Sunday 22 September
5am and off in the dark to the first stop at Angkor Wat Temple. On the way we collected ID passes at the processing centre near the Angkor Gallery (which was built by North Korea). At Angkor Wat itself the first section is a floating causeway (built by Canada) across a stretch of water which had a beautiful display of water lilies (this only became apparent on the way back when daylight had arrived). Then to a series of other pools of water, one of which is the moat to the temple, built in order to drain the land on which the buildings stand. By this time, it was getting light and the temple gradually progressed from being a silhouette. We were there at sunrise but the cloud meant that really it just got light rather than showed any colour. We then walked around (and a lot of up and down steps!!) through the complex before heading off to Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple and The Terrace of the Elephants, and the Temple of Ta Prohm (where Lara Croft was filmed). As Patrice wanted to experience riding into Angkor Thom on elephant back we said we would join her but not without serious reservations about the ethical issues of supporting a business that uses animals as a tourist attraction. However, as we were told that elephant rides at Angkor are ceasing permanently in a couple of months time we at the very least hoped we were not contributing to keeping them in business any longer than they might have otherwise. We really hope the elephants will get to live a much more natural and happier life when they retire soon!! With regard to our own feet we hit the 10,000 step mark on the Fitbit before 10 am so doing well. Throughout the morning you could feel the temperature rising and were very grateful for our cold towels and water on return to the van. When we got back to the hotel our luggage had arrived which meant we were able to unpack and spend the afternoon cooling off with a swim in the pool before heading out to the Night Market late afternoon. After a short Tuk Tuk ride we braced ourselves for the determined sales pitch of the local sellers that had been evident everywhere we went and were not disappointed!! Just as we arrived at the Night Market it started to pour down with rain and this continued for the remainder of the night.
5am and off in the dark to the first stop at Angkor Wat Temple. On the way we collected ID passes at the processing centre near the Angkor Gallery (which was built by North Korea). At Angkor Wat itself the first section is a floating causeway (built by Canada) across a stretch of water which had a beautiful display of water lilies (this only became apparent on the way back when daylight had arrived). Then to a series of other pools of water, one of which is the moat to the temple, built in order to drain the land on which the buildings stand. By this time, it was getting light and the temple gradually progressed from being a silhouette. We were there at sunrise but the cloud meant that really it just got light rather than showed any colour. We then walked around (and a lot of up and down steps!!) through the complex before heading off to Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple and The Terrace of the Elephants, and the Temple of Ta Prohm (where Lara Croft was filmed). As Patrice wanted to experience riding into Angkor Thom on elephant back we said we would join her but not without serious reservations about the ethical issues of supporting a business that uses animals as a tourist attraction. However, as we were told that elephant rides at Angkor are ceasing permanently in a couple of months time we at the very least hoped we were not contributing to keeping them in business any longer than they might have otherwise. We really hope the elephants will get to live a much more natural and happier life when they retire soon!! With regard to our own feet we hit the 10,000 step mark on the Fitbit before 10 am so doing well. Throughout the morning you could feel the temperature rising and were very grateful for our cold towels and water on return to the van. When we got back to the hotel our luggage had arrived which meant we were able to unpack and spend the afternoon cooling off with a swim in the pool before heading out to the Night Market late afternoon. After a short Tuk Tuk ride we braced ourselves for the determined sales pitch of the local sellers that had been evident everywhere we went and were not disappointed!! Just as we arrived at the Night Market it started to pour down with rain and this continued for the remainder of the night.
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| Outside Angkor Wat temples |
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| Angkor Complex pre-dawn |
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| Terrace of the Elephants |
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