Tuesday, July 31, 2012

if i have to do the angkor temples again

no matter how perfect your plan is, there would be those events that you cannot control. although, this wisdom from confucious stuck in my mind after having watched the amazing race 19, "in all things, success depends upon previous preparation, and without such previous preparation, there is sure to be failure."

but sometimes, without the meticulous preparations, things instead can get more exciting and if things go haywire, at least the thought that experience is the best teacher, makes you feel better in the end.

whenever i take on another attempt to gain back my sanity in my routine life, which in simpler terms going to a far away place, i try my best to indulge myself in that place without bringing regrets and negative vibe back to reality. as i always remind myself, it's all about the right perspective.

seeing the angkor wat is one of my most remarkable experiences that i have and probably, i could have in my life. even if i have these notes about my angkor wat excursion, this does not mean i wasn't pleased with it, but only that it could be better the next time around.


  • I'd still wear the same set of clothes.


april is the hottest month in cambodia and i was glad that i wore the most comfortable clothes that time, with my green pants straight from a street stall in siem reap. it covered my legs well enough but the material was still light and breezy. i also would not heed our tuktuk's driver to wear something that could cover my arms.


these were my ugly feet perfectly baked under the sun and unevenly sprinkled with this golden dust. even if my feet were scorned by breinn no less, i still would not trade these slippers to any other footwear.


my scarf came in handy in baphuon temple since a certain dress code is required, and it then served as my instant cover up.

the rest, are some points that make a room for improvement.

  • I'd have a tour guide.


our tuktuk driver was kind and considerate enough to lend his tattered booklet about the temples in the angkor. it somehow helped me and eva navigate our own way around the temples since our tuktuk driver would only drop us off in each temple and he would then park his tuktuk in a designated area.

but the articles about the temples were no longer up to date like the mention of renovations that were already done during our visit. since angkor lies in a vast land and rightfully translates to city, it has more than a thousand temples spread across its area. sometimes, it took us a while to figure out which temple we were at because there were some temples that we skipped.

if i had remembered my japanese well, i could have settled hopping on tour groups with a japanese-speaking tour guide. sadly, i was only able to catch a few very basic words.

  • I'd take my time.


we only took a one day pass around the angkor which meant the major and more famous temples were the main focus. in between, our tuktuk driver drove his tuktuk in a breakneck speed and i only managed to take tilted photos of this lake that intrigued me momentarily. the lake was so calm and serene that it's ideal to just laze around like the man in the photo.

  • I'd bring more candies!


my brother told me to bring candies because the khmer kids would surely delight on the sweet goodies. because in some ways, cambodia pretty much reminds me of home, the game that these kids were playing brought me back to my childhood days. we call this elastic band, chinese garter which we use as hurdle to jump over. i jumped once and these kids were impressed because i knew how. haha i know, my height is a cheat!


how could you not be glad with these kids' genuine and heartwarming smiles?

--

thank you angkor for a brief yet awesome encounter!

o-O

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