We had one stop over from Narita, in Seoul – just one stepping stone of difference between the bustling Tokyo we left (stories about which I’ll fill in, in date order, whenever the opportunity presents itself) and the next – the unspoiled, semi-rural town of Siem Reap in Cambodia.
Our five hour night-flight from Seoul took us over electric storms, flashing eerily red in the darkness below us, reminding us that we were heading for Cambodia right at the start of its rainy season. We had caught news on the havoc wreaked in Myanmar by the cyclones and wondered if these storms were offshoots of the disturbance this had caused in the atmosphere. We held on through a few bouts of bumpiness but it wasn’t too alarming and we approached Siem Reap airport through clear skies. At first we weren’t sure if the dark surroundings as we approached the landing strip was due to cloud cover – then we realised that there was hardly any artificial light leaking up and out into the skies. We could only guess what lay in the dark beneath us, but we imagined, correctly, dense monsoon forest in whose hidden corners lay the legendary temple complexes of Angkor Wat.
Our flight was delayed by an hour and a half, but Vong, our guide for the next four days, had been waiting patiently at the airport for us and greeted us with a warm smile. The air had that heavy sub-tropical scent and it was hot and humid. I could feel myself relax. Taking us straight to the hotel – it was late – we promised to meet the next morning at nine. We unpacked, showered and slept. We were excited about what the darkness would reveal with the morning light.
