Wat have I been doing in Angkor

Trip Start Nov 16, 2004

Trip End Nov 15, 2005

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Flag of Cambodia Siam Reap, Cambodia
Thursday, January 6, 2005

Arrived in Siam Reap on Thursday afternoon (6th) after an 8 hour river boat ride from Battanbang. Spent the following 3 days exploring Angkor and its many wats (temples). We hired pushbikes on the first day for a leisurely ride. It was excellent way to travel but even though the majority of Cambodia is flat the 25 km we cycled during the day was hard going! We went straight to Angkor Wat, the most famous of all 100+ temples in the Angkor area. We ended up watching sunset at Pre Rup whilst drinking a can of beer. This was kindly fetched for us by one of the many children who continously encourage 'barangs' (tourists) to buy bamboo flutes/postcards/bracelets/fruit/cold drinks all costing a convenient one dollar. The funniest part was when Dan got told off by a 5 year old girl who had claimed that he should have bought beer from her as she had asked him first! "Why you not by from me, I asked first". I think he felt guilty for about 10 seconds.

Cath with a space cadet (Angkor Wat)

We hired a tuk-tuk for the next day (c'mon, you don't expect Dan to cope with 2 days of exercise). Another reason for getting motorised transport was we left our guesthouse ('Smiley' - good rooms but bad food) at 5.20am to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. This was the first time I had purposely got up to watch the sunrise, a good experience but I may wait a while before I repeat it!). The early start meant we had lots of time during the day to visit a 9 wats in total. (Pictures will be uploaded soon so I won't bore you with too much detail). All the wats are different so it didn't get boring, it was fun to climb and explore them and then sit peacefully admiring the views.

We finished Angkor at Ta Prohm on Sunday evening (9th). Ta Prohm was the location for the filming for Tomb Raider for those of you that have seen it. I shall have to add it to the list of videos to rent.....

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More Pictures

Dan & Cath at a Wat.	Looking down on Cath at Ta Som	Me & the pillow at Ta Prohm	Me at the top of Angkor Wat
Me with elephant, Angkor.	Nial, Dan & Rich at Angkor	Sunrise at Angkor Wat	The Bayon, Ankor Thom.
Three monks walking towards Angkor Wat