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Discovering the wonders of Angkor
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Our expectations were high as we entered the 'lost city' of Angkor on our moto but they were truly exceeded when we arrived. Built from the 8th to 13th century Angkor Wat (the central temple) and its surrounding temples were each different but all amazing. Words don't do justice to the stature, complexity, architectural genius and intricacy of each temple. Some, such as Ta Prohm, have been left crumbling as 'discovered' in the 19th century, with tree roots intwinned through the stone and broken statues lying on the ground. Others have been rebuilt to once again display their magnificence. Our three days of temple exploration left us hot and dusty but not, as some people had advised, tired of seeing more. Hopefully our photos capture for you some of the brilliance of the Angkor reign from when the temples were built.
Despite the bus loads of tourists we still found many temples to be quiet places where we could wander and gaze in amazement at the beautiful carvings adorning the walls.
Kate's word for the three days was 'amazing', probably uttered 100 times a day, but without doubt Angkor is AMAZING!!!
Siam Reap is a booming tourist town, quiet during the day while everyone is out at the temples then packed with tourists at night. We treated ourselves to an all-you-can eat dinner and traditional dance show which was a double bonus for our tuk-tuk driver for the day as by taking us there he got a free dinner. He reciprocated by taking us to a Khmer nightclub afterwards where one moment everyone is dancing to upbeat Thai or Khmer pop songs and the next the dance floor is full of mainly men shuffling around in a circle making patterns with their hands in front of them! This, we learnt is the traditional Khmer style of dancing, highly popular during the Khmer New Year in April, and as we found out, a little boring after you have shuffled around the dance floor 5 times! Every time we thought the slow love song had finished as the music paused it kicked in again! After a few beers we retired for the evening, our temple touring feet too tired to keep shuffling on into the night.
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