Angkor & I – I wanna see more

So here goes the story of our Day 1 at Angkor temples. Enjoy and don’t forget to leave a comment at the bottom! Love – Vik & Ish

20 Nov 2013: Today has all about been sitting in the tuk tuk and wandering from one temple to another. Temples upon temples, nothing but temples and when you thought you had enough of temples, you go sit and relax…where? Well, in a temple. You would think it would be too many temples. As you would go from temple to temple, you would wonder if you have seen enough temples but your mind will instead be grappled by the urge to see more temples. “I wanna see more, I wanna see more” my mind said after I saw the first temple of Banteay Kdai, “I wanna see more, I wanna see more” it said after I saw 5 more temples and “I wanna see more, I wanna see more” it said after we saw the last temple of Bayon.

Angkor consists only of temples. These were dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu built between ninth and sixteenth century. While most tourists arriving in had to either be accompanied by a guide or be in complete dark about the meanings of many different carvings and statues, for us to spot the familiar Nandi at the entrance, to recognize images of reclining Vishnu or flying Indra or multi headed Ravana or seeing few of the surviving lingas gave us the thrill of being so far but yet be in our own backyard. It was an adventure to find and explore our own mythology in an unknown country. And at the end we were asking for more…”I wanna see more, I wanna see more” again.

Big or small, covered with green of the moss, the grey of stone, the pink of the bricks or the fascinating marks of time, glowing in the light sunsets or silhouetting against the same light at sunrise, the magic at the temples of Angkor never ends even thought my 4 gb memory card gave up as I clicked the last shot of the day. It was 664 th picture with the orange sky as I sat on the bridge with statues with statues that sat there for hundreds of years. It was getting dark as the sun was making its way into the water but I still wanted to see more. Yes, I wanted to see more.

One day is not enough. Has it really been a day already! We had woken up at 6 this morning and were sightseeing from until 6 in the evening. You realize how short the days are in this part of the world. You enter this area and the time freezes. The sun rises, with cool wind blowing then rises further up to give you a tan and test your patience and then sets again to reward you revealing the temples in a new light. I was so glad that we had taken not one but a three day pass. Vikram who is not a huge fan of temples or old monuments also agreed. Angor is something else. It was quite unbelievable that even after 11 whole hours of exploring the area we still hadn’t set sight on the most magnificent temple of Angkor-  the Angkor Wat. But now its end of the day we will come back tomorrow for I wanna see more, I wanna see more.

The day is over. The tuk tuk driver must take us back. “What! why?” I ask. Can’t we do this forever. I had been sick with fever and sore throat the whole month before this. I was ready to go home. I had arrived in Cambodia with half a mind to just see one last thing and go home forever and never see anything new. I thought after an year of travel, Angkor Wat will breaks the last straw in my back. “I am fatigued. I am dizzy. I can barely write. Our tickets are booked for home and I am ready to go home.” I said on the evening before our visit to the temples. But Angkor Wat as it tires me physically, also revives my travel lust.

All I can say now is that I wanna see more, I wanna see more.