More "Templing"

Day 81 - 14/08/2010 - 21:25 - Siem Reap, Cambodia

So this is our last day in Siem Reap and we've had another two days since the last update. We've had another 2 days at the temples of Angkor since then, and we've seen most of the Angkor group of temples, all the main ones anyway, and most of the little ones. Overall in Cambodia and the Siem Reap area, we've barely scratched the surface. At the moment, I'm watching Villa v West Ham on Star Sports - live. Villa are one nil up and my beer is empty. We're all over the Hammers at the moment and it would be anything but a disaster if we didn't get the 3 points here. It feels very weird seeing Villa on Tv, 16 miles from my home when I'm in Cambodia. I have my season ticket too, which I've given (sold!!) to my mate today (I'm very generous, if the price is right!!) Tomorrow, we're up at 5:30am for our boat to Battambang.

So yesterday we spent the day going around the temples again but this time we did the grand circuit, the temples on the fringes of the complex. We started at the biggest group, Angkor Thom. Our stop within Angkor Thom was Bayon, which was absolutely amazing. The "towers" of the temple were brick made Hindu heads which were incredibly cool. The only downside was the amount of people, but along with Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom this was the 3rd of the "big 4" - yes they have a big four temples for those 1 day passes. We walked through Angkor Thom, passing another less impressive temple. It was mainly ruins but the one thing it did have for it was size, there were bricks littered outside Bayon which actually belonged to this other temple, you really got a feel for how big it was when you realised the size. From there (still in Angkor Thom) we entered the south west gate of the Royal Palace gardens where there was a small temple and some lakes, which were used as pools. There was a small one and a massive one. The small one was used for the King and the larger for his 250 concubines. Fair play! We then looked around a bit more of Angkor Thom (the 12 temple towers used for the King's wives) before heading out.

We then continued around the outer circuit. They were all pretty different, but the favourite for me (besides Bayon which was stunning) was Pre Rup, the last one we saw for the day, although Meyon was also nice in the middle of what used to be a giant body of water (the east Baray). Unfortunately KD (which I now know is spelt Kedi) had to leave at lunchtime because of his toothache that he had (I offered him paracetamol but fair enough, he didn't want it) and his brother Det took over. Det was not much older than us (if at all) and is currently studying Banking at University. He, like Kedi was very nice too.

We'd finished by 4pm and were back in Siem Reap where we had a look at a couple of temples and the old market before going for something to eat in the evening. Another excellent day exploring the temples albeit an incredibly tiring one!

Today then was our last day in Siem Reap and our last day on the pass for Angkor. We didn't see anything much within Angkor, but went outside to see the "Beautiful Lady" temple which is 38km from Siem Reap. It took around 1 hour in the tuk tuk from the hotel and was the final of the "big four". It was very nice. But, it was quite small and therefore very crowded, definitely the most crowded temple we've seen in the 3 days. It was worth it though. The carvings on the temple were beautiful, a true artistic work on the temple walls and door frame decorations. We looked at another temple that we didn't see on the grand circuit which was very nice too. We stopped for lunch straight after (the journey to and from Beautiful Lady taking a lot of time obviously) and then headed back to Siem Reap via various souvenir shops trying to get me a Angkor Beer tshirt that I wanted. Eventually we stopped at the market on the outskirts of town (we wouldn't have been able to get there by foot) and I got the one I wanted. We said goodbye to Kedi, got a photo with him and arranged for his brother to pick us up in Battambang (his name is Dara).

This evening we've been running a couple of hours early. We had tea at 6. Before that Laura was let loose on the shops - she bought a dress earlier for 5 dollars and this evening she also bought an Angkor beer thsirt for a dollar less than I got mine for - the haggler. We also went for a foot massage with a twist! We put our feet in a big tank of water, and Vietnamese river fish ate the dead skin off the feet - it felt very strange, at first like tickling, but after a while I got used to it and my feet were a lot smoother for it. Happy Days.

Right, second half time. We're 2-0 up and I need a wee and a beer before it starts! Cheers!