Angkor Wat. There aren't words big enough to sum it up.
We got picked up by Mr Hun, (our tuk tuk driver who came recommended and he was great) at 5am and got out to the Angkor Wat in time for sunrise- which we watched overlooking the reflecting pool- it was a magnificent sunrise- reds and golds and crazy ancient ruins. It was worth the ungodly early start to wander through the temples in the quiet time just after dawn.
I'm not going to bore you to death with a indepth recout but here's a few highlights of our 3 day adventure:
Bayon Temple which has 216 giant carved smiling faces watching you suffer in the mad heat- a bit creepy.
Ta Phrom- where the jungle is taking over the ruins and trees are growing up all over the temples (where Tomb Raider was filmed).
The kids- who drove us mad but also cracked us up yelling at us:
Lady, you wanna cold water?
Lady, you wanna bracelet?
Mister, you wanna tshirt?
Mister, you wanna flute?
Lady, you wanna carving?
Mister, you wanna pineapple?
Lady, you wanna fan?
And Mr Hun, who enlightened us with his theories of the ancient sticky rice building technique.
But I think the best experience was on our last day. We went a bit further than most tourists out to Beng Melea, 2 hours from Siem Reap- where none of the jungle has been cleared away from the ruins. It looks as if it had never been discovered and thanks again to Mr Hun, we got there before anyone else. Crawling over broken carvings and stuggling over vine strangled wreckage with just the sounds of the jungle in the early morning was mystical and awesome. Definitive Indiana Jones moment.
Loved it.
We got picked up by Mr Hun, (our tuk tuk driver who came recommended and he was great) at 5am and got out to the Angkor Wat in time for sunrise- which we watched overlooking the reflecting pool- it was a magnificent sunrise- reds and golds and crazy ancient ruins. It was worth the ungodly early start to wander through the temples in the quiet time just after dawn.
I'm not going to bore you to death with a indepth recout but here's a few highlights of our 3 day adventure:
Bayon Temple which has 216 giant carved smiling faces watching you suffer in the mad heat- a bit creepy.
Ta Phrom- where the jungle is taking over the ruins and trees are growing up all over the temples (where Tomb Raider was filmed).
The kids- who drove us mad but also cracked us up yelling at us:
Lady, you wanna cold water?
Lady, you wanna bracelet?
Mister, you wanna tshirt?
Mister, you wanna flute?
Lady, you wanna carving?
Mister, you wanna pineapple?
Lady, you wanna fan?
And Mr Hun, who enlightened us with his theories of the ancient sticky rice building technique.
But I think the best experience was on our last day. We went a bit further than most tourists out to Beng Melea, 2 hours from Siem Reap- where none of the jungle has been cleared away from the ruins. It looks as if it had never been discovered and thanks again to Mr Hun, we got there before anyone else. Crawling over broken carvings and stuggling over vine strangled wreckage with just the sounds of the jungle in the early morning was mystical and awesome. Definitive Indiana Jones moment.
Loved it.
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