Cambodian Sunrise - 2nd February

Today was an early start. We were picked up by Sam our guide and our driver at 4.30am and driven to Angkor Wat. We entered the temple via the little-used eastern side rather than the main entrance. This was quite creepy as it was pitch black with just our torches to see where we were going.

When we arrived at the spot to watch sunrise we were by no means the first...there were already a lot of people there with cameras. We took our spot overlooking the ancient library pools with Angkor Wat beyond. We were probably there for an hour and a half before the sun rose but it was well worth the wait. We saw the sky get lighter and lighter and then the sun suddenly appeared in between two of the towers. Andy got some really great photos (although trigger Chalmers did average 2 photos per minute over the 90 minutes we were there).

Just a few people here to watch

Once the sun had risen we sat and had our breakfast box from the hotel and Andy tested out the 'local' Cambodian toilets...which he even had the privilege of paying to use.

Sam then took us round the interior of Angkor Wat temple and we climbed one of the large terraces for some great views of Angkor and beyond. The bas-relief carvings were spectacular and all depicted a story from the Khmer Empire.

After this our driver met us and took us onto Preah Khan temple which was built in the 12^th century for King Jayvavarman VII. It was the centre of a substantial organisation, with almost 100,000 officials and servants. Preah Khan had been left unrestored, with numerous trees and other vegetation growing among the ruins. It is however now being renovated by the World Monument Fund.

We were then driven back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. We went and sat by the pool and had some pizzas, ordered through the 'deputy pool attendant', before heading back to the room for a bit of a sleep. We then went for a walk outside the hotel and along the river.

Sam and our driver picked us up again at 3pm and we headed to the Buddhist temple of Banteay Kdei which was built in the late 12^th to early 13^th century. This is one of the less complex and smaller temples. It was quite dilapidated due to faulty construction and poor quality sandstone but is currently under reconstruction by a Japanese University. Banteay Kdei had been occupied by monks at various intervals over the centuries, but the inscription stone has never been discovered so it is unknown to whom the temple is dedicated.

Next we visited jungle-enveloped Ta Prohm, sister of Preah Khan. The temple was founded as a Buddhist university and monastery and was once home to 2,740 monks. Ta Prohm today looks much as it did in the early 1850s when the site was discovered by a French explorer with lots of trees growing out of the buildings.

We finally returned to Angkor Wat for sunset and again took some amazing photos before returning to the hotel.

In the evening we caught a tuk tuk into Siem Reap and chose a nice restaurant for dinner. We then decided to have the fish foot massage again, but at a different place.

We then took a walk around town but were pretty shattered from such an early start and so headed back to sleep.

Cambodia - 1st Feb

Today we were leaving Vietnam for our final country - Cambodia. Our flight out was at 11.40am and we were transferred to the airport with Carolyn who was flying back to the USA. Carolyn evidently thought a lot of Andy as she gave him a hug goodbye and called him a 'big, loveable bear' !!

On way to airport

We landed in Siem Reap at 12.40pm. It was a tiny airport but there was a big visa desk with about 15 people sat along it processing visas. It was all very quick and within 20 minutes we had our visas and left the airport. Our new guide Sam and driver were there to meet us and they took us to the hotel to check in and refresh. The hotel was really nice although I was a bit over the top about mosquitoes as I'd decided not to take malaria tablets in case of any side effects and coated myself immediately in deet.

Sam was back to meet us at 2pm and we headed to the temples of Angkor which were a 15 minute drive from the hotel. We had to stop at the entrance and obtain another visa to access the temples. The first place we visited was Angkor Thom. This dates back to the 12^th century and covers an area of 9km².

We arrived via the South Gate which is the best preserved of the four gates leading to the Angkor Thom temples. The gate is accessed via a fifty metre causeway which extends across a man made moat. On each side of the causeway were 54 stone figures engaged in the performance of a famous Hindu story: the myth of the Churning of the Ocean.

Entrance to the South Gate

On the left side of the moat, 54 'devas' (guardian gods) were pulling the head of the snake 'Shesha' while on the right side 54 'asuras' (demon gods) were pulling the snake's tail in the opposite direction. In this myth, the body of the snake is wrapped around the central mountain—Mt. Meru—perhaps corresponding here to the Bayon temple at the centre of the site. In any case, the myth relates that as the Devas pulled the snake in one direction and the gods pushed in the other, the ocean began to churn and precipitate the elements. By alternating back and forth, the ocean was "milked", forming the earth and the cosmos anew.

The central tower of the stone gate was capped by three face-towers that faced the four directions (the central tower faces both out and in). Below them at the base of the gate were two sets of elephant statues that flanked the entrance on both sides. Sitting on each elephant was a figure of the god Indra carrying his usual weapon—the 'vadra' (a lightning bolt).

We drove in to the site and to the Bayon Temple. The temple was built in the 12^th century to honour a host of gods throughout the Khmer empire. The central shrine held an image of Jayavarman VII who perhaps imagined himself as a god-king ruling in the name of Buddha.

The temple is best known today for the gigantic face sculptures that adorn its thirty-seven surviving towers. Facing in four directions on each tower, the faces are thought to represent Lokeshvara, a Buddhist deity that projected benevolence outward to the four directions. We couldn't stop taking pictures it was so amazing.

Stone Carvings

Next we walked to the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King which was 350m long and was used by the king as a giant viewing platform for public ceremonies and to to view his army.

Terrace of the Elephants

Then we were driven to Angkor Watt for sunset. This complex is the world's largest sacred building and took 30 years to build. It's approached via a 200 metre wide moat. There is then an entrance pavillion measuring 230 metres north-south. Its central bays have three passages that elephants could fit through for royal processions.

Entrance Pavillion

Walk way to the Temple

Past the entrance gate was a long causeway that runs for over 300 meters, decorated with mythical snake-like animals called naga. On either side are isolated buildings called "libraries" though their true function is unknown. Sam walked us to a large pool in front of the temple to take some pictures but said the sunset wasn't going to b great so we left and were driven back to the hotel.

Angkor Watt Temple

In the evening we decided to head into Siem Reap for some food at the Khmer Kitchen Restaurant which was recommended as being good with both locals and tourists. We hailed a tuk tuk and headed in. The restaurant was great and really cheap – 3USD for a main meal.

Yummy dinner

After this we went for a walk around town. It was a great place lively, fun and cheap !! We decided to have a fish foot massage on the side of the street which was 5USD for 30 minutes (this would be £40 back in the UK). It was tickley at first but quite nice. You could tell who had the most dry skin as the fish flocked to Andy's ankles.

After this we took a walk along Pub Street but had a really early start the next day so decided to head back by tuk tuk to the hotel and to bed.

A free day in Hoi An - 27th Jan

Yesterday should have included a walking tour of Hoi An but we'd run out of time so Huong kindly agreed to come back today and give us a morning tour. Firstly we visited a Chinese Assembly Hall dating back to the 17^th century. Here bags of rice were being handed out to the poor as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Many of the poor were elderly and disfigured – probably as a result of the Vietnam War as there had been fierce fighting in this area. It was nice to see them receiving free food.

 

Next we were taken through an old merchant house on the river. This house floods every year and the owners have to move their furniture up to the first floor each year. There were markings on the walls showing how high up the water came.

Huong then took us to the Japanese covered bridge. The first bridge was built in the 1590s to link the Japanese and Chinese communities on opposite sides of the river. The French flattened the bridge to make it more roadworthy for vehicles but the peaked roof was restored to the bridge in 1986 and the bridge became pedestrianised.

Finally we visited a silk making factory where we saw the trays of silk worms and the spindles. There were lots of lovely handmade pictures and table cloths for sale but we didn't buy anything and again it felt very touristy.

 

After the morning tour Andy and I took a walk along one bank of the river , over a bridge and back down the other side. We ended up buying two terracotta animal whistles off a really good saleswoman who said she was 15 but she looked much much younger than that.

We then decided to have lunch in a cafe in town in town and found a table looking onto the road which was great for people watching before heading back to the hotel for a bit of relaxing. Our room was on the 2^nd floor and whilst we were back we watched a worker shimmy up a coconut tree by our room and cut all the coconuts off the tree. It was amazing how he did this but a bit unnerving as there were no safety harnesses or helmet.

In the evening we'd booked on a Cookery Course. We headed out a bit early and went for a walk through the market and had time for a beer before heading to the course.

There were about 20 of us on the course and we were sat at two tables. The chef demonstrated a couple of dishes and we got to have a go at doing a bit of chopping and rolling of spring rolls but it wasn't quite as hands on as I'd expected. The one good thing was we got to take the recipes away and after the demonstration we were served five dishes – some we'd cooked and some local delicacies. Everyone stayed for the meal and then drifted off so we went for a night time walk along the river again before heading back to the hotel.