Ankor

After letting go the bad vibes of the previous days trip we head out into Siem Riep bright and early.
It's a small city. And as expected it is very touristy. But not as tacky as it could be.

We have delicious breakfast at one of the many cute cafes and get chatting to an Aussie couple. They were kind enough to recommend their tuk tuk driver Mr. Hoar (pronounced whore). For $10 a day he'll take you to all the temples and around town, this is a good deal as some people have paid as much as $30 a day. So as soon as they've been dropped at the bus station Hoar comes back to pick us up and we're off.

Wow.
Angkor was the site of a series of capital cities of the Khmer Empire for much of the period from the 9thC to the 15thC. The ruins of these spectacular temples are found amidst forests and farmlands. There are over 1000 temples in the area. These range from nodescpript piles of bricks and rubble to the magnificent temples that really take you back in time. The most famous of these is the Angkor Wat. It is said to be the world's largest religious monument. You can believe this when you're standing, awestruck, infront of it. This temple is built to reflect the description of the universe according to Hindu mythology. A huge moat surrounds it and an outer wall after that with many long corridors inside it. A massive courtyard then contains 2 libraries and a long walkway take you to the heart of the temple, which you climb up in stages. The first level takes you to a place where large pools are and reliefs of women dancers decorate the wall. Up a level the courtyard is huge and contains the temple mount itself: a huge pyramid mountain that has steep steps you actually need to climb like a ladder 2.5 storeys up. From there you get a great view of the surrounding country but its not the end. The last courtyard is split into four by corridors and the centre is where the main idol would sit (then a vishnu or perhaps shiva but now a budha shrowded in orage and incence burning infront of him) and huge mountain shaped structure over him roughly 3-5 storeys high. This is Mt Meru centre of the universe and where god lives. It is truly amazing.

Martin and I climbed up and over the temple and spent a lot of time just walking around it in amazement. It still retains a lot of detailed statues and carvings on the walls. It is beautiful

After a couple of hours of exploring we moved onto Banyon Temple. This was probably my most favourite. It is known as the Temple of Faces. This temple is known as the temple of faces. It's a large structure on 3 levels or tiers with 49-59 towers each carved with a total or 4 faces on them. The corridors are tight and winding with lingams (hindu phallic and femine mixed idols) or budhas at intersections. Smaller and more confined than Angkor Watt, Banyon was seen as just as majestic due to it been covered in metal in its past and it's intricate carved reliefs on the walls tell the storey of battles against foreign invaders, the Chalms, as well as showing day-to-day activities like cock-fighting and circus acts.
The faces were so well carved. They stare at you from all directions in a very peaceful way

After Banyon onto Baphon.
This temple has suffered terribly from the elements. The french are in the process of restoring its 4 tiered pyramid that had a reclining buddha actually built into the side so that he covered one side of the second tier. When you see the restoration pictures this is fascinating and really a remarkable feat for architecture especially so long ago!

Ta Prohm was my second favourite temple.
The Jungle Temple... popular from the movie Tomb Raider. Yes this is where our good friend Angelina Jolie picked up her cambodian adopted son (yay...) and the temple itself was mostly reclaimed by the jungle over the years so that it is now covered in huge trees whose roots are basically what is holding the entire structure together. It is incredible. I was just in awe of the roots....they just seem to drip into the ground, twisting and turning. Beautiful!
Nobody chopped them down over the years b/c the wood of these trees is so soft that they're useless as building materials. We wanted a good place to see sunset but also to avoid the crowds. Luckily our tuk tuk driver's trainee and friend, Sam (born in cambodia became a refugee in the US and got a passport, came back after 20years got married and is trying to raise money to fly his 3 kids to the states...), knew of a good place.
Pre Ruk
we chilled for a while at a ruin nearby where we met a retired US couple who had been travelling for 4 years! They were very alternative and when they saw Martin's sore on his knee they insisted he start slapping on crushed garlic to cure the infection! They were very interesting to speakk to. They spoke to us about their belief that a change in diet and attitude can help you create a stronger immune system and defeat most diseases www.worldglobetrotters.com.

Sam and Hoar drove us to Pre Ruk so we could watch the sun set and we climbed the steep steps to where the other tourists were too - but many times less than anywhere else i'd been. the majority of us were quiet and it was pleasant. Mart and i meditated there facing west as the sun set and it was serene and relaxing.
That evening we got dropped by a market and ate at a place called the Dragon Soup. Martin ordered a cambodian dish with minced pork in prohac sauce with rice. I had something a bit blah.


The next day we got up at 5.15am and met Hoar and Sam outside the guesthouse where they then drove us to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. There were hoards of tourists and one particular funny group of japanese tourists who were doing aerobics while watching except that they were all over 50 and blatantly haven't done it before b/c they were stiff and out of time! lol!
We walked off some distance so that se couldn't see the aerobics class and watched the sun rise A-MAZE-ING! So beautiful and so worth getting up at that time.

Phnow Bakeng
This is the temple that most tourist buses use for sunset as it's on a large hill and faces west but we saw it directly after Angkor wat as it was recommended in the guide but we wanted to avoid crowds. We walked up the winding path and enjoyed the view from the top but compared to many of the other temples we'd seen and the stuff in india it was bit plain tho still exhilerating to try and climb down those sheer cliff-like stairs of the pyramid!

MARKET
THREE LITTLE GIRLS
We walked from one side to the other and i drank my first coconut on the other side when 3 little girls selling bracelets came and sat with us. one of them had a dodgy eye and when i took photos she saw them on the camera and started covering her eye. To make sure she didn't feel bad we had the others do it too and took photos. They were 6 years old. As we walked back to the tuk tuk they were harassing us for a dollar like literally the word "no" doesn't seem to exist for them. anyway it really got to me so so I gace them some a dollar each...and then burst into tears."they're only 6 years old and all they want is a fucking dollar!" ..."what's that to us? it's nothing! It's 50pence!"


At about 1730pm we left (before sunset) and Hoar drove us back to our hotel and agreed to pick us up for the airport the next morning (jesus was that really this morning?). We then showered b/c the dirt and dust sticks to your sweaty skin in the high humidity and heat. it's funny every time i wash my tan disappears!.... Then we walked to temple balcony restaurant and bumped into an austrian couple in their late 40/s early 50s who'd been on the bus with us and we'd kept bumping into over the course of our last two days! Christian and Phileese are involved in the film industry - her a writer/director and him an actor who was in austria's most successful film (Miller's Office - apparently...). We were going to the restaurant because it had live traditional cambodia dancers while you eat and so we watched the entertainment (i've just put a video up so i hope you enjoy it) and got back to the hotel about 11pm.

Bangkok
Today we caught the plane back to BKK. MArtin and I are sharing a room at Lamphutree - a cheap swish hotel....I leave for Aus tomorrow and feel I have LOTS to get through...shoppin!!!
Tonite we are hitting patpong. The TOWN...we're going to VERTIGO - the highest bar on earth... might see a sex show, and then going clubbing...
I hope i see something dirty...