My First Elephant Ride



It's 4:30 a.m. in the Philippines now.  It's so quiet in our subdivision. Even our lovebirds and cockatiels are still sleeping. But me, I am already awake. Infact, I finished emailing our clients already. So bear with me as I tell you about my first elephant ride. :)

Phnom Bakheng, is one of the temples in Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap , Cambodia.

John and I visited it because it's supposed to have a great view of the sunset. But since it sits on top of a hill, you have to go up there by foot or ride in an elephant. So like the adventurous people that we are, we opted to ride the elephant in the tune of $20.00 each. Yes, it's not Cambodian Riel like it should be right? But Cambodia uses US dollar mostly so please do not fall victim of the scammers at the border of Thailand and Cambodia. Beware of those who tell you that the exchange rate is lower in Cambodia . It's not true. Tsk..tsk.. we learned our lesson the hard way. :(

Okay, back to Phnom Bakheng. :)  I gave my G11 camera to Sody, our tour guide in Angkor, so he can take photos of us. Thank you again, Sody.

So here we are, trying to get in. :)





Ha! We're finally going up. :) I felt like a royalty. haha

I was having fun. :)

And then we started going up the hill. I thought, oh no... the road is so small. It's just a path way, for god's sake!  The elephant is so big , I was afraid he'd miss a step and we'd go tumbling down the hill, like jack n' jill. haha..

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See the small, winding road?

It wasn't funny that time. I remember getting scared because the bushes beside the road have really big thorns. I was thinking that if we fall, we'd be torn to pieces. lol .. I knew I was overreacting. So I just kept my mouth shut and suffered in silence.

After 30 minutes, we reached the top.

Boy, was I glad that I continued the ride and overcame my fear. I was gifted with a beautiful view of Angkor Wat.

We sat down for awhile and talked to the people around us.  You know, that's one of the things I like about travelling. I get to meet a lot of people. Everybody agreed that when the sun is out , the heat is too much. We all laughed when I commented that I've become so dark already that John may not see me at nights anymore. Everybody told me to just wear a white t-shirt. hahaha....

I think, SPF 50 was not enough for the heat there! So if you don't want to get burned, bring a sunblock. A real good one because you will need it there.

Then, all of us started going up the very steep stairs of the temple. Even if I was having a difficulty in climbing, I still managed to think that their ancestors must have been really small with  very tiny feet. hehe.. I mean you know, why would you build a stair with small steps if you got big feet?  It does not make sense to me... lol

After several excruciating minutes, we finally reached the top. :)



Even John looked red. :)



We sat  on top, trying to hide from the sun while enjoying the view.  A few minutes later, Sody told us that we should start heading down to avoid the influx of the people. I wondered why when we're waiting for the sunset. He said, it's not going to be a good one today.

Huh? How on earth did he know that?

But I think he's been doing this job for so long plus of course, it's his place. So he knew that there won't be a good sunset that day.

Being a stubborn woman that I am, I said that I'll wait. I mean, think about it, I took an elephant ride and climb the very steep stairs for nothing? So we stayed. And waited. And got disappointed. hehe.. Sody was right! Amazing...

Everyone was so disappointed so we all started going down.  The steep climb earlier was nothing compared to the fun of going down. Imagine this. I had to hold on to something, I mean anything that I can hold on to. Put my foot sideways to fit the stairs. And slowly try to descend. One foot at a time.

So why do we do the things we do?

I don't know. :) I guess it was the right thing to do at that moment. It's either you take the opportunity to enjoy the moment or choose to stay out. But where's the fun in that? :)

True, I got scared. I got tired in climbing the steps. John worried that I might fall, etc. But the point is that we were rewarded with something bigger. I realized that I am strong. And I'm glad that I somehow overcame my fear of heights.

It's not the destination that matters , after all. But it's how you enjoyed the trip going there...

That's the essence of travelling. :)