Siem Reap Day 2 - First Day at Temples

Sorry for the long delay - internet access is very slow in Cambodia so far so we haven't been able to access our site very well!

Anyway, we've got a lot to fill you in on as we are now in Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city, after having done an epic three days at the Angkor temples.

Anyway, our first full day in Siem Reap was meant to start at 4.00am so that we could go and catch sunrise at Angkor Wat- we slept through our alarms!!! We must have needed it but I had a little paddy about it then got over as I was grateful for the lie in and ended up having breakfast and coming across our tuk-tuk driver, Bol. He must be the smiliest person in Siem Reap and had very good English so we asked him to take us on the mini tour for the day.

First to the ticket office, where we got our 3 day passes for $40 each, then the drive up to Angkor itself, where our first taste of the temples was driving past Angkor Wat surrounding walls - even this small glimpse gave us butterflies!

We entered Angkor Thom through the South gate, a huge stone archway with the iconic stone faces looking towards the sky - it is spectacular the first time you see it and we were dumb struck! Lining the road were stone statues, again of epic proportions, carrying the body of a giant serpent (called a 'naga'), almost in a tug-o-war stance. Angkor Thom is one of the largest Khmer cities in Angkor, which houses many of the famous temples such as Bayon, which is where we were taken first. Looking up at all the sky faces we were holding our breath as they were amazing - the pictures won't d it justice and they are ENORMOUS! As son as we walked to the main entrance, an official guide said I could stand on one of the statues that didn't have a head so that Lee could take a picture looking like my head was that of the statue - I went to do it but another official came running up shouting at me to get down - I was sooooooooo embarrassed and I think Lee disowned me as he had told me not to do it! Bayon's galleries were lined with carvings depicting historical events and battle scenes and exploring this temple was great as it had many nooks and crannies.

Next temple, Baphoun, one of Angkors largest restoration projects after lootings took the plans of where the stones were meant to go, setting back this giant jigsaw project. Walking up to it from the 172 metre walkway gave it the grandeur it deserved.

From here we walked through what seemed like jungle(!) to Phimeanakas, where we met a huge temple with the steepest steps we have ever seen, with a sign saying climb at your peril! Anyway, we did climb it after some debate but once you start climbing, it's even steeper than you think! Lee did make me climb it first though as his own little safety check, saying if I didn't fall and die then he would do it as well! Nice! (But she still did it first!) Luckily, we didn't have to go down the same way we came up otherwise we would still be there now!

Next stop, the ruins f the Royal Palace and it's surrounding water pools, before seeing the famous Terrace of Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King; both intricately carved with a detail that you can't believe. I think we walked round with our jaws wide open most of the time because everywhere you turn there is something unbelievable to see!

Back to Bol and into the tuk-tuk we headed off to Ta Keo, a giant temple mountain and another epic climb! Worth it for the views over Angkor though.

Tuk-tuk again to Ta Prohm - my personal favorite of the whole of Angkor and one that was made famous in the film Tomb Raider ( i got to pretend to be Angelina Jolie for an hour, although not quite as glamorous as I sweat away in the baking heat!!!). Nature is trying to eat this temple whole! This temple is eerie, peaceful, lonely and mysterious all at once and as it is surrounded by trees the light comes down green, it really is magical. Trees are making their way through every crack they can find and yet the temple still stays together.

As we left Ta Phrom, the Cambodian children descended on us once again - they are everyway around the temples trying to sell you everything from flutes, whistles, scarves and water but they are so full of cheekiness and character! One selling postcards said we could have 10 for $1, then counted to ten in about 7 different languages! They have an answer for everything and meeting the children was as much an experience as the temples themselves. For anyone going, don't ignore them as they are only being told to pester you by their parents and they are adorable children.

Next stop, Banteay Kdei, similar to Ta Phrom in that nature here too has begun to eat away at the structure but here the faces from Bayon return.

Then Sras srang - a small baray that has retained it's water for over 9 decades where we relaxed and watched the children play inthe water.

Penultimate stop - Prasat Kravan, a small temple comprising of 5 brick sanctuaries before making our way to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sunset over Angkor.

We got an elephant ride up to the temple ($15 each) - I won't even start describing it because I was stupidly giddy and Lee did well to put up with me! But on the way up, there is a trail of elephants getting higher and higher, riding to the sound of one of the riders playing tunes through only a curled up leaf. As we got really high we began to make out the view of Angkor Wat in the distance - this has to be the best moment of my whole life (Lee says I have say apart from meeting Lee of course!)

The sunset wasn't really a sunset, more of the sun gradually turning orange and then disappearing into the smog(!) but it was still worth the experience and a great way to end our first day at Angkor and it's temples.

That night, we ate in World Lounge and pigged out as we hadn't eaten all day! Still only cost $10 for 2 courses and drink! Then onto Angkor What? bar for free pool and happy hour where we met some Canadians who had just come from Vietnam and Loas so gave us lots of advice for the weeks ahead.

early night, to make sure we did actually get up this time for sunrise over Angkor Wat, with Bol and his tuk-tuk picking us up at 5.00am!

Siem Reap Day 3 - Day 2 in Temples.

Yeah! We got up! 4.00am start and no sleeping through the alarm!

It was pretty weird joining a line of tuk-tuks in the pitch darkness driving up to Angkor, then getting out and it being even darker (no light pollution) and trying to navigate our way across the bridge over the moat to Angkor Wat (yes Ian, we know this would have been the perfect opportunity to use our torches but we are not that clever at 4.00am!!!)

Once we got inside the gate, we followed a group as nobody could see a thing, other than the thousand of stars above us. We all seemed to stop though in front of a massive lake and started to wait for sunrise. We knew it was the right place, (even though we still couldn't see a thing!) when in true entrepreneurial style, the Cambodian children came running up to us trying to sell us fresh coffee and chairs to watch the sunrise.

Although it wasn't really a sunrise, it just gradually got lighter and lighter, it was a spectacular way to reveal one of the worlds most famous images, the five towers of inner Angkor Way; first a gradual outline, then a perfect silhouette, then in full glory.

We wandered round the galleries, again with carvings that you could not imagine, andinner Ankgor Wat and it's five towers. Unfortunately, some of the climb was off limits for restoration but the scale of the towers was gigantic from here. There isn't a lot else we can say about Angkor Wat - you'll just have to go see it for yourselves(!) but the reveal at sunrise was the best. (exploring Angkor Wat took about 4.5 hours, including waiting for sunrise).

Walking out of Angkor Wat on the main walkway into the grounds, we could not believe how we hadn't (a) broken our ankles or (b) fallen into the moat! Earlier that morning when we had walked it blind, as the stones are all over the place and completely wonky!

Anyway, back into the tuk-tuk with the fastest tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap, stopping for gas which cost him $2 to fill his tank! Needless to say, Bol was shocked to hear that Lee's car would cost $85 to fill his car in England! Next stop, Preah Khan, similar again to Ta Phrom as it is over grown, but much more of a maze and not as busy. Next stop, Neak Pean, a very small monument se tin a main pond, surrounded by four outer ponds - as it is dry season though, everything was completely dry. I climbed up the inner monument just as a monk came to pray to the buddha inside, I don't think he appreciated me sweating away on the top of his temple (I was getting a bit of sun stroke at this point I think, the temples are such long days and the high climbs expose you to the sun a lot).

Nest stop Ta Som, then East Mebon and Pre Rup - another huge climb which almost killed me and saw Lee laughing his head off as I turned purple up another flight of stupidly steep stairs! I couldn't wait to get back to the tuk-tuk for the breezy ride back to Siem Reap; Bol had fallen asleep and we didn't want to wake him so we took a few pictures before he took us back. On the way, Bol forgot to doge a huge hole in the road and we went flying but couldn't stop laughing as he turned round with a huge smile on his face saying that he knows the road so well and couldn't believe he had forgotten the hole!

We ate at Il Viva, a Mexican bar where we shared deep fried spicy chicken, beef tacos and chicken fajitas, yum yum! Then back to our usual haunts, Temple bar and Angkor Wat where we always bag pavement side seats to people watch - the best yet as we count the old men with young Cambodian girls and our personal favorite, a prostitute fight with air punches throw! Lee was a happy man!

Siem Reap - Last Day at the Temples.

A welcomed later start - 9.00am meeting Bol ready to travel to 2 of the further out temples, Batreay Srey and Banteay Samre.

The tuk-tuk journey took about 45 minutes to reach the first temple but as we were traveling through local roads we saw a lot more of Cambodian life and how they live; family centering everything of course. The stick houses seem to be sleeping quarters inside, with shading living areas made under the actual body of the house. The children seem so happy playing and in their own company, dancing to themselves, playing with sticks or just waving at everyone that passes.

First impressions at Batreay Srey were, 'why have we travelled this far for this?' as in comparison to Angkor's central temples it is very small. However, once you walk into the grounds itself and are able to see the detail of the temples, you can understand why. The intricacy here makes that at Angkor Wat and the galleries in Bayon seems crude and harsh! Team this with being completely surrounded by a moat and bright trees make it well worth the trip.

On the way to the next temple, Bol asked us if we would like to stop at the Cambodian Landmine Museum, which of course we said yes. This wasn't the government Museum but one set up by Aki Ra, who was signed by the Khmer Rouge to make Land mines and plant them, after killing his parents when he was only 5. After the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian Government asked him to do the same job for them, before he started to use his skills to de-mine Cambodia, both for the officials and on his won, simply using sticks and shovels. Using the money he got from de-mining activity, he bought land to set up the museum and foster 11 children who have been injured through landmines. It really is an eye opener learning how the mines went from defensive to offensive, from being able to target victims to being completely impersonal attacks. It also documents countries who still have stock piles of anti-personal landmines, where they come from and most importantly, who has refused to sign the Ottawa Treaty - a Treaty agreeing to destroy all stockpiles of anti-personal landmines and discontinue their use. It does not ask for the discontinuation of other forms of mines i.e. defensive ones such as anti-tank mines or those that can target victims. Despite this, the USA remains the largest, most powerful Western country to sign the Treaty, refusing to do so on the grounds that they still wish to use them in Korea if need be. We would have been very embarrassed visiting the museum if we were American as this point is highly emphasized throughout.

It was very moving here and we are so glad that we got the chance to learn the history and how it has shaped Cambodia today. I bought a t-shirt too as we are running out quickly!

Next stop, Banteay Samre. On entering this temple there were a group of young girls asking us the usual questions and trying to get us to buy their goods. One little girl was particularly cheeky and full of energy, asking us where we were from and asked Lee his name. Lee asked for hers too, Janet. She said she would remember 'Mr Lee' and asked that if we were to buy anything, we buy from her. As we walked off, she continued to wave and shout 'bye Mr Lee' all the way down to the temple!

We were in the temple at least an hour and same some other children at another more secluded entrance. One little girl started crying so we broke up our chocolate biscuits and gave them out, making sure we saved enough for the girls and Janet when we left through the main entrance. As soon as we came out the temple, Janet started waving and shouting 'Mr Lee I remember you!' We couldn't stop smiling and she came running up to us! We offered her a chocolate biscuit, she tried to take the whole pack (smiling cheekily as she knew what she was doing!) Lee politely said no, laughing, saying that he needed to give some to the other children as well, so as a compromise, she filled her hand with as many pieces as she could take!!! 4 in total! If she had bigger hands we're sure she would have managed the whole pack! We gave the rest to the other children near by.

As didn't need what she was selling but we Lee asked if she had water, she said yes and sprinted across the road as fast as she could to get a bottle from her parents stall. She came back and asked for $2 with a big smile on her face (knowing that everywhere else we had been paying $1 and that she was trying her luck!) so Lee handed her $1 and she couldn't stop laughing! As we got in the tuk-tuk she wouldn't stop yelling bye Mr Lee, waving and saying she will never forget us and wishing us good luck. Our only regret so far was not getting a picture of Janet - although we really will never forget her!

Back to Siem Reap where Bol gave us his email address and we had our picture with him. We had lunch in Temple (Cambodian Pizza - gorgeous) and dinner in Amok. The food here was presented beautifully and we were given some green slime to eat first (thank god it was complimentary!) but as we went for our usual drink in Angkor What? I got ill for the first time so far, after Lee joking that as it was the most expensive meal so far we were bound to get ill! Luckily it was just over night and I was fine in the morning.

Day of rest in Siem Reap

Had a lovely day wandering around the markets, playing backgammon, drinking and having a traditional Khmer massage. At the market, one stall holder on previous days kept remembering Lee and if we walked passed again would say hi to Lee and that she remembered him, and that she had his size and favorite colour! Today she still remembered him so we thought we had to go and buy something because she was so lovely! Lee bought an Angkor vest and asked how much, she said $5 (it should probably have been about $2!) but she was so lovely we didn't have the heart to barter. Lee then said a bit late, what about $4 and she started giggling saying áw, you forgot to ask didn't you and I forgot to give you discount! Her name was Shreena, the 2nd of Lee's Cambodian female following.

The third being Lee's masseuse who couldn't stop looking at him when he closed his eyes which kept making me laugh! She then asked as a passing comment if we were married, and if not, when would we be and kept giggling when Lee spoke to her!!! He's is getting a little hareem of Cambodian girls falling in love with him (I don't know how this is possible whilst she was looking at his feet, all pickled from 3 days at the temples!)

Ate at World Lounge again as I was craving a jacket potato where we met Emma (Swedish) and Nick (French) who were doing Thailand, Loas and Cambodia in 3 weeks!

Onto Beatochello - a free Chello concert at the local children's hospital to raise awareness of the corruption in Government hospitals and the need for funding in the free hospitals he has set up throughout Cambodia. It wasn't so much a concert in the end, more of a talk/presentation with brief Chello playing in between but it was clear to see that he was a great man (Swiss) who had achieved so much for the country and I certainly learnt a lot.

Back to Angkor What? for our goodbye Siem Reap drinks, as we were leaving for Battambang by boat at 6.00am. We were very sad as we kept debating whether to extend our stay here but we have done all that we can and it is time to move on.