Thanks to getting to bed early last night, the 4:30am alarm clock wasn't too unpleasant, so both of us managed to get our act together in time to meet our tuk tuk driver, San, at 5:00am.
Cambodian tuk tuks are different to those in Thailand. The Thai ones are all enclosed, whereas the Cambodian ones are essentially a motorbike with a sheltered cart attached.
San drove us to the ticket office to buy our three-day pass and the onwards to Angkor Wat, where he dropped us at the bridge over the moat so we could walk inside the complex and find a good spot to catch the sunrise.
With it being so early, there weren't too may people around, so we had no trouble positioning ourselves on the edge of one of the ponds to get a decent shot of the sunrise. The only mild irritant was a group of giggling Japanese girls who insisted on taking each others photo directly in the way of my shot! While we waited for the sun we ate our packed breakfast (Amber had banana pancakes and honey, I had yellow noodles with chicken).
Sadly it was a little hazy, so when the sun eventually did rise, we were denied the spectacular scene of fiery orange I was hoping for and instead had to make do with a mostly grey-blue sky. Also, because we are in the dry season, the water level in the two ponds either side of the main walkway was relatively low. This meant that despite my best efforts with the camera, none of the photos came out postcard perfect. Nevertheless, just being there was great.
To be honest it would be far too time consuming to describe each of the temples we visited in much detail, so I'll post a few photos to do the talking for me. Suffice to say, I have wanted to visit these temples for a very long time and now that I have, I can honestly say they are every bit as awe-inspiring as I imagined they would be. Amber and I spent the whole day in a state of amazement. The temples are so beautiful, so intricate, so peaceful and so different from one another that I think a person searching for answers could get lost in them for days.
We started the day at Angkor Wat, which is the temple people refer to when they talk about the temples as a whole, despite the fact that it really isn't the most spectacular. Don't get me wrong, when you first see Angkor Wat it is very impressive, especially the amazing carvings in the walls - it's like the worlds most intricate wallpaper, as many of the patterns repeat over and over again - but compared to the likes of Ta Prohm (the temple which features in the Tomb Raider film) and the Bayon in Angkor Thom, it's somehow less interesting.
Our plan had always been to visit the temples recommended by friends who had visited the site before, so today we did sunrise at Angkor Wat, then went to Ta Prohm to see the ruins overgrown with the roots of enormous fig trees. A genuine case of the forest's triumph over man. The amazing thing about Ta Prohm is that the stones are all green with lichen compared to the grey colouration of Angkor Wat, so it feels very different. After Ta Prohm, we caught Ta Keo temple and then passed through Angkor Thom to visit Preah Khan. Preah Khan, like Ta Prohm, has huge trees growing out of the walls and is a very similar feeling temple, but in better condition. Again, pretty impressive. The thing that struck me most about Preah Khan alongside the detailed carvings of figures was the incredible noise of the cicadas. When they were perched within a courtyard or corridor the acoustic qualities of the stone greatly amplified the sound to produce a noise quite unlike anything I've ever heard before. It really added to the atmosphere of the temple.
We saved the biggest temple complex, Angkor Thom, for last. This area comprises several key sights, but the main ones are the Elephant Terrace, Preah Palilay, the Terrace of the Leper King, Phimeanakas, the Northern and Southern Kleang, Baphuon and Bayon. All of these were worth seeing, but the Bayon temple is easily the most impressive sight.
We had lunch within the temple complex, although it was slightly more expensive than normal, the portions were enormous. I had a delicious pork soup served with rice.
We ended our visit at Bayon, with its huge faces carved into the many towers. It's a hugely affecting place to walk around and there is a great feeling of being watched by an omnipresent king. What a fantastic way to end our first day.
After Bayon, San drove us back to the hotel to relax in the pool for a few hours. Then we headed out to get a couple of cocktails and some spring rolls, to tide us over until dinner time. Amber had sore feet from walking around the temples, so we decided to get a 15 minute massage each. Amber had what sounds like a fantastic foot massage, whereas I was attacked by a Thai lady who seemed intent on killing me (it was supposed to be a neack, shoulders and back massage, but I have my doubts). Somewhat battered an bruised I thanked her for the lovely massage, begrudgingly gave her a tip under Amber's stern gaze and then we both set off to find Angkor Palm to meet Manuel.
Unfortunately Angkor Palm wasn't open as a result of New Year, so when Manuel turned up we had to change our plans. We ate in 8th Street Bistro, where I had a fabulous beef lok lak (the other famous Cambodian dish). We managed to get a table on the first floor overlooking pub street, which was perfect, especially as they had draught Tiger beer. The conversation flowed and as expected, Manuel proved to be excellent company.
After dinner we went to find another bar with cheap drinks. Sadly all the places we looked at seemed to have horribly overpriced beer, so we wandered further afield and evetually stumbled upon a great rooftop bar called X Bar. This is a great little hangout and offers a great view of Siem Reap coupled with a skateboarding half-pipe on the roof! My kind of bar!
The bar was being temporarily run by three Aussie guys because the usual Cambodian staff were on holiday. This made for fairly slow service and some comedy moments. By far the best was when Amber ordered a beer and was presented with a glass of beer with a gecko literally frozen to the side! We have photo evidence. The great thing was that the guy hadn't even noticed the gecko was there until he put the glass down on the bar. I was a little concerned we'd discovered a local Cambodian custom, much like the cobras and scorpions in whiskey!
We stayed drinking in X Bar until gone midnight and then said our goodbyes to Manuel, having already exchanged email addresses and made firm promises to keep in touch and possibly go snowboarding with him sometime (our global network continues to grow!).
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