Excuse Me, Angkor Wat?

Jesus Christ we had a long day today.  

Yesterday, when we first checked into our hotel we were strongly advised by the receptionist to hire one of the hotels Tuktuk drivers.  She explained that the Angkor Wat temple complex was bigger than the maps made it seem. Jack was kind of iffy on it but I convinced him that it would be a good idea.  Blimey was I right, the complex is 1625km squared.  On average it's around 2-4km between temples.  Yah.. no way I'm walking that, avid walker though I am.  So, on Jack's request we started for the main temple first, the Angkor Wat.  The temple is the worlds largest religious structure still in use and supposedly the only physical example of what heaven looks like in the Buddhist religion.  

As we walked through the main archway and started making our way toward the temple young children kept running up to us, attempting to sell us random paraphernalia.  It's things like this that truly drive home what I've started calling "western guilt."  I want to help these children and if I could do anything for them I would but simply throwing money at the problem almost never works.  There are even signs around the complexes asking tourists not to give the children money.  I asked a guard why that was and he told me it supposedly negatively reinforces the idea that they can live better by begging than by going to school.  If that's true I don't know, and like most things it probably has a more complicated answer.  

Jack and I started with the main temple of Angkor and I have to say it's pretty impressive.  I was getting a pyramid of Giza vibe from the architecture because everything is made of hand carved slabs of stone.  But the steps, oh the steps.  I probably climbed upwards of 400 stairs today.  But it's not just simple stairways.  Each door frame is elevated so there are two stairs going up to the door frame and two descending.   Everything is hand carved / engraved to.  Elaborate designs cover almost every available surface and monks still walk the halls, praying at shrines.  

It was kind of ridiculous, around noon the sky literally opened up and a torrential thunder-rain storm struck.  Picture the hardest rain you've ever seen.  This was like 20x as strong.  I've had less powerful showers before.  In a matter of seconds both Jack and I were soaked to our skin, along with all of our stuff.  We would've taken shelter in a two thousand year old temple but at the time of torrential rain we were walking between two smaller temples and so were caught out in the middle of it. 

After getting reunited with our driver he took us to a local restaurant and we sat and ate while slowly dripping all over the floor.  The complexes are cool to walk around in but I would've appreciated more signs everywhere explaining the significance of it all.  I guess that's partly for me to go and do on my own research but there was more or less nothing there.  

I am currently super duper tired so I think I'm going to pass out now. Tomorrow is day two of exploring the complex.  

G-