Echo came back to the guesthouse early next morning, and said that she and her German friend - Juli - had found another guesthouse where a single bed cost only 1 USD per night. To be honest, I liked my current room and didn’t want to leave, but it would be more practical to stay close to people I would be hanging out with, so I decided to move there.

When I told Mr. Ni Ni that I was checking out, he seemed to be more angry than disappointed. I clearly didn’t remind him of his best friend then. He angrily told me that I shouldn’t listen to the Chinese girl as she is not a nice person. He also forgot about the 1 dollar “discount” he had promised me the previous evening.

The other guesthouse was called Garden Village, and it came with a rooftop bar. This place was also nice, and I rented for myself a single bed in one of the huts there.

My bed at Garden Village

In the evening, Echo & I rented a bicycle (also available at the guesthouse for 1 USD per day) and went to meet Sokda, a local couchsurfer. We chatted with him for a bit, though between the Cambodian, Chinese & Indian accents, I suspect nobody understood much of what the others were saying. Anyway, from there we went to catch the sunset at Angkor Wat. Like many people around the world, I had seen pictures of this place, but looking at it in real life was something else. I was so mesmerised by the temple itself, that I completely forgot about the Sun.

Like the stereotypical Chinese tourist, Echo was busy capturing pictures of nearly everything she laid her eyes upon (and in nearly every angle she could manage). Yours truly was also one of her subjects, and I enjoyed feeling like a model for a while.

Modelling at Angkor Wat - 1

Modelling at Angkor Wat - 2

As soon as the Sun had set, a temple security guard started shooing people away. He probably saw how awestruck I was with everything, and discreetly offered to let me click a few pictures after everyone had left. So I hung back while he made all the other tourists leave. He then came back and took me to some cordoned off places where a lot of restoration work was in progress. From here, I got some great views of the landscape around - views that will probably not be available to the general public for quite some time to come. On the way out, I handed 2 USD to the guard, and he was visibly pleased.