Got off the bus in town and immediately had a young boy carrying a baby latch on to us asking for food. He can't have been more than five. It's hard to know what to do as money given often ends up in the wrong hands. We spoke to him a bit and Claire gave him the grasshopper model from Battambang which cheered him up.
Found a guesthouse next to a wat (church) then went to find a driver for the temple expeditions. Found one guy but he never showed up at the arranged time so got another guy called 'Shazbot' I think. He was friendly enough although didn't say much more than 'Yes'.
Went to get three day pass for the temples at 6pm which allows you to go in that evening for the sunset. Climbed up a big hill and scaled our first temple, Phnom Bakheng. Watched an impressive sunset then returned to the town for dinner during which Claire got ill and had to go back to the guesthouse. This left me with two meals, a glass of beer and two cocktaiks which I duly polished off before heading home to check on Claire. She was not in a good way. Soon after nor was I and we puked in stereo all night long.
Feeling rotten after a night to forget I went to the chemist for some rehydration stuff. Also got ripped of in a minimart but was too weak to argue.
We had arranged to get picked up by our driver at 12pm to go and see the Roluos temples (oldest big ones) but Claire had not recovered enough. I went along but the heat was intense so didn't enjoy it that much. One of the three I saw was cool though. Bakong was its name. Huge thing with elephant statues and stuff.
Went for dinner at a posh place so as not to punish our delicate guts anymore. Very nice. Switched rooms at the guesthouse to a cooler option and slept very well.
The next day we did the grand circuit missing out the 'big three'. We wanted to save these for the last day. We saw about nine temples of ranging aweness. Preah Khan was the best with its maze like structure and trees growing around it, on it and through its walls. Some chancer gave us a 'tour' and then requested five dollars. Not a chance mate, have 50 cent and be grateful. Seriously, he was an unwanted and crap tour guide.
We had a picnic on the banks of an ancient resevoir, saw a few more temples and a fortified city named Angkor Thom. A school kid showed us around a temple in Angkor Thom so we gave him some dosh for his school. After this we called it a day. Had some drinks at a cool bar called Angkor What? then hit the sack in preparation for the final day on which we would visit the big three.
We got picked up at the ungodly hour of 4.30am in order to make it to the big one, Angkor Wat, for sunrise. This was pretty impressive and after the sun was up we went in. The place is enormous. The moat around it is some 200 metres wide and the temple itself has four exterior walls 800 metres in length. The main tower is 55 metres high and quite a climb up some ludicrously steep stairs. It's just a very impressive building really. The scale of it is crazy.
Next up was the Bayon. I preferred this to Angkor Wat as it was like walking through a level of Doom minus the baddies of course. There are about 200 huge carvings of some king's head all over its walls which glare down on you menacingly wherever you are stood. It was awesome.
The final temple was Ta Prohm, known as the Tomb Raider temple. Despite the crowds, this was the most picturesque. Huge trees spewing out from doorways, walls and arches made it feel unreal, like the jungle was eating it. No Lara Croft anywhere though.
All in all we saw about 20 temples, too many to name and maybe just a tad samey apart from the ones I have named. Good fun though.
Stayed an extra night in Siem Reap and went to the market to get Claire some very well priced clothes. Left the next morning.
Siem Reap is a bustling little town really geared up for tourists. It has a Pub Street which says it all. You could easily spend a week here without even going near a temple.
The temples are fantastic although without a keen interest in archaeolgy I think it may seem a bit repetative. Nevertheless, three days (plus a bonus sunset) seemed about right for us. It was the sheer scale, incredible detail and age of the temples that impressed the most really.
Next up, Kratie and the Irrawaddy Dolphins.
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