After our slightly scary taxi ride, we arrived at our hostel, Siem Reap Rooms Guesthouse and got settled in. One of the owners, Melissa, gave us an extensive run through of the Angkor Temples and our various options.

We’d heard the temples were amazing at sunrise and sunset, but having had a pretty long day already, I was fairly certain there was little to no chance of us getting up at 5am and heading off to the temples. So, we decided to just see what time we’re up and take it from there.  We were unsure whether to take the ‘grand’ route or the ‘mini’ route, and whether to cycle or take at tuk tuk.  Too tired to make plans, we headed out to grab some food, have our first (of many) Angkor beers and take in the town.

We woke up fairly early the next day, although obviously not early enough for the sunrise trip to the temples, showered and ordered some breakfast.  After discussing it, we decided to take a tuk tuk for our first day to Angkor – although cycling sounded so idyllic and pretty, in reality it’s likely we would be shattered quickly, most likely get soaked by rain and we wanted to get a feel for the temples before going off and exploring ourselves. There was always the next day to do some more leisurely sight seeing on two wheels.

We asked David, the other owner, to find us a tuk tuk, which is a service the hostel offers to ensure that people don’t get ripped off.  It would cost us $12 for the mini tour, which can take 5 – 6 hours by tuk tuk.  They charge by the route, and not by the time, so if you were slower looking around the temples, it would cost you the same.  The first driver he tried, Mr Tong, was available and came around within 15 minutes.  A sweet man, with excellent English, he didn’t complain when we needed both a cash point and a water stop.  We told him we wanted to do the mini route, and off we went.

The road out of Siem Reap and into the Angkor Temples was long, straight and never ending. I think it was at this point that we began to get a real scale of the place. If this was the road to the entrance, how big an area must the 1000+ temples take up?! I’ve since read that recently Angkor was discovered to be the largest pre-industrial city in the world, with actual infrastructure joining an area over 1000km squared.

But, when I mention the word “city”, I think of huge, busy, noisy, sprawling areas thronging with people. For me, it’s hard to image Angkor like that.  On first arrival, going straight to the most famous Angkor Wat, it did feel touristy.  Walking up past the moat, the former libraries with lush green grass on either side, it was hard to get a photo without tourists in it.

Still, there was no doubting the absolutely awe inspiring effect of Angkor Wat.  It really is breath taking. The scale, the detail, the beauty. I was transfixed by the carvings of text over many of the walls / pillars.  The carvings were stunning. The walls were huge. Most of all, being a mathematician at heart, the geometry and sharp lines were magnificent.

Moving on from the infamous Wat, we wandered off to Angkor Thom and the Bayon.  The Bayon, although much more decayed than the Wat, and looking less impressive from a distance, was one of my favourite temples. The towers, with their imposing faces staring from all 4 sides, quite literally surveying and supervising the whole Thom and the light flooding into the walkways took my breath away. It was here I took one of my favourite photos of the entire holiday:

We spent the next 5 – 6 hours wandering around the temples. They were so unbelievably tranquil. There were times where we wouldn’t see another soul – or if we did they would be monks going about their days.  It was beautiful but tiring. Our tuk tuk driver was always on hand to drive us to the next temple, but walking from the tuk tuk to the temple, we literally had to fight off small children selling their wares.  We actually were more amused than irritated by them – everything was quite simply “One dollaaaaaaaar. Please Mrs, one dollar? One for your husband? 2 for a dollar? 3?” But they weren’t allowed on the temple grounds, so as soon as you were within a certain area of the temple you were completely unbugged.

I did often wonder what people did with the 3 recorders they bought for $1 after they left Cambodia!

The next busiest place at the temples was, of course, the “Tomb Raider” temple. Which was blinking cool. Overgrown by trees and roots, where sometimes you could quite literally stand under a tree that had grown on a temple, it was every young (and not so young) persons best adventure playground.

Tired, templed out and without anything purchased for one dollaaaaaar, we headed back to Siem Reap.  That night was my birthday celebration… one to remember!

CatDog xx