Angkor Wat

Great spot for nibbles and wine
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Its only a short flight to Siem Reap and once again the plane arrives early, its a warm today and no rain. We quickly get through immigration and customs courtesy of our "evisa"which we organised before we left. We go through immediately while others have to purchase theirs before goingb through immigration. Evisas can be applied for on the net and are easy to organise.

We are met at the door by Mr Sokha who tells us he is to be our tuktuk driver for the whole of our stay. We have a 5 night package at The Villa Siem Reap and he is part of it! A short trip to the hotel introduces us to the joys of Cambodian roads which are not as bad as we have come from, almost empty by Vietnamese standards but for some reason 95% of all cars are Toyota Camrys. Siem Reap is not a particularly impressive town, more a dormitory for visting tourists and its quite dusty even though its the wet season. There are hotels and all sorts of accommodation going up everywhere and at an incredible rate, we are told that in the last twelve months there were 1.5 million visitors and they anticipate 2 million in the next 12 months, so you had better go before the place is totally swamped. Coach loads of Chinese and Korean tourists are everywhere and the Vietnamese run weekend packages from Ho Chi Minh City with express buses. Its pretty hard to avoid other tourists when you visit the Temple complexes and an early start gives you achance to see things with only a few people about.

Angkor Wat revealed
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Our hotel is great, run by Australians with greay staff, very helpful and eager to be of service. We organise our boat trip to Phnom Penh and Hotel there through them as soon as we arrive. Its off to get some money, local currency is the Riel, about 4000 to the US dollar. In the evening we go to buy our 3 day Angkor Pas which costs us $20US each and contrary to the guide book advice there is no need for photographs now as the whole process is automated and takes very little time if the queue is short! Then its off tob Banteay Khedi with Mr Sokha for a twilight drinks and nibbles amongst the ruins which is a wonderful introduction to the Temples, sitting on the ruins by a moat and enjoying the quiet and temple around us. When we get back we discover the hotel stocks one of our old favourites, Beer Lao, so we "try" one with our tea before heading for bed.

Angkor Wat reliefs
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An early start to the morning so that we can beat the heat and crowds. One of the noticeable things in this part of the world is the continual smoke haze which is a result of the heavy reliance on wood burning for cooking, smoke seems to hang in the air 24 hours a day. We have a guide for the day plus Mr Sokha and his tuktuk. He is entertaining, knowledgeable, speaks reasonable english and enjoys a joke. Our first stop is Angkor Wat of course which lives up to our expectations and is better than we expected. Everything is on such a vast scale, the outer wall is roughly 1km by 1km, so it is impossible to appreciate the entire site from one view point. Every where you look something different catches your eye, a view, a carving, a long vista or just the architectural cleverness of the Khmers. Our cameras are working overtime.

Angkor Wat
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After Angkor Wat its off to Angkor Thom (Big Angkor) whose outer wall is 3km by 3 km and contains a number of temples and ruins. Our entry is via the South gate and on to the Bayon which is a remakable temple with its huge faces on every tower and the superb reliefs which show battles the Khmers fought against the Champa, every day living and much more. The detail is amazing and a historical record of life in the 12th century. Then its on to Baphuon, Phimeankas, Preah Pailey (a beautiful but small temple), Tep Pranam and finishing with the Leper King Terrace and Terrace of the Elephants. This has been a wonderful and extremely interesting day and we are somewhat stiff and sore from all the climbing and clambering we have done. In the late afternoon I returned to Angkor Wat in the hope of getting some better shots as the sunset and was rewarded with about 5 minutes of sun as it had been overcast all day, a couple of good photos followed.

Angkor Wat vista
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Day 3 and another early start for the same reasons as yesterday but today we have no guide only Mr Sokha who can take us where ever we want to go but can't go with us into the temples as he does not have a guide's licence which he tells us costs about $2500US, a lot of money in Cambodia. He can however tell us all about each temple and what to look for inside, where to get the best photos and is a great help all day. Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raiders was made) is our first stop with its huge trees and ruins then Ta Keo, the Victory Gate, Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som and East Mebon, all before lunch. Preah Khan which means keeper of the sacred sword has a unique building which is two storeys high with round pillars at ground level and is the only buiding to have round pillars.

Angkor Thom South Gate
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Our after lunch plan is to visit the National Silk Centre but as it is Sunday it is closed so we visit the Roulos group of temples which are the oldest group in the area. Bakong was the first true pyramid temople and is quite beautiful with its simplicity, and its elephant and lion statues. We have to admit to being somewhat templed out after a long day and after tea at the nearby Sugarcane restaurant hit the sack for a good nights sleep.

Today is our longest travelling day in the tuktuk, about 140km all up, which is over some rough roads and also involves about a 45 minute walk to get to one of the sites through the jungle. Kbal Spean (River of 1000 Lingas) is our furthest stop and after a particulary rough last 11km, at one point we have to get out and walk, we get there and then trek through the jungle to the site. This is a uniqe place, there are no temples simply a vast number of carvings in the river bed for a couple of hundred metres which terminate at a small waterfall. This is the best time of the year to visit as the river is flowing and allaround is green and lush. Mr Sokha points out to us some of the Khmer Rouge's kitchen hideouts which are nearby. He tells us he fought them for three years and this was one of the last areas to be brought back under Government control and its only been a few years since tourists could visit safely.

Ta Prohm and its trees
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Back to Banteay Srei which has the best and finest carvings of any temple and is the only one built in a pink sandstone. Of interest is the fact that all the rest of the temples were constructed using a yellow sandstone quarried from  a mountain some 20km from Angkor and then floated down river. This sandstone is unique and by law can only be used nowdays for restoration work on the temples. This is a way of preventing statues from being forged. Our last stop for the day is the National Silk Centre which is interesting. In the evening we go to a Khmer Dance and Buffet night which is pretty average and is continually interrupted by a table next to us who have no interest in the dancing. Another long day and were are more than happy to get to bed.

Carol's affair with elephants continues
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No temples on our last full day in Siem Reap, today we visit Kampong Khluk, the stilt village where they build their house about 10m above ground level to avoid the annual flooding of Tonle Sap, see the lake itself, visit the floating forest where the trees seem to grow out of the water and have a final picnic with Mr Sokha who has looked after us royally and been a mine of information. In the afternoon we indulge in a swim and cocktails by the pool before our last dinner at the Villa. Tomorrow morning its the speed boat to Phnom Penh.