Day 86

I got out of bed at 4.50am and met the others downstairs at 5am. Bjorn and Susan were there talking to our tuk-tuk driver who had warned us he might even be late himself!

1 Angkor Sunrise

Not much was said, understandably given the time, on the way to Angkor but it felt exciting to be on our way and there were plenty of other tourists on motos and in tuk-tuks too.

It was still very dark when we arrived and we made our way into the temple. We didn't really know where to head for since it was so big inside. I saw a tour guide leading some people down to a pond area and headed down there. It turned out to be a great spot as we saw a really wonderful sunrise with the black silhouette of the famous Angkor Wat temple.

2 The view from one of the pillars

Angkor is an area north of Siem Reap. It's a collection of dozens of ancient Khmer ruins. The main one is Angkor Wat which is apparently the largest religious building in the world. I've seen just how massive the Temple of Karnak in Egypt is so I'll take their word for it but it really is something.

After a few hours in this temple I looked at my watch and it was still only 8am! We spent the rest of the day looking around the other temples and being ferried from site to site in our rented tuk-tuk. It had been really busy at sunrise and sunset the previous night but because the complex is so big you all spread out very quickly and get many places to yourself as you look around.

3 Me at Angkor

Another highlight was the Bayon. This was a maze of towers and tunnels it was like Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones all rolled into one. Apparently some of Tomb Raider was filmed at the Ta Phromn temple - that temple is memorable as the trees have grown right though the walls and you often see great tangles of brick and root.

We got back to Siem Reap very exhausted. I'd bought a three day ticket and wasn't sure if I had it in me to go the very next day. We went out for dinner and I bumped into an old work colleague from Bristol - I knew he was living in Thailand now but it was still a coincidence to meet him in the street in Cambodia!

4 Susan inside looking at the wall designs

5 Bjorn outside

6 The Angkor Wat by daylight

7 The Bayon "Labyrinth"

8 Bayon detail

9 Smaller temple in ruins

91 Big temple with pillars

92 A Very overgrown temple!

93 The last temple we visited