (I think that's the word), as opposed to having a complete plan in the beginning, a two-story building with an unknown purpose, and (I think) one of the few remaining original wooden planks from the ceilings that would have originally covered most passageways and rooms. There was one such plank at Angkor Wat and then four at this place. Pretty cool.
Arrived in Bangkok last night on a 12-hour bus from Siem Reap. Heading down to Surat Thani tonight on the train. I'm quite sick of long bus rides; my back was killing me all yesterday.
John, the fellow from northern Laos was almost sent home with the Black Plague (in his eye), but it turns out it was just conjunctivitis. At least he didn't have eye herpes!
It's godawful hot here and I'm about to go back outside. Wish me luck!
I feel that I can now comfortably say that Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples is the most wonderful place in the entire world and if you don't see it, your life will remain forever unfulfilled. Speaking objectively. Graham and I finished our seven days here today and I could have stayed for several more weeks. Buying some books about the temples and art helped us with understanding and really brought things to life. Has anyone ever tried sugarcane juice with lime? It's about the best thing in the world, drink-wise.
Tomorrow morning, we head to Thailand. Bangkok for one day and then down to Suratthani, since Graham's job starts in three days.
Temples we visited this week include Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom - Bayon and Baphoun, Ta Prohm, Ta Kaek, Thomanon, Bantey Srei, Bantey Samre, Bantey Kdei, Preah Palilay, Preah Kahn, Neak Pean, The Terrace of the Leper King, the Terrace of the Elephants, Ta Keo, Rolous - Preah Ko, and many more. I don't even know anymore.
Off to pack up and get a good night's sleep.
We arrived in Siem Reap the day before yesterday. There was a big accident on the road from Phnom Penh involving a bus and a truck with a trailer overturned in a rice paddy. They were able to tow the bus out, but for a while there, it looked as though it was going to end up in the drink as well.
Yesterday morning, we went to Angkor Wat for sunrise. It was overcast, so we just went inside to wander around in the dark (-ish). Then my manual camera refused to start working. I damned for approximately four hours and then after lunch went to get it fixed. I had already gotten it fixed in Vientiane for $15 (original price $50) and yesterday cost $10 (originally $35). People see tourists with a nice camera and things automatically increase in price exponentially.
During the afternoon, we went to Angkor Thom, which is the compound behind Ankor Wat. It houses the Bayon and Baphoun, which are both excellent temples. We came back early to get some rest, since Graham is still getting over amoebic dysentery.
This morning, I went to Ta Prohm before sunrise. I was the only one there for over an hour. I was greeted by some dogs that ended up not killing me, which was nice. Ta Prohm is the one with the trees growing over the temple. It has lots of small passageways and a slightly more sprawling design than most other temples.
Last week/earlier this week was Sihanoukville, which was great. Warm water, empty beaches, sitting around doing nothing, esp. Graham, who as I mentioned earlier, had amoebic dysentery. He finally turned a corner at the end and was able to spend an afternoon on the beach. Everyone was wonderfully nice, as they have been in Siem Reap.
I feel I must take this opportunity to mention the greatest tuna fish sandwich in the world. One of the places on the beach offered a fresh tuna and mayonnaise (sp?) sandwich that was to die for. The end.