We slept in a little this morning but were still ready and breakfasted and heading out to the Temples of Angkor by 11am. Moy at the guesthouse arranged for a friend of hers who drives a tuk tuk to take Rob and I and Sarah round the temples for the day. What people do is arrange a price for the day and they take you from temple to temple and wait while you look around. This is Rob in Mr Wuthy's tuk tuk outside our Guesthouse just before we set off.
There is a large number of temples and buildings in the area to visit and there was no way we'd see it all in one day, or that we'd take things in if we visited too many. So we agreed we'd do the big hitters today and then come back to explore some more another time. Although people normally finish with it we decided to go first to Angkor Wat as we were eager to see it. The first sight of it is amazing; grand and impressive but delicate, with an imposing walkway up to the entrance. It was a shame that there is scaffolding up but then its good that they are looking after it.
We took plenty of time walking around the whole temple. It was really peaceful with long arched walkways, intricate carvings and jungle views outside. It is hard to believe it was built in the 11th century. The carving was infinite depicting battles and ceremonies, some being about 500m. The Temple felt like something from another world and historians still theorise how it was built. It was incredible.
As we were walking out of the main gate, Ame was approached by a group of Buddhist Monks and we were at first a bit perplexed about what they wanted. Then it came clear that one of them wanted his picture taken with Amy!!! It was so funny. I got a picture too. He must have thought she looked Little Miss Western or something.
So after a peaceful hour walk around Angkor Wat, we jumped back into tuk-tuk to our next stop. Here is Mr Wuthy in action on the tuk-tuk. He was such a nice guy. We're gonna try and use him again.
Our second stop was Bayon where over 200 carved faces welcomed us. We climbed up and sat amongst them. The detail again was exquisite. You felt like they were staring down at you, watching for centuries.
Next stop we had lunch at a make-shift cafe and had a bloooming good chat to Sarah and really got to know her. It's great as she is volunteering on the Orphanage Project for 1 month so she'll be around most of the time we are. So after that we took a walk around the central area of Angkor Thom. We were beginning to see the real overgrown temples that felt a little spooky and alive.
Onwards we went to a few more Temples that I can't even remember the names of! I can't believe how many Temples they had in one small place. I need to know a bit more about the history because I know pretty much bugger all. One of the next few Temples was a favourite. We by chance bumped into Claire and Aaron who were cycling the whole way round. Nutters. It was 36 degrees. We all scaled the side of this symetrical temple. The steps were uneven and steep. We got really high up. No-one cares if you climb on them. If they were in the UK, they'd be sectioned off for just looking at I'd imagine.
Then around 16:00 we arrived at Ta Prohm. This Temple was used heavily in the filming of "Tombraider" and you could see why. It was awesome. It felt like a giant rabid monkey could jump out of a door at any second! We loved this place. As a slight aside, they was a American girl who had dressed up as Lara Croft and was posing around the place which was a bit bizarre.
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