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.