7/25 No Boundaries Experience

I planned to stay in Siem Reap for 2 nights only, see the Angkor Wat, hang around and set off for Phnom Penh, it was only after my arrival did I realize that there were so many places to go in this small town.

My parents suggested that I stayed longer here, but I still decided to stick to my schedule stubbornly. The famous legends in this small town except Angkor Wat would be the night market, central market, and the Angkor museum.

I had made up my mind to spend my whole day touring the Angkor Wat, departing for the sights 6 in the morning. Sun had already made its appearance and people were strolling the dusty streets. There were no traffic lights in Siem Reap, so basically you really had to look out for the vehicles and your own safety.

The air was never fresh, always filled with sand and dust that made your clothing and hair rusty.

I decided to ignore all the inquiries from tuk tuk drivers and walked to Angkor Wat and back the whole journey. I knew it's going to be difficult and exhausting, but I figured that this was the only best way to explore the whole place thoroughly. 

Well, even thought I had set up my mind to ignore the friendly drivers, sometimes they just overstepped the line and went from friendly to annoying. For example, I had rejected their offer nicely for the first three times and they still won't let you go! They follow you around asking more and more times until I got so impatient and snapped. I think Siem Reap would have to take some points reduction due to this kind of situation.

I walked for about an hour until finally reaching the ticket booth on the border of Angkor Wat, there I purchased a ticket for 20USD and kept on walking for the next 5 kilometers. Finally I was starting to see the blurry shapes of the ancient buildings. There were no tourists or locals that were on foot, most had drivers carrying them and others drove cars or rode mortorbikes. I looked just like a dummy that was sweating myself out, but so far I was enjoying the tour.

Another forty minutes past, and that's when I got to the small Angkor Wat which I had to enter the interior through a bridge. It was full of people and some even had those professional cameras trying their best to capture the whole view.

It was only about 8 in the morning, and I entered the first layer of the building, then the second and third. The sun was bringing my sweat down like rain from above, even though it's still early in the morning.

After visiting the small Angkor Wat, I took some rest and continued my journey that seemed to be endless. I walked nonstop, trying to catch up with the rest of the tourists that were behind wheels...

What made the rest of the trip just like torture was, the distance between each of the sights in Angkor Wat was close to, or more than an hour's walking time, so basically I was already sweating like a dog before reaching the sights. Though I was already exhausted from all the walking and the heat, I still stuck to my original plan and covered the gigantic Angkor Wat and most of its famous spots: the phnom bakheng, bayon, tom southern gate and many others.

I was always trying to snap for a great picture, so basically the shutter never rested. Unfortunately the memory of my camera was full due to the sudden large amount of pictures, so I couldn't take more pictures, just sightseeing for the rest of the day.

Eventually I circled the Angkor Wat with blisters on my feet and pain in the soles, but I did it! Crossing the boundaries of body strength and physical.

It was already dark by the time I walked back to the town center, spending 0.5 USD for a cold coke to cheer myself and swallowed the cold beverage as a reward for myself. I felt stiff and was unable to move for a while as soon as I lied in the bed, that's how exhausted I was in the end of the day.

But Angkor Wat was really beautiful and worth every bit to visit.