A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
The most thrilling and terrifying experience of my trip to Angkor Wat was definitely the climb up the tallest temple. Our aim was to watch the sunset, and it made sense to do it from the highest point. Unfortunately, the highest point was reachable only via a nausea-inducing set of stairs, made of irregularly eroded stone at an angle unsafe for any but the most adventurous mountain goat. Seriously, these steps were about twice as high as they were wide.

For myself, bearing the twin burden of congenital klutziness and a mild fear of heights, the whole thing looked and felt like a deathtrap. Naturally, Heike practically jogged up, while I hugged each step like it was a long-lost brother. And coming down was ten times worse -- I could barely peel myself off the surface to take another step down. By the time I was back on solid ground I realized that hiking in 100 degree weather was nothing -- now I knew the true meaning of sweat. To add insult to injury, as we rounded the corner of the temple we came upon another set of stairs, WITH A METAL RAILING!!! Not only that, they had installed a block of concrete on each crumbling step so that practically all the heart-stopping danger was eliminated. I'm thinking that a nice informational sign with an arrow might be in order there.

The thing is, in Cambodia they completely lack the liability concerns that would shut the whole complex down in about 30 seconds in the States. So they don't block anything off that seems even remotely navigable. This is good in many ways -- it gives you a lot of freedom to scramble over things and get good photos, but it also means you have to watch your step every second. I'm not so good at that, but I made it out without any significant injuries or bruising, which hopefully is a good omen for the rest of my trip.

Copyright 2003 Katy Warren


posted by Katy at 3:23 AM