Half marathon day

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It was an early start at 4.45 a.m. for the tuk tuk ride to Angkor Wat for the start of the race. There were many others following a similar route. The race started just after it started to get light. My main memory of the first 10 k is how humid and hot it was. I was struggling to cool down enough to run. The second 10k seemed a little easier, and there were also temples for distraction. I knew when we ran round the Bayon that it was not too far to go. The scale of Angkor Tom was very clear during the run because we ran in through one of the entrance gates and out through the main entrance gate. There was a long way to run between the two, including of course Leper terrace and Elephant terrace. I was not the only one struggling with the heat and humidity. Many runners were taking walking breaks. The heat made it a very draining run, so I was glad to finish and pick up my medal.

After the run I took a cooling off break which included a quiet lunchtime dip in the pool.

In the late afternoon we visited the "jungle temple" Ta Prohm. This temple was very busy in the central section where the tour groups were. However, it was a big enough temple to escape round the sides and take different routes to escape the crowds. Although the most photographed sections are the trees growing over the main part of the temple, some of my best photos are of the trees hopping over a side wall. They look very "Entish".

For the evening Mr Che took us to a large restaurant where there is a dance performance. There was a buffet restaurant and I chose a variety of fish dishes to replenish me after the run. There was a range of strange desserts, most of which seemed to be quite glutinous. The dance performance had some sections that were quite formal, ritualistic, and Thai in style and other sections that were more rural, perhaps local style dances. The day ended with a Kmer massage at the hotel.

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