Finally it is going to happen! We are going to Ankor What, a huge temple complex.
First we want to visit the temples farthest away so we make a deal with a tuk-tuk guy. Then we go get our entrance passes (pass photo needed!). A three-day pass costs 40 dollars. In an area of between 21 and 28 km there are over 100 temples. The first one we visit is called Pensat Kravan. It is actually a row of towers with beautiful brick sculptures. The books give this temple only one star so not a great promise... After this comes the Sea Srang water reservoir. Ankor owes its wealth to the ingenious irrigation system. Opposite Sra Srang is Bantai Kdei. First you pass a gate with faces in the outside wall. Most temples are situated in square walled areas. This temple is crowded and large areas are collapsed. Trees grow everywhere and hardly anything is restored which makes it fun.
Then we go to Ta Phrom. One of the most well-known temples of Ankor because of its trees. This is where we need to find the spot where Jan and Andre have made the picture of Robin Bear. This is also the cover picture of the Lonely planet. We have taken a picture of our bear "Louche" to prove we have found the right spot. At another part of the temple we take a picture for the Bever assignment. This temple is absolutely beautiful. Two guys show us a gate which is hidden in the jungle. After lunch we drive to Pre Rap. About 4 km further away. This temple symbolizes a mountain. So it goes high up which means you have a great view on the area. The next temple is East Mebon. Situated in the old Eastern water reservoir. It is dried up now but it used to be the most important water supplier with its size of 7 by 2 km. On its corners elephants in harnesses guard the temple. The last temple to visit in this part today is Ta Som: also beautiful. Behind the temple there is yet another gate which is hidden by a tree. The moment we take the picture a guard is busy catching a snake. This is our first encounter with a snake in the wild and we are not safely in a car or a boat. We get a little closer to take a look. It's not very large but poisonous and the guard kills it with a catapult.
We drive about 16 km to the Roulos group. These are the oldest temples from the 8th century. The sky is dark and doesn't promiss a good thing. At the Lolei temple live a group of monks. A few boys want to speak English with us. They are not monks but live there because they are orphans. One of the boys wants a lift from us to Siem Reap to check his email. Saskia from Amsterdam is coming over! She taught here for three months last year and now she is paying for his study. We decide to give him the ride. It starts raining and that doesn't stop until the next morning.
The streets are overflowed with water and we sometimes take a tuk-tuk because it is too deep to wade through. At the internet/bike store I go and send an email while Jeroen tries to find a bike with a light. While I am waiting I notice something in the corner. It turns out to be baby crocodiles moving in some water. That is the last thing we expected to find here.
By bike to Ankor Wat! It is only 7 km to the main temple. Everybody calls the complex Ankor Wat even though it is only one temple, which carries that name. The rest are the temples of Angkor. Our tuk-tuk guy from yesterday had advised us to go at around 10.00. The first group of people has left by then and the next will arrive at the end of the afternoon. It turns out to be true. We are enjoying the different details for hours. We go for lunch and after that we decide to go back to the middle of the temple. We want to see a few temples in detail instead of all temples half. At around 14.30 hrs we are done watching and we leave, passing the newcomers on our way out.
We cycle past Phnom Bakheng to Angkor Tom. Phnom Bakheng is the mountain where everybody goes to to watch the sunset and also where you can take an elephant ride up the mountain. The gate of Angkor Tom is impressive. At the side of the road are 54 statues of gods and demons. Angkor Tom is 5 by 5 km so another 2,5 kilometer cycling to the central temple of Bayon. This is one of Jeroen's favorites. It has 37 towers which all hold 4 happy faces, which look down on you wherever you look. The different details here are also magnificent. It tells you a lot about how the people used to live here. The sun already starts to set so everywhere you look the light is orange. We are tired and decide to head back to Siem Reap. Then we encounter monkeys for the first time. At the sunset mountain it is very crowded. We cycle on and by a corn-on-the-cob which we eat on the wall of Ankor Wat.
And then it is already day 3. Because we were not able to finish our tour through the Roulos group the first day we decide to hire our tuk-tuk guy again. Today we start with Bangkong. On the terrain is a busy monastery. Of course there are a lot of salesmen in front of this temple. There is a deaf girl who practices the western sign language. The next temple is Prea Ko with statues of elephants on the corners and oxes in front of it.
We are done at the Roulos group and cycle to the temple farthest away, the Angkor Tom. Neak Pean is not a real temple but more a few ponds. Preah Khan is the next temple and it looks a bit old. But the further we get the more impressive it becomes. The tempel Ta Keo was never finished. The whole temple is made of sand stone which makes it different from the rest. Thommonon is only a small temple but a beautiful one which looks a lot like Ankor Wat. We cycle through the Victorio gate to Angkor Tom. This gate was used in the movie "Tombraider". It starts to rain again and after the rain we go to the terrace of the leper king. It is a huge wall and since our tuk-tuk guy has never seen it either he goes with us. It is amazing but impossible to take pictures. On our way to the guesthouse we see some more monkeys and we feed them our last bananas.
