It was our first full day in Siem Reap and we were off to Angkor Wat. We went on the bus for the 6km journey and on arrival, found ourselves in some very hot and sticky weather. We made a quick stop to get our photos taken for our day pass where many funny faces were pulled. Yousa, our local guide, shared his comical brand of wisdom about Angkor Wat and all its history. He talked about how every stone in the temple was handmade and how the mote around the temple was built by hand. It was amazing to hear that it took forty one years to complete. We found ourselves climbing up some MASSIVE stairs that lead up to the tower/ look out with a fantastic view at the top. After sweating in the oppressive humidity and heat we all climbed onto the air conditioned bus. Most people were sweaty but we pressed on to the Angkor Thom temple. We all managed to squish into a small bus but according to Hung, in Vietnam the bus was only half full. As we headed to the next temple on the tiny bus, we could see the land go from urban land to the more open landscape. It was a short visit but there were a lot of structures to see and photos to take, being the enthusiastic tourists we are.
Around 1pm we headed to our long awaited lunch. Unfortunately 2 of the group ordered hamburgers with fries (that proved to be a very rare order indeed) and they had to wait for 1 hour to eat it (lesson learnt not to expect westernised food from a local Cambodian restaurant!). After lunch, we went back on to the big bus only to find that Sabre had lost his day pass, so he had to get escorted onto a police motor bike to get a new pass (highlight of the day for some). We headed off to the Ta Prohm, where we met Sabre with his new day pass. While we were there, Yousa gave an amazing Angelina Jolie impersonation from her movie Tomb Raider (see photo below). The temple was an amazing sight to see, it was also wonderful to see the trees that have grown on top of some of the stones that make up the temple.
We then headed back to the hotel for a long awaited swim to cool off. Soon after we headed off to dinner where we got an hour to choose any restaurant we wanted. After dinner the night market was calling for us to buy all it had to offer. Some of us had our feet eaten by fishes (like Karla) but most of us went to find new clothes and gifts. Finally after a long day, we returned to the hotel to get some sleep.
Karla and Harry
