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Published: December 14th 2006
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Sunrise in Ankor Wat
As the sunrises through the windows the sandstone seems to come to life with warm red tones We arrived in Siem Reap and were met by Tom (our tuk-tuk driver for the next week), who took us to "Sweet Dreams Guest House". This was not the place that we were expecting though. We thought that we would be going to Number 11 Guest house but it turned out that they had moved to a new address and we where to be their first customers (they were still laying the patio when we arrived). Before we could settle in, we were asked if we wanted to see the sunset over Ankor. It had been a long day, so we declined and said that we would do it tomorrow.
The next day at 4:55pm we were at the ticket office to buy our ticket for the temple complex ( $60 for 7 days) and off to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sunset (a little bit of a crowded affair) and then back down the hill in the dark (it's worth taking a torch for the walk back) to return to the hotel. The next morning it was off to see the temples for real. On day one we did the small tour circuit. Tom asked if we wanted to
Who Built Ankor??
We can now reveal that it was in fact the Doozers from Fraggle Rock that built Ankor Wat. start with Angkor Wat but we said that we would like to save it for later so we started at Angkor Thom which includes Bayon temple (the one with all the heads) and Phimeanakas (terrace of the elephants and leper king) followed by Ta Keo, Ta Proham (think Laura Croft) and Banteay Kdei with Sras Srang oppersite,
On day two we took the grand tour circuit, again Tom asked if we wanted to start at Ankor Wat. We declined again hoping to save the best for last. We took our time going round the temples as it was very hot. again We made sure we stopped at the restaurants opposite the temples for some cool drinks and something to eat. Towards the end of the day we headed to Ankor Wat to watch the sunset. We climbed to the top of a VERY VERY steep staircase and sat in one of the top courtyards and waited for the sun to set. As we waited people milled around getting their last photos of the day and as soon as the sun set the temple guards ushered us off of the courtyard and out of the temple. It was only then
that we realized just how many people there were as all the coaches and tuk tuks waited for their customers.
Also on the way back to our hotel I discovered that our SD card in the camera had crashed.
On day three of "How many temples can you see" tour our tuk tuk got a puncture, which was fixed in no time at all. Then we were back on our way to see Banteay Srey which even though it is one of the smaller temples has the best relief carvings of all.
Just for a change on day four we decided to have a day off from temples and wander around the local market and shops (Emma found a few things that she just had to buy). In the evening we went for a meal and a show at the Ankor Village Hotel. When we arrived we were shown to there air conditioned theater where we were to have our meal and be entertained. The meal was a fixed menu of about five courses and the dancing were short examples of local dances and Apsara ballet.
On day five and six, it was decided that we
would go back to some of the temples we had already visited and retake the photos that we had lost (when the card crashed). Since we had already visited the temples we were able to pick and choose which temples we wanted to visit and wait for any crowds or tour groups to leave before we went back in to get our replacement photos ( I would highly recommend going inside Ankor Wat for the sunrise as you will only have to share the temple with half a dozen other people).
On the last day of our ticket we hired a car and went to Kbal Spean (the river of a 1000 lingas) where the water runs over the lingas. The water becomes blessed and as it flows down into the rice fields where it will give a plentiful harvest. It was a long drive of about 50 km and then a 2 km walk through the forest to get to the river and a little of an anticlimax when we finally got there. The next day it was back on the bus to Phnom Penh.
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Anna
non-member comment
Mmm, cookies
I'm definitely up for cookies for dessert, and can't wait to try out some of the other cards too - thanks for thinking of me. Not so impressed with the lack of blogs - we in grey and miserable UK need your adventures to give our lives some colour!!