30th January - Angkor Wat

There are those who will tell you that sunrise over the temples at Angkor Wat is one of the greatest sights on earth. We are not among them as it is a dull , cloudy morning with the threat of rain in the air. At 5 am it is already warm enough to cause perspiration just standing around. Half a dozen slackers in the group have opted out of this early morning visit. The rest of us climb on board the bus in the darkness.

A five minute ride takes us to the ticket office and we are all asked to debus and follow Veebol inside. There is a huge concourse reminiscent of a budget airline check in hall. Certain counters deal with groups and we are directed to join the queue at one of them. Nothing seems to happen for a while then each of us in turn has to step forward and have our picture taken by a digital camera on the counter. After another hiatus we are led back on to the bus where individual tickets are handed out. These cost $37 each but are part of our tour package and we are given strict instructions to keep them with us at all times. The pictures are as bad as you would expect at this time of the morning.

The coach drops us off as near to the Angkor Wat entrance as it is allowed to go. We disembark in darkness and follow our leader along a road closed to traffic. We then have to negotiate a wooden ramp down to a very odd floating bridge. This wobbles a bit and makes gurgling noises with every step. Apparently the Canadians have provided it while the one built in the 11th century across the moat is being restored. 

It is just starting to get light when we enter the main temple complex through the King's Gate which is the western entrance. We are not alone. The temple towers are just visible as the sky lightens in the east. There are a couple of lily ponds in front of the temple buildings and a large crowd sit, squat or stand gazing eastwards and hoping for a truly magic photo. They, and we, are thwarted by the weather. Some of them are singing and chanting, a bit much at this time of day. Veebol lets us loose to take pictures for a while then leads us into the temple building. There are lots of photo opportunities but most include a lanky Japanese youth all in black or a lady with an umbrella.

Our guide takes up a couple of flights of stairs and tells us to join the queue for access to the top level of the temple. This has a limit on numbers admitted at any one time. There are Disneyland style time boards and as we shuffle forward the first one we reach is marked 45 minutes. It doesn't quite take that long to reach the foot of the vertiginous stair leading up. As we begin the climb a gentle rain begins to fall. At the top we can largely stay dry by negotiating corridors around the perimeter of the tower. There are some splendid views including the one of the latecomers in the queue getting rained on.

By now the rain has stopped but it is approaching 8 am. and we need to be heading back to the gate. This is accomplished with only a few alarms and false turns. Back at the hotel we feel like we have earned our breakfast. D goes to town and indulges in Orange Spreadable (see photo). Our break is soon over and we are back on the bus heading for Angkor Thom, a ruined Buddhist temple featuring 216 enormous sculpted faces of Buddha. On the way we see elephants exiting the temple perimeter via the Elephant Gate.

Another couple of ruins make up our morning quota and then it is time for lunch at the KKK Restaurant. The staff do not wear white sheets and pointed hoods but they do serve up the Cambodian equivalent of a thali, six different dishes in lidded pots. The food is good but it is too soon after breakfast to do justice to it.

In the afternoon we visit another temple, made famous when it appeared in the film 'Tomb Raider'. Here the buildings look as though they have been through an earthquake but in fact the damage has been done by tree roots. There is an Indian team from the Archaeological Survey of India undertaking repair and restoration work. How far to go with this will be a tricky balance. 

The last part of the day is a return visit to Angkor Wat to see the sunset. The cloud has persisted all day and Veebol tells us that we would not see anything that we have not already seen. We return to the hotel, have a quick cuppa and set out on foot to find a local market. This is a rather longer walk than we anticipated and we finish up in the centre of the city just as the main Night Market is opening for business. We haggle hard for a couple of items before deciding that we need to get back.

We take the return trip on a remorque, a roomy four wheel passenger cart pulled by a motorcycle. Cambodia is the first place that we have seen these and the are much more common than normal autos, known here as Tuk-tuks. If you have a motorcycle in Cambodia you have the basic premises to set up a business. Today we have seen Juice bars, a brush and basket shop and a fully mobile kebab shop all built around motorbikes.

Of necessity tonight's cocktail hour gins are absolute stonkers as we need to empty the travelling drinks cabinet before tomorrow's flights. We are almost late for the 6.30 dinner parade. Tonight the bus takes us to a large restaurant with a stage. While we eat we are treated to a succession of dance performances, all very colourful and skillfully executed. By the time we get to the hotel we are quite tired but do feel the need to check out the place over the road from the hotel. This is described as a Container Night Market and Pub Street. It is garishly lit and has a noisy disco in one corner. There are plenty of empty containers but no evidence of any market traders, day or night. There are about a dozen small, mainly deserted bars/restaurants open and we choose the one furthest from the disco and sit down for a $0.50 draught beer. We have seen several of these container parks around Siem Reap. It is not clear how anybody makes money out of them.