The magical Temples of Angkor

MAKE SURE YOU READ PHNOM PENH ENTRY BELOW FIRST :)

Herro again everyone. So Siam Reap... the gateway to the great Angkor Wat (one of the wonders of the world) and what can we say :) it really was incredible. Very different to how you imagine it to be and during the day it is absolutely swarmed with disrespectful loud and half naked Japs and Americans but if you time your visit to each site meticulously you are rewarded greatly! We visited Ta Phrom first (where they filmed Tomb Raider) and even though there was alot of people there it was still beautiful. These huge trees have completely taken over and if you removed them the whole structure would just crumble away. Its hard to comprehend just how old these temples are and to imagine them covered in gold etc. The next day we got pretty drunk with some irish guys at the famous 'Angkor What?' bar so didn't do much hehehe... We haven't been drinking much on this trip believe it or not. Its just sooo hot out here that its not worth the way you feel the next day! And my god did we feel bad haha. We ordered a pitcher of vodka and coke to share and the girl got a half pint glass, filled it up with vodka and poured half a bottle of coke ontop. OUCH! ON IT!

Anyway! We got up for sunrise THE NEXT day (4.30am!!) we had asked a Tuk-Tuk driver to pick us up and we trundled off to see the actual Angkor Wat against the sunrise. Unfortunately there was again about 9 million Japanese tourists on a package tour with their children (WHY??!!) and the sun just kind of... Came up!! No colours or anything but it was still a beautiful sight. How could it not be??!!

We then went off to The Bayon (the temple of 1000 faces) and there was NO ONE there! We have to be honest but this was waaaay move impressive than Angkor Wat itself. This place was outstanding. A huge structure of stairways and corridors with enormous towers each with four huge smiling faces on them. It was like something out of the Labyrinth and we were so lucky to be there practically on our own. Photos will never do this place justice it was definately the coolest thing we have ever seen. We also watched the elephants wandering about for a while :). Stayed above a little pub called Ivys Place which was awesome and cheap. Had lots of character and was very homely :)

On our last night day and night we also visited an out of the way temple called Bantai Srei which was apparently carved by women (they think this as men couldnt possibly have such delicate hands!) its a really beautiful temple with seriously intricate carvings that I couldnt even draw letalone carve into a block of stone!! We got absolutely utterley SOAKED on the way there because we chose the ONE Tuk Tuk driver in the whole city who didnt have sides on his tuk tuk and the heavens opened to the max. Nice one! Was pretty funny though...
We also visited the landmine museum run by an amazing guy called Aki Ra who has cleared over 50 thousands mines on his own because he wants his country to be safer. There are alot of children that live at the museum who have lost limbs etc because of the mines its so sad :( they were such wonderful people.
So after a second absolute thorough soaking on the way back we stopped just by chance at the Angkor Wat in the dark. It was closed and there was no one there due to the thunder and lightning and suddenly the whole place got lit up! the whole temple was lit up and kept changing colours it was so beautiful we were so lucky to see it like that as apparently they only light it up on a sunday! We didnt get our sunset or sunrise but I think watching a lightning storm over the top of the lit up Angkor Wat pretty much beats any of that :) I (Holly) even managed to get a picture with lightning in it! ACE!

Other than wander around the temples and buy pressies etc we didn't really do much in Siam Reap!! We nearly killed ourselves when a Tuk Tuk nearly overturned. Bloody lethal things! And the bus just before our one back to Phnom Penh crashed pretty bad, im not sure if there was many casualtys but I really hope not! Someone up there loves us :). Siam Reaps a really lovely little city to spend a few days in. Theres some cute little shops, bars and restaurants and some great stuff going on for charity etc. Would definately return one day :). Spent one last night in Phnom Penh at the Lakeside which is all wooden haphazard buildings on stilts over the lake. Weird little place! Had a few Angkor beers at the Irish pub there while chatting to a couple of English guys. And our room smelt like someone had done several large poos in it but all in all it was a cool night.

So that was the end of Cambodia. What a crazy country. I think maybe even our favourite! The people are so kind and thankful to you for visiting their country, you dont get ripped off as much as in Thailand and you never cease to be amazed by the bizarre and funny things you see just driving down a road! We will definately be back one day and reccommend it to anyone who wants something a bit different from a holiday :). We hope that one day this beautiful countrys people (and animals!) get the help and support they deserve to live their lives healthily and comfortably! xxx

PS. Sorry if we've bored you with history talk. We promise the end of thailands entrys will be more fun :)

PSS. Tom mate, we hope you're alright after being 'Embalmed alive' by Chang Beer haha. (yes they actually do put it in the beer as a preservtive!!) x

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