প্ৰকাশিত: 19.09.2019
First of all, if you can't do anything with a bunch of old stones, you can safely skip this article.
Day 23: Finally, it starts. Rented a bike for three days (11 dollars), condition is so-so and too small, but there's no bigger one (my poor back). The first temple is 2 km away, a piece of cake. Just don't listen to the TukTuk drivers, you can get through well and I'm not much slower. Best of all: I decide when I want to see something.
To explore the temples, you have to be a bit fitter (slope 57 degrees arc measure) and the tropical weather doesn't help either. Today it's okay, no rain and no sun, not too many tourists on the way either. Katta and Julia (?) got up at 4:30 to see the sunrise, nonsense at this time of year. I'll spare the details about the individual temples. The best ones are the smaller ones where you're alone.
In the evening, I met a North Korean (again Couchsurfing), Nayoung. She works for an NGO in Cambodia (and is bored of it) and is quite different from what you would expect from Koreans. We had Thai food in the Rainbow Quarter (which was clearly evident to the waiters). The food was good and Nayoung is an interesting person. It poured buckets for hours. Eventually (after 4 beers), we managed to order a TukTuk.
Day 24. Today, we're going to the gem, Angkor Wat. No words, you have to see it. Then Angkor Thom. The weather is changeable, rain and sun alternate. Cycling through the jungle from temple to temple is really fun.
But some Asians absolutely overdo it with the photos. The right position is searched for minutes and the hair is staged. It looks really exhausting. Fortunately, I don't care about such things at all.
In the evening, I went to the Pub Street with Katta and Julia (?) at the 'Angkot What?', the oldest pub in Siem Reap. Katta has a very unique but good sense of humor. I had beer and tequila, had to be done.
Day 25. It's raining man, hallelujah! It rained the whole morning, humidity reached saturation, fog was created. Although I have a rain cover, the mood is not particularly good. After an early lunch break, we continued.
Even on day 3, the temples don't get boring. It's also rather quiet, except for at one temple where there were several Chinese groups when I was there. Nobody was at the bike shop when I returned. Great, they had my ID as a deposit. Eventually, I asked the store owner next door for help, he couldn't speak English. But somehow we managed, everything turned out fine. Taking the bike was the best idea.
In the evening, I moved to another hostel, which I found on Couchsurfing and can stay there for free. The permanent campers here seem to have lost their drive somehow, drink beer in the morning and hang around all day. Hostels in this area are so cheap that Couchsurfing is only worth it to meet people. It's still quite nice. I tried some local food and enjoyed two beers on the rooftop terrace. Animals seem to be quite common in hostels here. Mostly a few tame cats, here a little dog. Of course, it had an easy time with me.
I tried to filter out a small overview from the countless photos. I've only seen 15 out of 300 facilities. Coughing still bothers me a bit. It's raining for hours again in the evening. I have to get out of here!