Oh to have been blessed with a more padded butt!

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It will be hard to find words to describe the temples of Angkor Archaeological Park. So I'll start with the boat ride from Battambang to here.

Long. But also great, some awesome scenery along the Sunghai River and across the Tonle Sap Lake. The river started out wide enough, lined with houses and shacks, people travelling up and down the river, or sitting there fishing. The boat didnt go all that fast, and slowed right down when the river got crowded, or we passed people fishing / drift netting. After a while the river widened right out into huge flood plains. All we could see in any direction was channels through the reeds and other plants / trees. There were a lot of people living on boats out there too, small communities made up from between 5 and 20 boats moored close together. Some of the channels we went through were really narrow, the branches scraping the sides of the boat, flicking in the "windows". We were several hours into the trip when we reached the Tonle Sap, the water way opened right out with the water reaching to the horizon.

The whole trip took about 6 hours, and we were met at the dock in Siem Reap by a tuk tuk driver sent by the hostel, Prince Mekong Villa . A couple of couch surfers who stayed with un in NZ recommended Eric and his hostel to us, and in turn we are going to recommend it to everyone, its a great place! The room is as basic as the others we have stayed in, the water still cold, but we also get free bike hire and free breakfast (and one load of clothes through the washing machine!!) And Eric is a mine of good information about the area. Our first afternoon here, he recommended which temples to see in which order, leaving Angkor Wat till last. Comparing his suggestions with what we had found out before, he was pretty close, so we figured we'd go with what he had written all over our map. And so far we havent regretted it, and we have done two out of the three days worth. Yup, we still havent seen the highlight of the place, but have seen plenty.

So yesterday we got up at 4.15am, had our free breakfast and headed off on our bikes to the temples. It wasnt long before we were wishing for biggers backsides. The bikes were a bit old and battered, and our butts still bruised from the battering at Bokor, and the mopeds in Battambang, and the boat ride here... As usual my legs were too long as well, or the frame of the bike was too small, and I could comfortably steer with my knees while pedalling. Colin was ok, except his chain kept falling off! But still, at 5am it was cool out, so we pedalled as quickly as we could to the first temple on the list - Phnom Bakheng - for sunrise, past all the crowds at Angkor Wat. Pretty neat! Quiet, cool, the steps up the sides of the temple were really steep, the stone work was more worn than we were expecting maybe.

Next was a short ride to the South Gate of Angkor Thom, where we got off the road, pushed our bikes up onto the wall, then pedalled in peace for about 3km to the West Gate. Here we turned back in and went to the Bayon, one of the three main places to see here. Full of towers with four carved faces, and some neat bas-reliefs.

The jungle is so much closer to the temples than we imagined. We knew the temples would be surrounded by trees, and that some had trees growing in and on them, but at times it feels that the jungle is closing in and reclaiming the land. No more so than in the temple of Ta Nei, a small place tucked right in amongst the trees, and rarely visited. We were the only people there, apart from the warden, and it was great. In some ways, this is one of our favourites, mainly because we were the only ones there. The place was in ruins, trees growing in and on and through the ruins...magical and fantastic.

We also went to Ta Prohm, the "Tomb Raider" temple, the busiest we went to (so far). The people crowding round "the" tree to have their photo taken Lara Croft style...needless to say we didnt bother!

All up the first day we probably wandered round about 10 temples plus a few other ruins, plenty for one day. But our butts...talk about sore! I thought I had more than enough padding, but obviously not!

Today was the tuk tuk day - yippee! - as two of the must see temples are a fair way out of Siem Reap. Still up early for sunrise, this time over a baray (man made lake/pool) Sras Srang. Its too hard to describe all the temples, so you'll have to manage with photos (when we add them later!). Our bodies didnt suffer at all today, not having to pedal between sites (all several km apart) saved our legs for climbing the temples, all those almost vertical steps...plus its not nearly as hot today.

We also stopped at the Cambodia land Mine Museum which has been set up by a former Khmer Rouge child soldier turned mine clearer. There are piles of defused mines and UXOs from all sides in the wars, and from all producers of mines and shells. The NGO also supports land mine victims, mainly children, and provides education for Cambodians and foreigners alike.

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Photos

Steep steps up to the temples
This is at Phnom Bakheng, but all the other temples are the same.

Ta Nei
That wonderful, secluded temple, being taken over the by jungle.

Ta Prohm
Tree growing out of temple