Gate 4

We’re sitting outside Gate 4 at the Hong Kong Airport. We spent our final hours in Bangkok eating our last street food meal. Then we got our bags together and hopped on the air-conditioned Sky Train to the airport. We passed the hours at the airport in a book shop sometimes looking at travel books about untouched places, places to get to before everyone does, and lesser known places compared to popular places. 
 

The first leg of our flight trip from Bangkok to Hong Kong went smoothly. It’s unbelievable we’ll be in New York in about 16 hours. My mom will be waiting for us. 

Scott and I go through so many comings and goings, so many transitions. From real cities into sterile airport and airplane worlds which contain nice bathrooms, air-conditioning, tidy meals, endless movies. 

And then America.

Like a Prostitute

Throughout our whole first full day back in Bangkok, locals spoke to me as if I was Thai. At the Chinese Consulate, they spoke to me as if I understood Chinese. English coming out of my mouth shocks people and I can hear laughter – workers laughing at their co-worker’s mistake of assuming I was Thai and speaking to me as one – as I walk away. 

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It’s hard to be in Southeast Asia with Scott and not feel like a prostitute. We walk around and I perpetually feel others sizing us up, that I’m his Thai/Lao/Cambodia prostitute, a local girl who preys on white foreign men using them for money or a potential ticket out. If I didn’t open my mouth and talk to reveal a western world accent, why wouldn’t what they were thinking be true? These type of pairings are all over Southeast Asia – white men with their Southeast Asian girlfriend or wife. These men are sometimes older, chubbier than average, lonely looking. I’m terrible. I cast judgment but complain about others’ judgment on me.

Overwhelmed

We spent our last day in Cambodia in Siem Reap town. The day started pretty relaxed and Scott and I thought it’d remain that way, but then we started doing visa stuff for our next adventure and things got complicated. The day turned into running around making passport photos (at the exact right dimensions), printing out application forms, and generally continuing to stress about traveling through a small portion of China, Mongolia, and Russia, starting in Beijing and ending in Moscow, by train. This coming week will be eventful – going back to the states, seeing friends and family, our appointment with the Russian visa office. Cam Ly’s wedding is in less than two weeks; I wonder how she’s doing. Our 4+ months of living out of a bag and staying in $7 rooms are coming to an end. I guess with the Trans-Mongolian plan, there’s still a lot to look forward to, then Tanzania. Right now, I feel overwhelmed. That could be good though, right? To be overwhelmed by life rather than underwhelmed?

Angkor Wat Revisited

Throughout our travels this year, Scott has often lamented how he wishes he could’ve seen the places we were visiting 30 years ago – before the hordes of backpackers and tourists, before the restaurants with all the same menus, before it cost money to cross a footbridge. 

Well, thirty years ago, I was an infant. But eleven years ago, I was a traveler and I visited the enchanting Angkor Wat when the city of Siem Reap was on the verge of major change. There were guest houses and tourist restaurants but it was on a small scale. My memory of Siem Reap in no way resembled the overcrowded city Siem Reap is today.

No matter when one goes to Angkor Wat – today, yesterday, 25 years ago, in 2081 – it will impress. There’s no question about it. It’s the things associated with the temple complex – Siem Reap, the number of people urging you to buy a cold drink, the upkeep of the temples, and number of tourists – that can change the temple experience. 

In 2001, you could walk around a temple and see, at most, ten other people. Usually it was more like three or four other tourists that were viewing one of the temples the same time you were. Now, there could be up to 100 people crowding your walking and viewing space. Last time I was at the Angkor Wat temple complex, there were many children begging, children with missing body parts. In 2001, they were a sad, in-your-face reminder of Cambodia’s recent past. This time, there were no kids with missing body parts and, instead of simply begging, they were selling postcards and fans and trinkety bracelets, and they could count to twenty in at least ten different languages (this skill was used to advertise just how many postcards you could get for one dollar). 

This recent experience of Angkor was completely different than my last. Scott and I rode bicycles which was a perfect way to get around the temple complex as the surrounding area is flat and the temples are spaced at bicycle-appropriate distances. We left the Yellow Guesthouse at 5:15 am, got to Angkor Wat around 5:40 for sunrise, and didn’t leave until 6 pm (the single-day tickets are only good until 5:30 pm). We did the Grand Circuit around the Angkor Wat complex, starting at the more minor temples, leaving Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, and Ta Prahm for last. 

The many faces of Bayon.

 

I have to admit that I was disappointed with Angkor Wat, which is supposed to be, and usually is, a steady favorite. The large middle section of the front was covered in green tarp and scaffolding, making the magical walk down the path leading to the three-spired temple not so magical. The thing is, even if there wasn’t any green tarp, there still wouldn’t be any good photo opportunities as there are just too many tourists (me included) blocking the ideal shot. 

 

Ta Prahm with its towering trees and monstrous roots entangled within the temple was still great but a bit of a let-down as well with many sections of the temple roped off for safety precautions, a wooden walkway, and restoration equipment (like a large yellow crane) left throughout.

Even though the temperature was as hot as it’s been thus far in Cambodia and it was dusty, Scott and I had a great time. And despite whatever flaws I may have just pointed out, or whatever flaws you may see on your visit, Angkor Wat is just amazing, and always will be.