I
was between teaching jobs (no, the FBI had nothing to do with it) and wandering
around Bangkok looking for clues. The taxis were great, but the tuk-tuk drivers
wanted to take us for a ride, and the motorcyclists seemed bent on running us
down.
Frances
tried asking for directions, but I think she chose the wrong person to ask.
It might have been possible to take a boat, but sticking a car engine on a canoe
wasn't my idea of a good way to travel. Finally the hotel staff helped us find
a ride north to Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Siam.
We had to switch to elephants to get around some of the ruined temples, but after 20 minutes of kidney jolting, we were happy to get back to the car. We'd found a clue: the Buddha's head in tree roots clearly pointed to the jungle temple near Angkor.
But
the animals distracted us. First there was the side trip to the Tiger Temple
where Kate and Frances learned the proper technique for subduing these savage
beasts (just what exactly were you rubbing???) Then there was the stampede of cattle on the road. Finally something
(or someone) ripped a hole in the car's cooling system and we were left stranded
on the highway 150 km from Bangkok. Kate saved the day by flagging down a bus.
But we weren't safe from the animals yet! The next day, a quiet stroll through Lumphini was disturbed by giant lizards crawling out of the sewers, into the ponds and then onto the grassy banks.
We tried to escape through the market, but Kate nearly ended up in the basket. Time to get out of town!
The
tuk-tuks in Siem Reap were a different style and much more willing to take us
to where we wanted to go, but the motorcyclists were as crazy as ever. As darkness
fell over the river, the bats swirled and chirped overhead.
The
next morning, the monkeys greeted us at the gate of Angkor. Even more ancient
that Ayuthaya, this enormous city grew to be the biggest in the world between
900 and 1200 AD, but then disappeared into the jungle. The jungle is still an
integral part of the ruins.
At
the beginning of the Cambodian rainy season, the mornings are often clear and
sunny, but about 3:30 in the afternoon the thunder clouds gather and there are
brief but intense showers. The red dirt roads turn into ponds and rivers, the
jungle regains its lush greenness and the spong trees suck up the moisture to
continue their relentless demolision of the ancient temples. One pond looked
too large and deep to splash through, so our guide led us into the forest, pushing
aside the creepers to reveal a narrow footpath. On cue, a bird squawked "Go
back! Go back!"
The writing was on the wall (or rather the door frames.) It's not that different from modern Khmer.
The local people split and burn the tree trunks to get the sap, but the trees fight back. Another clue! This time the tree was strangling an apsara dancer rather than a Buddha. We kept finding more and more apsara dancers.
Of
course, no adventure would be complete without the snakes. The seven-headed
Naga snake god greeted us at the entrance of nearly every temple. The tree roots
growing through the jungle temple were also similar to snakes... or are they
elephant trunks? 
Then
there were the snakes with legs. I was peering intently in the my camera, trying
to get the perfect shot, when suddenly Kate yelled, "Don't
step there!" At my feet, a double trail of ants swarmed across the
path and steps.
At last, deep inside one of
the temples, we found the final clue: an enormous black chedi, clearly a pointer
to somewhere.
Back on the road, our accomodation wasn't quite as basic as this, but we did have a visitor in our shower. We thought of getting him some fried crickets in the market, but he croaked.
The stairway to heaven is very steep, and you have to reave your shoes on the lacks,
but the rewards at the top are great. 
However, then you have to climb back down. Luckily we had no angry savages chasing us.
