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JK - this morning we woke up at 4.45am in order to get to Angkor Wat for the sunrise. When we got there our guide Kinal found us the perfect spot to witness this amazing spectacle. As the sky got lighter the more beautiful the sight (and site) became. It took a while for the sun to rise above the trees, but when it did it was amazing. Luckily Tom had positioned himself near the water so got some great shots of the reflections on the water (along with 100's of other people). As he pointed out, there was more camera equipment than a Jessops depot! All the books describe this as one of the 'must see' sights (and sites) and for once they are not wrong, it really was truly stunning.
Next was a trip to Ta Prohm (also known as the Tomb Raider Temple - sadly for the boys today it was sans Lara Croft). This Buddhist temple was built in 1186 and was originally known as Rajavihara or Monastery of the King and was dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII. It is a stunning temple (and for many their favourite) and is the ultimate explorers temple! Set in a jungle the trees grow through the walls and create amazing shapes around the building. Sunlight steams through the canopy creating beautiful shadows on the building. Archeologists want to cut the trees away because of the damage they are doing to the site. I really hope that they don't because it will really spoil the atmosphere here.
We then arrived backed to the hotel for some downtime. Tom thrashed me in a couple of games of snooker before heading to the floating villages. The floating village, Ching Kneas is on the Tonle Sap lake. We cruised along the river passing many wooden house floating on bamboo rafts and as it was dusk all the villagers were out scooting around on boats or sitting on their porches waving to us. We stopped to visit a crocodile farm, however the crocodiles didn't look very happy or healthy because they were ties up in a tiny tank. On the way back the sun set over the flood plain with a brilliant display of colour. Everybody was quite chuffed that a beautiful sunset was reserved for the last evening of the holiday.
In the evening we went to Marum a restaurant that was part of the 'Friends' chain, a charity that helps former street children a chance to work and lean about working in the hospitality industry. For me it was one of the best meals of the holiday. Tom, Jules and I got 6 small plates and shared them amongst us, it included green papaya salad, meatballs in green curry, seafood dim sim, beet root & lotus root salad with coriander dressing, smoked aubergine dip with rice crackers. The food was divine, but the puds were something else. I had a Kampot pepper chocolate cake and Tom had an amazing creme brûlée. A great place to eat our last meal as a group!
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