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.