2nd Day in Siem Reap and Temples

Well today was 0430 wake up time to see sunrise over Angkor Wat. Our guide was arriving at 0515 to pick us up. As I had consumed a massive amount of alcohol on Pub Street the night before I couldn't even open my eyes. Damian woke me and said to hurry up and get in the shower.

I refused and said that I wasn't going to go. We were also supposed to go to Banteay Srei which is 32kms from Siem Reap but because of the roads, it takes about an hour to get there. I told him to go by himself cause I was hungover like a dog.

He ended up leaving for the sunrise walking out the door and calling me a 'farken idiot'. All I could manage in my state was a very slurred 'fark off' and went back to sleep. Unfortunately for me, he returned about 7am and forced me to sort it out and get ready to go to Banteay Srei which I had been really looking forward to. We waited downstairs at the Mandalay waiting for our guide to return. Damian bought me a bread roll and a bottle of water to wash down my 5 panadols and then we were on our way. During the drive we passed heaps of little villiages where they are great basket weavers and all sell goods out the front of their houses.

I felt better by the time we got to the temple. Unfortunately it was chock a block with tourist so there were people everywhere. Banteay Sri is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Shiva and the stone used is kind of pinkish. It is dated as AD 967. It's stunning and the carvings are so detailed and almost 3D and are in such good condition that they could have been carved yesterday. It is only small and doesn't take long to look around but is definitely worth the trip out there.

On the way back to Siem Reap we stopped at the Landmine museum which is run by a cambodian who used to lay all the mines back during the civil war. He now goes out and clears them and also provides lodging and schooling for young landmine victims. It is very small and is $2 entry. Our guide then took us to a Cambodian villiage for lunch and ordered Cambodian Soup for us to eat for $1. We were the only tourist (barang) there so the locals were giggling at us and the kids harrassing us to buy little trinkets. The soup was very nice but lukewarm which is probably how they have it. I like my soup to be almost bubbling but it was nice to sit down with the locals and have a feed.

We then headed off to the big one Angkor Wat. When you see it for the first time, I can't even put into words how it feels. It's just sooooooooooooooooo bloody big. It is surrounded by a 190m wide moat which measures 1.5km by 1.3km. The causeway that crosses the moat were quarried more than 50kms away and then floated down the Stung Siem Reap river on rafts. I need a trolley to carry a bottle of milk so these guys that built this place are deadset legends.

The wall surrounding Angkor measures 1025m by 800 metres. It is 475 metres from the main gate to the temple so enough time to suffer heat exhaustion. I actually didn't really think much of Angkor Wat after seeing the other temples, the most impressive thing is the size and the man power that must have been used to build it.

---

---