Morning all,
The answer to that question is another temple of course! To be so flippant does not give Angkor Wat and the other ancient temples and cities around Angkor the respect they deserve. We had a great couple of days exploring these markers of ancient times, some of which are still overgrown from hundreds of years of abandonment – with nature temporarily reclaiming it’s territory. Needless to say though that we did have temple fatigue after the end of the second day.
On Tuesday we moved off from Battambang and onto a bus full of locals heading to Siem Reap. Luckily no chickens this time, just some young girls in the traditional dress of pyjamas…the thing to wear on the bus! A 30 min stop at Sisophon allowed Stacey to use her last 5 baht to visit the dodgy facilities at the bus stop (baht doesn’t get you as much as it used to Mr J!)…but just on that, in Cambodia they have an official currency – the riel, a dominant currency – the USD and they also accept Thai baht and Viet Dong!
We rolled into Siem Reap a few hours later after only just thinking about where we were going to stay as we read through the options in the guidebook. Luckily we saw one of the places we had shortlisted as we rolled in and it was a 3 min walk from where the bus turned up so we just hoofed it and escaped the hordes of remork and moto drivers.
There was a room available (although we found out later that meant one night in the dodgy hotel next door), so we left our bags there and headed into town to Pub St (think cavil Pde at Surfers or Darling Hbr except cheaper!). After a quick and much needed bite to eat and 50c beer we hooked up with one of the many remork drivers to head out to Angkor. Tickets bought on the way and first stop Angkor Wat. An impressive sight from it’s entrance. Towering above everything around it and surrounded by a massive moat that’s even bigger than the minnamurra River! :)
It only gets more impressive as you start to explore within it’s walls. This place Is not just massive but majestic as well. The half day we gave it was not enough but these are the tradeoffs when travelling and the decisions that need to be made. As some photos show later, we did make it there after a 5am start to watch the sunrise the next morning. The magic of this place is not only in it’s symmetrical design and construction, or it’s orientation or grandeur even but also in the detail – to the little sculptures carved out in the walls and this is a highlight of most of the structures in and around Angkor.
After climbing to the top of the temple up a steep ladder and watching the sun setting in the west we headed back to the hotel (the dodgy one we had to stay in for a night) and arranged with our remork driver to meet up at 5am to get out to Angkor Wat for Sunrise.
It was well worth the effort the next morning and hopefully some of these photos demonstrate the worth of such effort well enough:
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| The crack of dawn breaks over Angkor Wat |
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| Improves the view..don't you think? |
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| The sun breaks through the haze after we leave the outer walls. |
We were ahead of the crowds as a result of the start time so had a good position. We also got out of the Wat before most others as well. Only to be spending the next hour looking for our remork driver who was not where he said he would be! He was not the best we have had here – probably the worst – he spent the time crapping on about he had to get up early so we have an early finish…but with him stuffing us around for an hour any chance of an early finish had been dashed!
Next on the list was Angkor Thom – an ancient city that replaced Angkor Wat. Within Angkor Tom was the Bayon Temple, Royal Palace and a few other highlights. We found Angkor Thom to be an improvement on Angkor Wat – probably because there were less people so you could explore more and the nature that had overgrown the area was still visible – particulary in the grounds of the Palace where we stopped off for a much needed drink!
Here are some photos of in and around Angkor Thom:
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| He's ok at climbing up but no good at coming down. Can report he survived this time. |
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| While Jeff was stuck up some steep stairs, Stacey posed for a sculpture! |
Next on the itinerary was Preah Khan..here are some photos:
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| Best friends! |
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| The writing in sanskrit says something about how this poor lady didn't listen to her husband! :) Luckily times have changed! |
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| It's a tough life! |
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| Just sold $3 worth of food and drink to some aussies. Can sit down and have a rest. the money will help pay for this aircon. |
After buying some water and pineapple from one of the many vendors at the exit to Preah Khan it was back into the remork and to an island temple in the middle of a natural looking but totally man made waterbody about half the size of lake illawarra, The most impressive part of this temple was the walk up to it and the mangrove setting. Not to mention the vendors. I learnt here that Canberra was the capital of Australia…it was the standard response to us answering the ubiquitous “where u come from?”
At the next temple - - Jeff got sucked in to playing a game of noughts and crosses in the dirt with one of the child vendors who – after he had refused to buy anthing said – ‘lets play a game” – Ïf I win you buy, If you win you get one for free!” It is sad to admit but he lost 2 games to a 7 year old! and was 2 dollars lighter as a result. Other highlights of this temple was the presence of nature – not just the vegetation but a snake and it’s tranquility,
After a quick stop at a restaurant recommended by the remork driver (read tourist trap), we headed off to Ta Prohm, which is where Stacey had wanted to see. And not just because her hero Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider here or in fact that Indiana Jones was filmed here as well! Or so she says – something about the power of naure. Unfortunately, depending on hwow you look at it, the trees in this place have started to been cleared by an inidian funded group. Part of ensuring conservation of the temple but meaning part of the charm is being lost.
Words cannot do it justice but hopefully these pics do:
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| One of the trees that Harrison Ford tripped over in Temple of Doom. |
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| They didn't say anything about (cheeky) monkeys hanging round the temple! |
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| Be a good photo without that random in the shot! |
And that my friends was the end of the 2 days at Angkor. It was back to the guesthouse for a dip in their pool and a beer or 2.
Next entry will shock you!
