Uplifting ANGKOR!

I apologize for the few difficult posts. I take it from the lack of comments that all of you got the same headache I did after soaking in genocidal pain. True to the Lonely Planet's description, I can now share some of the gorgeous aspects of Khmer history, the temples of Angkor Watt.

Gary decided he needed some man space, so when we got to Siem Riep, he got his own room. Marta and I continued our routine - purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at night and in the morning for food, explore during the day. We rented bikes at our guest house (Naga Guest House), for $1.50 and headed to the temples at around 7:30am after watching the sunrise from our room. We purchased three day guest passes for 40$ to take it slow. On the way to the temples, we had both run into others doing the inverse route who had burned out on temples. Many of them tried to see all of the temples in one or two days. We decided not to burn out, and planned a schedule of 12 hour days, seeing around 4-5 temples a day.

Day 1:
Biked over 100km.
Saw three temples.
Fell asleep on a hammock outside the landmine museum.
Found a delicious local food place outside the temple where we paid a quarter of the price for food 5x better than the stuff we found in town.
Watched the sunset on top of a temple.
Breathed in the majesty of the stones rising with the jungle.

Day 2:
Biked over 80km.
Watched the sunrise from Ta Prom, the one temple ordained by some french comission to remain in its original overgrown state, after the temples were 'rediscovered' by westerners. Think: Indiana Jones.
This was an amazingly beautiful melange of man and nature, both conquering each other, both being conquered, and both in a constant state of flux.
Then we did the big circuit for temples, seeing Angkor Tom, Bayon, Preah Neat, something something... Each one of them were incredibly different and equally amazing.
I will have to sit down with a map to describe them all to you, but for right now, I'll just say that I felt the power of the place, the wonder of the world, when I was there.
It was really nice biking to each one because it gave us a little more time to anticipate getting to the next temple. It also increased our endorphin level, keeping our joy up. :)

We ended at Angkor Watt for a sunrise and a promenade through the most powerful temple of all. I'm so happy we saved this gem for last. It was breathtaking. We also went at around 5:45, which meant it was closing and people were leaving. We snuck by anyway and got to experience the majesty almost completely alone!! It was like the world was giving us this gift for not polluting her with the CO2 of motorized transportation. :)

That night, I was so cranky/hungry that I finally let the begging children and families get to me. The rest of the trip, I had been very pleasant and calm, friendly and helpful, but most of all patient. Walking through the streets of Siem Riep after these two days, however, I was like an animal. I almost snapped at a little child for constantly frowning at me and saying "Lady, you buy from me. You give me a dollar. Maybe when you come back. If you don't give me money, I'll have no money for school." I kept trying to be positive, even giving some of my fruit, but when the child started pushing me to go into his family's restaurant, not allowing me to go where I wanted to go, I couldn't handle it. I snapped at a tuk-tuk driver. Finally, I ate. Then, I felt crazy bad about becoming such a mean person. I realized that these begging families were actually hungry all of the time - not just crhangry like me. I gave all the beggers on the way home food until I ran out. Then I gave a little money. This was the first time I did this and it is for sure, not the best way to do things, but I needed to ease my discomfort with myself.

Day 3:
We woke up and took a tuk-tuk to the Roulus group of temples, 15 km east of the city, to watch the sunrise over Bangkor, one of the oldest temples of all. We walked up at around 5:40 to see monks lining the pathways, donning their orange robes. Later, one of these monks would ask to take pictures of us. We let him. He returned the favor. I'll post his face later. We spent an hour meditating on the top of the temple as the sun rose and warmed the earth and our hearts. We took a tuk-tuk because Marta had to be back by 7:30 to catch her bus to Thailand. Today was our last day together. :( I was happy to have woken up to share this.

On the way back, Marta removed the yellow and green scarf from her hair. She had been wearing this everyday for the last week we had known each other. In her thick Spanish accent she told me that she wanted me to have it (even though she wished it were cleaner). I think this present touched me more than anything I've ever gotten. She removed something from her daily wardrobe to show me how important our meeting was. I felt uncomfortable at such a nice moment, so I pushed it away quickly, saying I had gas or something, but it was very nice. Hopefully I will run into her again in Laos!

I spent the rest of the day catching up on lost meals and sleep, planning my trip to Laos, and getting my stuff organized. I felt sad to leave the temples. I felt like a part of something huge when I was there.

Sending my love and joy to all of you. I miss you.