Day 12 - Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Very early start his morning. Up at 4.30 and set off in our Tuk Tuk at 5pm to see sunrise over Angkor Wat. 

WARNING. This post contains many explicit images of temples.

Here is how things developed. Well worth waiting for. 

What an idiot this guy was in front of us when it started spitting.

Sun starting to poke his head out

What a view. 

By this time it was about 6.30 and the temple doesn't open until 8am so we head for a pretty dodgy breakfast in little shack near the entrance. 

Not sure if they can be seen in this pic but by the entrance there were hundreds of dragon flies flying around. See little black specs in the sky. 

Angkor is a huge place, absolutely enormous which is why we have our personal Tuk Tuk drivers to drive us around all day. 

Now for a bit of history. Angkor Wat is the biggest religious building in the world and is truly impressive to look at and a true wonder of the world. In the same league as the Taj Mahal but on a far grander scale. Angkor also used to be a huge city and South East Asia's first metropolis but has long since gone. This place had one million people living here when London only had 50k. 

We plan to return to Angkor Wat later when it is less busy so first head to Angkor Thom. First sight at one of the five gates crossing a monumentous moat is pretty impressive. 

At the heart of Angkor Thom within the old city walls is the Bayor, the state temple of an old king. Pretty impressive stuff. Looks very similar to Angkor Wat. 

We explore inside, seeing lots of bats and a maze of narrow alley ways to walk through. These are literally solid structures with very little space inside. Enough space for another penis rock though. They are everywhere! ;-)

Now by this time we are getting pretty agitated by two things. The ridiculous heat and our verbose guide. First the heat. It is bubbling hot. Mid thirties and 80% humidity. We have never felt heat like it and are all dripping from head to bottom. We were sweating out of places I didn't even know could secrete sweat. This is not a care bear pattern on my t-shirt! 

Second our very nice but tedious guide who repeats everything three times and explains every piece of history in excruciating detail. If we were to write out a transcript of his tour, war and peace would have nothing on it. He is lovely but is not blending well with this heat. 

Next stop is The Baphuon a huge pyramid structure that was the centre of the city before Angkor Thom. The tiny wooden steps to get to the top were an utter hazard. I am sure there must have been some nasty injuries on these. It was like a 50ft ladder.  

There are three sets of these steps to the top. We are about to internally combust when we reach the top. 

Next up was my personal fave. Ta Prohm which is where Tomb Raider was filmed and would be a perfect fitting for an Indiana Jones film. Nature has run riot here with the roots of huge trees growing throughout the rocks and ruins. Looked like a theme park. 

This tree needs to be kept up by scaffolding to preserve it. 

Our very own Angelina Jolies. 

Monkey crossing. They were so tame. Walked right up to us. 

By this time it is midday and we head back to Angkor Wat. We have been out walking around temples in this heat for seven hours now and it's beginning to take its toll but we have to see the main event. 

Another precipitous climb and more sweat. 

Confusing signs await us at the top.  So many possibilities. 

At the top of Angkor Wat it's really impressive. One of those places where you wonder how the heck they managed to build it. Both staggering and awe inspiring. 

Dave cannot get the hang of coming down the steps. Here he is coming down backwards getting overtaken by school girls. 

Buddhist monks visiting Angkor Wat. 

We say good bye to our guide. He got a bit better once we time boxed him. He was expecting to take us around until 6pm!!! That would have been 13 hours. Our eight hours in total was hard enough.

 

As we get back into our Tuk Tuk's to go back to the hotel the heavens opened. Very amusing seeing this chap transporting live chickens hanging upside down by their feet in the pouring rain. They must have wondered what the hell was going on poor things!!!

Back at hotel and straight in the pool despite the rain. So nice but actually felt drier in the pool than we had when we were out! Spot of lunch then afternoon nap while the rain and thunder storm rolled in. We were going to hire bikes for a ride around the city but none of us can quite bear the thought of it in this heat. 

That evening we head to restaurant we liked the look of a few days back called Raja Angkor. 

http://www.rajaangkor.com

I went for the very tasty tasting menu. 

Extra one for dinner. 

It had a special BBQ menu which was delicious. 

Confusing toilets though. No wonder there aren't many birds around here.  

Explore around the night market. Mark and Robert are in for a real treat with the new addition to rogues gallery. I'd put a picture up but Caroline has put an embargo on it to save the surprise.  

Back down pub street and head to a lovely little bar called Picasso

Then back to the hotel for a night cap of Cambodia's finest and cards. 

Siem Reap has definitely grown on us. It has a real charm about the place despite the slight anomaly that is pub street. Next stop Bangkok.