What do you give the man who has everything? Sunrise at one of the greatest religious structures in the world and dinner at a French restaurant. That's all I could come up with. Yesterday morning, the alarm went off at 4 o'clock in the morning. We dragged ourselves out of bed, packed up the camera and some water, and stumbled down the stairs. Luckily, the tuk tuk driver we had hired the night before actually showed up and was waiting for us outside the guesthouse. Fifteen minutes later we were walking in the pitch black over a rough stone causeway toward Angkor Wat.
About halfway down the walkway, we heard a voice next to us. "I'm James Bond, you follow me." Which was funny, since our driver gave the name Johnny Rambo; we had an action hero-filled day. James Bond has been working sunrise at Angkor Wat for 20 years. 20 years ago there weren't many tourists, but today there are hundreds everyday and he's cleaning up. He led us about halfway to the temple and said "you follow my wife, I go find more tourists." Fair enough. His wife led us to the edge of a pond in front of the temple, the very best site for a sunrise photo. She brought us plastic chairs in return for the promise that we eat breakfast at their restaurant (James Bond has a monopoly).
We were literally the first people there, so we had a very rare experience - being the only visitors at Angkor Wat. It was silent and beautiful, and a tiny bit spooky. That lasted for about 5 minutes and then others arrived. But it really was an incredible experience to be alone in that place, one that not many people get to have.
For about 40 minutes we sat in the pitch black on the edge of the pond, straining to see anything (and being a little bit afraid of snakes. I was anyway, maybe not Keith). We could feel people filling in behind us. More chairs scrapped across the dirt and voices started to gather into a hum. The light seemed to change quickly in little bursts, one stage at a time. It was cloudy, so we didn't see any colors, but the silhouette of Angkor Wat was amazing.
Once there was enough light to really see, we realized how many people surrounded us (see photo above). It really was gross looking, but we were part of it, and we tried to mostly concentrate on the temples. Seeing the sunrise at Angkor Wat is incredible, but probably something to do just once. There are other more peaceful, if less dramatic, places in the area.
As soon as the sun was up, it started to.... pour. We ran for James Bond's restaurant, ate breakfast, and then ran for the temple. Everyone else ran for their tuk tuk and went home, so once again we had the place almost to ourselves. A pretty good birthday present, I think. We walked every inch of the temple for about two hours, often completely alone with the carvings and Buddhas. Then back to the guesthouse for a desperately needed nap.
Did the birthday end there? Nope. We woke up, ate some lunch and decided to go to the pool. We found a really nice hotel pool about three blocks from here that only charges $5 to use it as a guest. I really wish I had taken a picture, because it's quite beautiful. The building is two stories of white stucco with a red tiled roof. It surrounds the pool on all sides, creating a private courtyard filled with grass, flowers and palm trees. It's a very peaceful place, and a wonderful way to escape the heat and spend an afternoon. Especially on a birthday.
Then on to Abacus for dinner. If you're ever in Siem Reap, definitely eat here. The prices are astoundingly reasonable for such delicious food, and the service was very nice. We split a goat cheese salad to start. It was a classic French cafe salad - just greens and a few hot toasts with tangy goat cheese. Then Keith had sea scallops on crabmeat, spinach and a shrimp bisque. Everything was layered, with the bisque spread on the plate, then the amazing crab and then the scallops perched on top. Delicious. I had duck breast with pumpkin mashed potatoes, snow peas and sauteed mushrooms. The sauce on the duck was perfect - savory and sweet, with a little bit of star anise and cinnamon. And of course, baguette and wine. Cinnamon ice cream for dessert. Perfect.
So that was the birthday celebration. We're heading out today for more temple viewing, this time by bicycle!
