Angkor & I – The journey of heart

I close my eyes and I can see myself walking along the pavement on the second hand books market in Dariya Ganj. It was not easy for me to be here, for my parents are never happy to see me go away on my photo walks. They don’t understand my fascination with old delhi and least of all with this market, selling termite infested damp copies of old magazines and books. This is raddi, kabbadi material, they say with a look of confusion and anger in their eyes. Dad came with me to the market a couple of times. But I could see he got bored as I lingered too long at the stalls as though not wanting to leave a single title unread, unexplored, untouched on the pavement of Dariyaganj. Thereafter, I convinced him that I will be fine, “after all I go to college alone,” I said. He agreed not willingly. But he knew I have grown up to be a daughter who is easier to agree with than to convince.

A picture of Delhi from a time I was not an Empty Rucksack Travele
A picture of Delhi I took when I was not an Empty Rucksack Traveler

That morning, I had my family’s old film camera hanging around my neck. Photography was another thing that was not fathomable to ma and pa. “What weird hobby!” ma and pa wondered. Worried if I would be alright alone or worried I would get home fine or not as though I would contract some weird bug, ma and pa protected me from everything.

But that day some wrong bug I did catch on the pavement. That afternoon, from the heaps discarded books and old magazines, I picked up and brought home an old copy of National Geographic with a picture of what they said was ‘Angkor Wat’ on the cover. It was magnificent it seemed. “A Hindu temple, so far away from India!” I thought. There were monks somewhere in there too. “Isn’t Buddhism an Indian religion? Oh! it has spread far and wide.” I didn’t know where Cambodia was. I had practically no world view at the time and I was twenty. I had never stepped out of the country before that. I had never been alone outside of my city either. I had hardly even seen anything besides things within 250 kms radius of Delhi. Hell, I had never even left my home alone to go anywhere else besides college and school. No, Taj Mahal would be the only wonder I would set my eyes on, I thought. That’s logical. I didn’t know that there was world out there waiting to be explored.

“Angkor Wat, is not for me!” I thought. No Angkor Wat was not for me.

But you know there is a little voice inside you that always tells you, “It’s no big deal. That thing you think may not happen, may just happen after all. Maybe you will see Angkor Wat.”

And somehow you get that confidence in you and you say, yes, I will see it. Angkor Wat – one day, you and I will be together and that moment will be special, I said to myself.

From that girl in college, I joined work and got busy with job. But somewhere being tied to the desk brought to life a dream to travel. Would it ever happen, my dream to see everything, the moment when I step on Angkor Wat?

But today as I sit in my hotel room in Siem Reap, I am merely 6 kilometers away from Angkor Wat. As I type this, I have five hours before I go and watch the sun rise over the majestic temple of Angkor. How could I have ever imagined that day, when I picked up that magazine with picture of Angkor Wat that not only will I see Angkor Wat, Cambodia will be the 23rd country I will travel to after dedicating one complete year to travelling in India and South East Asia.

A moment I dreamt of years ago is coming true. I feel excited, fulfilled and grateful at the same time. Honestly, this moment right now, is not about travel, it is not about setting sight on the eighth wonder of the world, it is in fact about that moment when you thought something that is not possible became possible and finally being the person who I am happy with.

Thank you Angor,

See you tomorrow

Read the next part of this article:

Angkor & I – I wanna see more

 

About Empty Ruck Sack

Empty Rucksack travelers is an attempt to bring together many wonderful stories of career breaks, long term vacations and great travel destinations together at one place. The posts authored by Empty Rucksack Travelers are put together by Vikram and Ishwinder, an Indian couple out on a long term travel to find that perfect place in the world where they may want to stay forever.

Check Also

South East Asia Visa for Indians

Much as we like we to follow our travel dreams of just getting up and …

7 comments

  1. I m so jealous of u right now….I wish i could one day write the same post….. 🙂

    Richa

  2. We visited Cambodia earlier this year and it was a magical trip. The people are so warm and welcoming and the temples just take you back in time. My favourite was the Temple of Bayon. I sat there for ages soaking in the atmosphere and trying to decipher the untold messages in the eyes of Lokesvara. Have a great trip ! Enjoy, cos Cambodia is simply awesome 🙂

    • Hey Anjana! We love it when people drop by and share their thoughts! That is one reason why we decided to start blogging. I loved Angkor and I would return but I am not a huge fan of Cambodia simply because the food is bad and unfairly overpriced. But Angkor we loved! We had to return soon because of some family reason. But we will go back again to spend a couple weeks for Angkor. My favorite temples were the quite ones and the faces of Bayon actually intimidated me a lot, Vikram loved it though. We will be posting about our favorite temples soon so keep coming back 🙂

  3. Dariyaganj!! The one place I miss since shifting from Delhi to Bangalore – and the one place in invariably visit on my trips to Delhi 🙂 I BUY books there – not merely photograph 🙂

    And – what a journey from the roadside books of Daryaganj to Angkor Wat!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge