Day 2: Sunrise at Angkor Wat

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The alarm beeped at 5:30 this morning to enable us to get to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat. The hotel had kindly packed us a breakfast box and Suwan was waiting reliably for us at the entrance in his tuk-tuk. I think he looked a little more jaded than us at this ungoldly hour as we were still on NZ time (5 hrs ahead). The streets of Siem Reap were very quiet and rather peaceful at this time of day. The only other movement coming from fellow travellers making their way out to the temples.

Quick stop at the ticket booth to show our passes (fortunately Suwan made us check that we had our tickets before we left the hotel which resulted in a mad dash back to the room!) and in no time at all we were in the carpark across from Angkor Wat. Suwan was very good at telling us where we would find him after we were finished - I think he must have had incidents of losing his customers and since we hadn't paid him yet this would be a great misfortune to him.

We crossed the road - almost getting wiped out in the process due to traffic all coming from the "wrong" way (Cambodian's drive on the opposite side to New Zealand) and walked the length of the giant stone causeway which crosses the immense moat to the gates of Angkor Wat. It seems kind of surreal to actually be here after dreaming about it for so long and boy, we were not disappointed! The sheer size, age and construction of the temple is simply gobsmacking. We are constantly exclaiming ooooohs and aaaaaahs to each other and gazing in wonder at how the heck they built it all those years ago...

After entering the temple grounds we continued down to the crowds in front of the lily ponds, camera in hand ready to take that ultimate shot - hardly likely considering we're using Jordi's little $100 Fuji camera and the battery was nearly dead. Oh well, we sat and ate our ham and cheese sandwiches, pastries and juice packed in our breakfast box and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

For the next three hours we explored the temple and despite not being able to climb to the third level due reconstruction taking place we were satisfied that every nook, cranny & carving had been investigated. We did notice that following sunrise a lot of the crowds disappeared and often it seemed that we had the whole temple to ourselves. I would have loved put some of the loose stones into my bag to take home, but I used my strong will power and resisted (also the thought of spending any time in a Cambodian jail for stealing didn't appeal).

We were ready to leave the temple at around 10am - it seemed much later due to our early start, but before we could go we had to navigate our way past a cheeky monkey sitting right in the middle of the entrance. Steve managed to get around her without so much as an eyelid bat, but when I went to go past, the little sh..t got more than a little tetchy. And for no reason! She could not possibly have heard me calling her "fat" from that distance. As I approached, she bared her teeth and started to lunge towards me! Than God I have excellent flight or fight responses - there was no way she was catching me!! And to think, I am an animal lover! Temple monkeys excluded from now on...

We then ran the gauntlet of kids trying to sell postcards, guidebooks and bracelets on the way to meet Suwan. The little treasures... they are sooooo beautiful - you just can't help talking to them, then whammo - they have you cornered. I did purchase some postcards on this occasion as I was suitable impressed with one girl's guess we were from New Zealand and her rendition of New Zealand's capital city (correct) and population (again, correct).

Suwan then drove us thru the East gates to Ta Prohm - the Tomb Raider temple. Now considering this is the part of the movie set that sparked our initial interest in the temples of Cambodia in the first place, we were absolutely thrilled to be here. It is a complete contrast the the Angkor Wat temple. All messy, in disarray with the trees literally growing out of the ruins. We poked about here for another hour or so, getting frustrated with some of the tour groups who had spoiled the serenity and our photo's. Paid $1 and bowed three times with the incense in order to receive good luck - plus another buck for a photo of a cute kid...

We were dropped off at the hotel where we fell into the cool pool before wandering out into Siem Reap for some lunch. Ate at Campuccino restaurant overlooking the river where we enjoyed the most delicious spring rolls and noodles washed down with the local Angkor Beer. All for about $10.

Spent the remainder of the day wandering around the markets before Suwan came back to take us out to Angkor Wat again, this time at Sunset. We did a mad dash down the causeway and into the temple to take some of the photo's we missed this morning - it certainly looks different during the late afternoon light and is you appreciate the size when you are in a hurry. Decided to walk up Phnom Bakeng for the sunset proper. This was a walk not dissimilar to climbing up the Mount - about 30 minutes up a track with several hundred other people. The temple at the top was stunning tho' in the late afternoon light. We climbed up the near vertical steps to the top where we were greated with the most stunning views of the surrounding countryside. Well worth a dose of vertigo. As there were so many people up there and the sunset wasn't likely to be that spectacular due to the cloud cover, we decided to leave early and call it a day (good idea not to try and climb down with all those people IMO).

Had dinner at the famed FCC club - we chose their 'sampler' of six dishes - we didn't like four of them, so that was a complete waste of money! We should have kept it simple. Live and learn is our motto. Finished the evening by exploring the Night Markets.

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