Angkor Wat Temple complex, Cambodia

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Thursday 18th November

So today we are meeting Alvin our tuk tuk driver at 8.30am who is going to take us around the Angkor Wat Temple complex today. Except he is not waiting for us, but he has sent his “brother” Mr T ! We start off on the wrong foot when Mr T insists on trying to renegotiate our $10 deal. We say no and he gives up and we start our journey.

First, we have to stop at the ticket office. No queues, so we get our tickets nice and quickly. The ticket service, like most things here in Cambodia, seems very efficient. You don’t need a passport photo as they use a mini camera to print your photo onto your pass.

We decide to do the tour of the complex the wrong way around – i.e. Angkor Thom first, then, the outlying temples and finally Angkor Wat. And it seems to be the correct decision as we are definitely going against the crowd. Having said that, it is not particularly busy at the moment. The rainy season has just finished and therefore not high season for tourists. But believe me, it is still very hot and as we clamber around the temples we work up a pretty good sweat.

The Angkor Wat temple complex is an awe inspiring sight. The light seems to give the stones a blue/green glow and the faces carved into the stones look amazing! Where the jungle has taken over, the tree roots cling onto the huge stones.

We climb one particularly impressive temple called Ta Keo, which is so steep that we both get vertigo! If you choose to climb this one, don’t look down! Just keep climbing to the top. It’s worth it The view is fabulous over the jungle and out towards the distant mountain.

It’s lunchtime so we ask Mr T if he knows a good place to eat. Silly question – of course he does (he does this everyday) and he takes us to the most expensive restaurant he can find! As soon as we sit down the heavens open and there is an enormous rain storm. Oh well, time for another beer then.


The rain doesn’t last long and so we are soon on our way again to Angkor Wat itself. It takes your breath away when you see it. It’s the same feeling you get when you see Machu Pichu or the Taj Mahal for the first time! The 100 metre wide moat at the front reflects the building above and you just have to stand there and admire it. This must have been the most exquisite city when it was built in the 11th century.

Angkor Wat is the best preserved of all the temples in the complex as it had a huge moat around the outside which stopped the jungle closing in on it. You can allow your imagination to run away with you and imagine how it might have looked when it was first completed. We spend about 2 hours exploring and decide to get a drink – the heavens open again. This time the rainstorm is truly biblical in proportion. So that will be another beer then!

Here in Asia, the people love the rain. It brings life with it so unlike us Brits, they enjoy the rain! The kids run about giggling, and dive into puddles and ponds. One girl is washing her hair under the runoff from the umbrella which is keeping us dry!

I seem to have been joined under the umbrella by a small local girl who starts talking to me. She looks quite poor and is quite grubby, but she speaks good English and chats to me about her life in Cambodia and her family. She is 22 and one of 7 brothers and sisters and she lives at home with her Mother. She has never been to school as you have to pay for the priviledge here, but learnt English by talking to tourists. She seems very interested in me, my life in England and my family. Of course she tells me that she runs a stall and that the money she makes goes back to the family to buy food and clothes.

It’s fair to say that I have been targeted and eventually, when the rain subsides I am taken to her stall where I am supposed to buy something. Stuart gives me $5 and walks off! Unfortunately, it appears that everything on her stall starts at $8 – and she’s not budging on the price. Before I know it the $5 is gone out of my hand (how did she do that?) so I decide that I don’t need anything from her stall and just let her keep the money to give to her family! Of course Stuart is laughing his head off – he won’t let me forget it either!

Friday 19th November

This morning I must get up early as I have booked a cookery class at a local restaurant to learn how to make Khmer curry. I arrive at 8.30am at the Temple restaurant and I am introduced to Rob, a Kiwi, who seems to think he is Gordon Ramsey! We don our very attractive orange aprons and hats and get to work chopping, crushing and mixing a variety of spices – some of which I have never heard of! After 2 hours of sweat we have produced fresh spring rolls and chilli dip, khmer chicken curry (although mine looks nothing like the one I ate last night!) and a banana tapioca desert. Can’t wait to cook it for my friends when I get home. Watch out Max and Iain! Just as we have finished and are admiring our handywork, a huge (and I mean enormous) cockroach climbs up onto the work surface next to me. I scream, obviously, as I am a bit of a wuss. The rest of the staff don’t even move. I am surprised that the cooks didn’t grab it and throw into the frying pan! They love fried cockroaches here!

Stuart meanwhile, has taken a stroll down to the river where he finds a huge Dragon Boat festival being set up for the weekend. It is the highlight of the year as different villages race their boats on the river. Somehow he gets invited to sit with the dignitaries and ends up having his photo taken with the local Mayor and all the rowers!

We decide to take a tuk tuk and spend the afternoon doing the outer circuit at Angkor. It was a huge surprise as all the temples were wonderful. Every one was different, some more ramshackle than others. I particularly like the temples where the jungle has started to take over, and the roots of the trees have grown over the stones, like Preah Khan. We have a lovely afternoon and end up at Sras Srang – the Sunset temple to watch the sun set over the lake.

We have the most amiable tuk tuk driver today whose name in Soca and on our journey home he takes us down a road where the locals set up stalls selling food, clothes and shoes and where there is even a small funfair for the children. It’s Friday night and all the locals are arriving for an evening out. There are stalls where whole cows are being basted over a fire and a stall where chickens are being cooked on a spit – it looks and smells delicious! We then make our way back through the melee of Siem Reap on a Friday night! The word “chaos” comes to mind, but no one gets cross and all the traffic seems to make it’s way to it’s destination without incident. What a great day it’s been.

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