Siem Reap

Thursday, March 26th

Today was always going to be enjoyable, but tough. With the temperature rising to at least 35C, and very high humidity, the thought of walking around, and up, temples with crowds of other tourists didn't appeal. Our advantage was a diver, a guide, and an air conditioned car, rather than a tuk-tuk and some ad-hoc navigation.

First stop, the causeway that leads to the west gate of Angkor Wat - we would be back here after lunch.

But first, the nearby Angkor Thom, slightly younger than Angkor Wat, but what's a century when you're measuring in millennia?

We entered via the south gate, walking, although cars, vans and tuk-tuks are clearly allowed inside.

Fortunately, we didn't have to come the 10km from Siem Reap in one of these, although they would be fun in other circumstances.

On the left, the Buudhas (and Prue), on the right, the giants (or demons), all engaged in some kind of tug-of-war with a snake. Prue's wearing happy pants because our guide suggested we (well, she) dress modesty to enter the various temples - what a waste that was, although apparently the happy pants were cooler than shorts might have been.

The view from "inside" the south gate - the grounds are at least a kilometer wide and long, so "inside" is kind of relative.

Inside the "city" there's also a royal compound - very large in its own right, and containing a number of substantial structures, mostly still intact.

Both Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat were originally built by Hindu kings, but subsequently converted to Buddhist styles. There are therefore many Hindu icons, some modified for Buddhist purposes.

An awful lot of Angkor Thom remains un-reconstructed, probably forever.

Inside some of the temples there are altars, recently installed no doubt.

See any resemblance?

Some order out of the chaos?

$25 for a 15 minute elephant ride, anyone?

Here's Prue wearing a beautiful little number with matching umbrella and hat...

The view from the top from one of the pavilions inside the royal compound  looking towards a pedestrian causeway.

There were a lot of stairs to climb, and always steep - fortunately, they are much better than the originals which are even steeper, and less safe. You get up, and down, as best you can.

Unless you're dressed for show, in which case stairs are out of the question. What was she thinking?

Matching umbrellas? For the sun, not the rain, by the way.

And here's a Hindu structure subsequently modified to include a reclining Buddha.

I particularly liked these three walls, and their intricate (Hindu) carvings.

We started to see evidence of past negligence and centuries without occupation.

Then we went by car to the nearby complex now known as Tomb Raiders after the video game and movie which used this as a backdrop. Everywhere you go there are trees in complete control - apparently these buildings were only discovered by French (?) archeologists in the mid 20th century.

Some building are very similar to those in Central America. But there's always another tourist getting in the way of the "perfect" shot.

We had a nice "set" lunch in an oasis of a restaurant nearby - washed down by a large bottle of Angkor Beer for me.

And then prepared to tackle Angkor Wat itself, incredibly quiet due to the time - we suspect most other tourists were still at lunch. We highly recommend going at this time of day, or alternatively, very early in the morning.

We entered through the east gate and would eventually exit via the west gate, the usual entrance and exit due to easier access and control, I suspect. Apparently both the north and south gates still exist, but we never saw either of them.

Unlike Angkor Thom, you can see from both gates to the main palace in the middle, a total distance of over a kilometer. There is no such view north or south.

This is the approach to the palace with its distinctive five towers - one central, and one in each corner.

These are inscriptions on a ground level wall - I couldn't always get everyone out of my pictures, but I accepted the occasional monk as adding some "original character".

At peak times this corridor would be full of people.

An Buddha "shrine", installed some time after original construction (?).

Angkor Wat seems to be better preserved than Angkor Thom, although 1,000 of rain and wind has worn the stone considerably.

The top level of the palace is divided into four section, each with its own corner tower and bath (pool!). Apparently they no longer retain water, even in the wet season.

In places, the towers an associated steep stair cases resemble Mayan pyramids in Central America. They're certainly just as steep, and dangerous. After a series of attempts at getting tourists a safe access, they seem to have succeeded. But you do need to hang on tight to the railing, and avoid looking down if you suffer from vertigo (or you're climbing/descending with a tour group of particular nationalities - don't mention the war(s)).

There's a long causeway connecting the main palace to the west gate where the original moat is best preserved.

And as we say "farewell" to Angkor Wat for today (we'll be back for sunrise tomorrow morning), the tourists begin to stream in after their lunch.

And so it's back to Pub Street for a drink and dinner.

It was either the ice in this Tequila Sunrise, or the dinner in another restaurant that affected my stomach at 2:00am - perhaps I was getting a bit too confident. Prue stuck with G&T, no ice, and ate the same meal - she's now officially "well".