Me vs. the Waterfall

So, I have a story to tell. On day 2 at Siem Reap, I decided to go to some temples that are more off the beaten path. One of these was the temple of Banteay Srei, whose photos appear at the end of this album. It is one of the most detailed temples in the area, known for its intricate carvings and blah blah blah. Sorry, I'm just not up for talking about that one right now.

The "temple" that really got to me was Kbal Spean, the "Temple of One Thousand Lingas," which was created some time between the 11th and 13th centuries. Now, for those of you not up to speed on your Hinduism, the linga is the phallic symbol. This "temple"--which I keep putting in quotation marks because it wasn't really a temple--was actually a stream bed covered and surrounded by carvings of religious figures and symbols, including the linga. Like this:


All of those raised circles are lingas, and have been there, in that stream for around 800 years. It's a bit insane to think about. Because the water runs over these carvings, it is considered sacred; at the time, people from nearby villages would come here to bathe themselves when they were sick or, in the case of women, when they wished to get pregnant but were having trouble. These people would bathe in the water, and then carry buckets of it back to their villages for others who could not hike the 1500 km up into the forest to get it. This practice is still somewhat in effect today, and when we got there, there were others already bathing. (You can see all my photos here.) Some tourists had decided to try it, and I thought "Why not?" However, I started overthinking it, and the water was cold, so this is as far as i got:


Lame, huh? So. I did this, and then me and Thon, my guide and moto driver, hiked back down. All the way down the mountain I was thinking, "I should have gone under that waterfall. That would have been an amazing experience." But I had chickened out--half-assed it, in a way. And I started feeling really bad about it in the pit of my stomach, thinking about how I didn't want to have any regrets from this trip. It was nagging at me, that I should do this.

Thon and I got to the bottom, and had some late lunch. After much thought, I turned to him and told him that I wanted to go back up and go in the waterfall. I assured him I wouldn't take that long, since this time I wouldn't be stopping for tourist information, and I had a clear goal. He laughed and shrugged and said ok. So I went back, because I wanted to.


I know this isn't really that big of a deal, but to me it was, because it was a moment where I had initially acted based on reservations--I was worried about getting wet, about looking silly, there were lots of people there...but then I thought that all that was stupid. How many chances will I get to bathe under a sacred 800-year-old waterfall? Just one, maybe. So going back was me making a clear decision (which, as most of you know, is not my forte) to go after something that I wanted. And afterwards, I felt great about it.


So, I got soaked, got some photos, and hiked back down. Thon had sat at the cafe with the cafe lady, and they both laughed at me when i trekked back down, dripping wet. Thon was like, "You did it!" And I felt fabulous.

And then I went and hugged an elephant. But more on that later.