Amazing Angkor

I flew up to Siem Reap from Saigon easily enough, except that my flight was full of QE2 members which made me feel as though flying was perhaps too much of a luxury.  On getting to Siem Reap I managed to share a taxi with 2 girls from San Francisco (Leslie and Sarah) into town to find a guesthouse.

Me in front of the Bayon temple

It was late, so we grabbed some food, before having a pretty early night as the plan was to see Angkor the next day.  That plan did indeed happen, and earlier than I had planned.  Because I had chosen to have a fan rather than AC I slept about 3 hours because I was so hot.  I ended up leaving for Angkor at about 7.15am!!!  I hired a moto driver for the day to take me to all the main sights, and I wasn't disappointed.  The sights I saw (in order) were as follows:

Trainee monks at Angkor Wat

- The gate to Angkor Thom - the last capital of the Khmer Empire.

- Bayon -  last state temple to be built at Angkor, containning loads of random faces carved into it.

- The Terrace of Elephants - 350m-long wall full of carved elephants used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king's grand audience hall

- The Terrace of the Leper King - a statue depictng the Hindu god Yama, the god of Death. He was called the Leper King because discoloration and moss growing on the original statue was reminiscent of a person with leprosy, and also because it fit in with a Cambodian legend of an Angkorian king who had leprosy

- Ta Keo

- Ta Phrom - the Tomb Raider temple, where trees and forest are overtaking the site.

- Pre Rup

- Banteay Srei - built largely of red sandstone, which is covered with elaborate and deeply carved decoration.  It is known as the Ladies Temple.

- Neak Pean - an artificial island with a Buddhist temple at the centre

- Preah Khan - it was the centre of a substantial organisation, with almost 100,000 officials and servants.  One of my favourite sights as there were no Koreans or Chinese groups there!

- Last stop.... ANGKOR WAT!!!  The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it was the kings temple and it is awesome.  So big.

Sorry about the history lesson - it's more for my memory than anything else.  The day was really good, though it became a bit hot in the middle of the day.  That luckily coincided with me having seen all the best sights, so I headed back to town at about 2pm.  Angkor is an amaizing site to visit, hence the fact over 2 million people visited last year.  It's also expensive.  A day ticket was $20, the moto $15, loads of drinking water to buy, plus buying postcards from the adorable Cambodian kids. 

I met up with the 2 girls in the evening to grab some food at The Dead Fish restaurant, which is really cool - good food, live traditional dance, and a nice atmosphere.  The girls had met a Cambodian guy in the day, and he is a guide.  He came and met us for a drink and it turned into one of the most enlightening chats I've had.  The poor guy lost both his parents when he was 5, due to the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regine.  He was an orphan, but has now learnt English and German to aid his work as a tour guide by day.  By night he works at an orphanage, teaching the kids as much as he can.  The guy makes a great example for them.  He also told us the truth about the current "democracy", which is actually being led by a soldier of the Khmer Rouge.  As this signifies, it really isn't a democracy at all, and the past crimes of the previous regime will never be bought to trial at this rate.  Again, I'guess this sounds quite intense, but it was really eye-opening talking to this guy as everyone seems to think the country is completely over its history but it really isn't.