Angkor Wat

After a busy day in Phnom Penh, an early bus carried my backpack and its incredibly handsome owner to Siem Reap, closest town to the iconic Angkor Wat temples. As happenstance would have it, Rhonda, an Aussie who lives in Cambodia, informed me of several unique events happening this weekend. There would be a 40K bike race, the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon, and a ballet inside of Angkor Wat put on by the French Cultural Association. If I had my pick, and I did since Nadine was back in Bangkok, a ride or run won.

Cycling Sunset Advice

Touching down in Siem Reap armed with Rhonda’s great advice, I rented a trusty mountain bike for the next four days, and made a first visit to the Temples of Angkor. Being that it was close to sunset, my only goal for the Temples of Angkor were to enjoy a nice sunset atop Phnom Bakheng.

Phnom Bakheng is renowned as one of the first temples built in Angkor, but is now even more treasured for sunsets. Disembarking my bike and leaving it in the well trodden grass, thousands of people greeted my arrival. Really, they fought their way up stairs for their own personal, secluded Angkor sunset. Or at least that is what their photos would suggest.

Not much of an original idea on my part, but the sheer number of people balancing on top of this temple impressed me more than the actual sunset. But after this sunset experience, it would be the last time there. For a true secluded sunset at Angkor, Pre Rup is the place to be.

My Dear Friend

Cycling home, I stopped at a local conveniece store to pick up some water for a long day of cycling the following day, but to my surprise, there sat cans of Dr. Pepper. What the heck?!? Of all the places you would expect to see Dr. Pepper, it would not be in a massive refrigerator in one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. Yet there sat maroon can after can of cold Dr. Pepper. Some would be Nadine’s Christmas gifts when we met up in Vietnam.

That Fig Tree Left A Mark

After riding to the Temples of Angkor the previous night, there would be no way that I could spend the next three days riding around with that crappy ol’ squeaky wheel of a bike. The next morning I found a quality mountain bike that actually fit my long legs and budget. The final price for my trusty steed, $5.

The second full day among the Angkor Temples, the plan was to ride to fifteen different temple complexes in a 26 kilometer “Big Circuit.” The design would direct me away from Angkor Wat and in such a circuitous manner the final stop would end at Angkor would for the day.

Ta Prohm was notable. Over recent history, strangler fig trees and vines have conquered this temple complex. The name is the perfect moniker as balanced there on top of temples, these trees have broken through walls like the Kool-Aid Man jumping through a brick wall and climbing up walls like Spider Man. This was the perfect photo op.

The temple Pre Rup followed Ta Prohm, another vestige off the beaten path. What made Pre Rup special, other than the climb to the top, was that peaking out in the horizon, the tallest temples of Angkor Wat jutted up into the sky above the trees. My final stop for the day.

The day was long, but fruitful. The morning started at seven and only by 4:30 did I arrive back to a sunset among the well preserved ruins of Angkor Wat. Similar to the previous evening, thousands of my closest friends and neighbors joined at the same time. Angkor Wat marked the end to another memorable day in the historic Cambodian countryside but those same temples extending above the landscape would also start my next day bright and early.

By the end of this day, the bike covered 45 kilometers, but by the end of Siem Reap, I had rode 115 plus kilometers and ran another 10 kilometers. The bike wore me out, and that made the decision that night whether or not to run the half marathon the next morning through the UNESCO temples of Angkor Wat that much more difficult. But in the end, experience overruled fatigue and I signed up for the shorter 10K race starting at 6:50.

Race Day!

Race day, once again up at 5:20, on my mountain bike and riding out to the Temples of Angkor and the Angkor Wat Half Marathon warm up for a nice little run around ruins. The run itself benefited the amputee victims of landmines. You can’t go anywhere in Cambodia without seeing someone with an amputated leg, arm, foot.

I ran the race. Finished. Wasn’t the last one. I did not puke. I survived. In the end, run/walk method where fI would run one kilometer, walk 40 seconds, run another kilometer. This is a method I learned from Nadine and Nate Roller, another friend expecting a baby in the next couple of months, and it allowed me to finish without injuring myself. My final time was 49:31. My goal was to be under an hour having only run 6 times in the last 6 months. I was happy with my finishing time, but happier to have been able to do the run through Angkor Wat.

The Early Bird Gets The Best Spot

Watching the sunrise at the top of Angkor Wat concluded my visit among the ruins. The last day in Siem Reap started at 5:10. On this morning, only a couple of hundred people joined this time, compared to the thousands in the evening. The majority of sightseers stood out by the pond, but this provided an escape to the top of Angkor Wat temples by myself. For the next 20 minutes, I was practically the only person walking Angkor Wat, then I perched myself on a ledge on the backside to watch the sun come over the horizon.

Cambodia was adventurous, and bus back to Phnom Pehn made it a little more interesting. Two hours into the ride, the bus broke down. Right there on the side of road next to rice patties and grasshopper traps, we were stranded on the side of the road for two hours passing the time watching cows munch on grass. Fortunately, I didn’t have to be anywhere pressing to be. Once the replacement bus arrived and back en route to Phnom Pehn, the next city, full of high government officials, caused another roadblock. A small, random road directed us around the city, and seven and a half hours later, my feet touched Phnom Pehn soil.

Cambodia driving has to be the worse I’ve seen, and this isn’t a small selection of countries to choose from either. Khmer drivers and scooter kamikaze pilots never felt it necessary to actually look when pulling out into any road. So the onus was generously placed on the shoulders of the driver barreling down the road full speed. Include the fact that half the scooters drive on the opposite side of the road, your head is on a constant swivel checking the traffic.

Life is always good. Now we’re here in the land of a zillion scooters looking to teach Texan English for a month. If we don’t find any opportunities, we’ll simply migrate north.

Have a very Merry Christmas and have some egg nog for us. We’ll have a Dr. Pepper for you.

Peace and Love from all two and a half of us in Vietnam.
J.W.