Angkor What?

The Kip Chronicle faithful,

Up to this point, it has been very hot for the whole trip. However, nothing compares to a typical day in Angkor. It can be summed up in one word- sweating. I am generally not a big sweater but oy. It takes 5-6 litters of water a day to stay remotely hydrated. You sweat during the day, you sweat while you sleep, and even though the shower is never close to warm, you sweat in there too. But that is really a minor side note.

Angkor is everywhere in Cambodia. It’s the heart and soul. It’s the beer, on the flag, and everywhere you look. The monuments that make up Angkor were built between the 9th and 13th centuries. A large misconception is that its just Angkor Wat, when really, Angkor Wat is only 1 of nearly a hundred temples. Nate and I awoke at 4:30am to catch the sunrise the first day. It was worth it. We hopped a motto and sped there to a bridge spanning the darkness that was a moat. As we approached Angkor Wat, it appeared in all its majesty. Over breakfast, we were harassed by young children, as usual. One girl in particular took a shining to Nate and believed that she could sell him some postcards. After hundreds of “no thank yous,” she resorted to putting them in his baguette and cheese. Her young brother was sympathetic to our cause and taught us an invaluable phrase, “te aw kohn”- “no thank you.” After breakfast we began our 25 km day (16 + mile) day of Indiana Jones style adventures. We must have been the only people walking, and we soon discovered why. No only was it a long, hot hike, but monkeys blocked our path across a bridge. We were excited to see monkeys and approached slowly, but all of a sudden the big fella chased after us screaming. A local villager’s hut was on the other side and we could hear them expressing their concern. We bolted across, water bottles drawn prepared to a skirmish. Luckily we avoided them, but we were petrified of all monkey herds after that. The second day seeing that we dare to try anything and our adrenaline rush from mottos had subsided, we decided to enter the crazy traffic mix on bikes. Yikes! We discovered a pleasant way to travel, get exercise, and get our fix of danger. Furthermore, we became enlightened to the mess of traffic. Really its just organized chaos. You just go. And people always swerve to avoid you. Its that simple, fun, and dangerous. You will see pictures of the monkeys, the traffic, the temples, etc soon.

Cultural reflections/ insights: Cambodians. The Cambodians are extremely nice, friendly, and are not really looking to snag a bag. We have had several conversations with the locals and have learned so much. Yesterday, we watched the sunset atop an Angkorian temple and chatted with a Buddhist monk. He was 22 as well, and could speak English and Spanish, though my English and Spanish are both better than his! But his Khmer embarrassed mine. Obviously. The French. Man, they stink. On so many levels. We can’t even bear to look at the French women anymore….but we still do. Whenever there are French approaching or causing a raucous, we say “FF.” You can figure out what the first “f”is for. Cell phones. They are everywhere. For such a poor country, everyone seems to be able to afford one. I, myself, have gotten over my cell phone withdrawal. Although I had the shakes for a few weeks, the vibrating feeling on my leg has finally gone away. Conversations. Well, after a few weeks of 24/7 with Nate, you would think we would have run out of conversation. It couldn’t be further from the truth, only now, they begin with sentences like, “dude, wanna hear my conspiracy theory?”or “this one time, I chugged a whole gallon of milk and…”

So that’s it for now. Tomorrow we are trying to go north to the Thailand/Cambodia border to a temple, Preah Vihear, that is never visited. This is because its nearly impossible to get there. No bus, no taxi, no jeep rental, but we plan on figuring something out. Hitching perhaps. More to come.

Shout Outs: Gotta start out with some nyc love, proctor thanks for the update, another to all the peeps on 18th and 8th, those way west side too; Rosenberg good luck with the shows; Sean good luck, hope the injuries heal up and you are ready to take on Burma in two months; the whole McNamara clan; Kate Jay, well done, give those Saint A’s kids hell; a bandita, cause I had to; the Pastors of DC, MN, and Boston; and Henry Hubschman, stay healthy! Much love to everyone else.

Earn your stripes,
Kip