Our Great Adventure: Day 67 24/11/2014

We've planned to stay in Siem Reap for 3 days so after a bit of research and help from the staff at the Rose Apple, including a National Geographic documentary of the some of the ongoing restoration, we've roughly planned where we'd like to go. The complex of temples at Angkor, the eighth wonder of the world, is massive. Apparently there is no greater concentration of architectural riches anywhere in the world and it's up there with Petra and Macchu Picchu. We were conscious that we could easily become 'templed out' or simply exhausted if we attempted to see too much each day. We had originally planned to cycle around the complex but decided that the distances and heat would be too much so we hired our tuk tuk driver, Polin, for the day and set off just after 8am. The plan for today was to visit some of the smaller temples leaving the 'big hitters' for tomorrow and a trip to Phnom Kulen, a sacred mountian, on Thursday. After stopping to buy our pass on the road from Siem Reap to Angkor ($40 each for 3 days) we drove through the North Gate of Angkor Thorm. The gate is flanked by statues depicting the Churning of the Ocean Milk with 54 demons and 54 gods in a major tug of war and the faces of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara looming from the tower. From here we went to visit Preah Khan, one of the largest complexes which is thought to have housed over 1000 teachers and possibly a university. It's a maze of vaulted corridors, cavings and lichen clad stonework all within an outer wall of 700m by 800m. Preah Neak Poan was next up. A Buddhist temple of much smaller scale with a large square pool surrounded by four smaller pools with a circular island in the middle. It was a very tranquil setting even without the water that once flowed through the pools. After a short ride we reached Ta Som. Mostly in a ruinous state it did have a very impressive tree overwhelming the east gate. From here we went on to Eastern Mebon, a Hindu temple which originally was sited on an islet in the middle of the Eastern Baray reservoir but is now on dry land. The temple is topped with a quintet of towers and guarded on four corners by carved stone figures of elephants. Not far from here is Pre Rup, a pyramid shaped temple mountain with three tiers. The temple is thought of have served as an early royal crematorium. From here we went to see one of the 'big three', Ta Prohm, a Mahayanna Buddhist temple which has been engulfed by the jungle. Centuries old trees encase the temple with their roots like webs over the stone work and moss, creeping plants and shrubs everywhere. It's a mass of towers, courtyards and narrow corridors, a number of which are closed due to the destruction caused by the jungle. Several scenes of Tomb Raider with Lara Croft, where filmed here and other locations around Angkor. To finish the day we visited Banteay Kdei, a massive Buddhist monastery apparently never completed and on to Sra Srang, a body of water measuring 800m by 400m reserved for the king and his consorts. As we headed back to Siem Reap for a late lunch we reflected on what a fascinating place this is. It's hard to believe there was once a city living here with more than one million residents (at the time London had a population of c50,000). Being built of stone the temples have survived whilst all other buildings constructed of wood have perished. Back at the Rose Apple we had a very enjoyable dip in the pool and spent a few hours chilling out before sunset. In the evening we went to a restaurant recommended by the owner here, The Touich Restaurant Bar. It's on the outskirts of Siem Reap so we hired Polin to drop us off and pick us up. We were glad we had as it's down a long unlit road which we don't think we'd have ventured down on our own. The food was Cambodian and the drinks menu included some rather fine red wine at reasonable prices. Simon had a huge salted flat fish, Red Snapper, which was delicious. Diane didn't do so well with her choice of pork with egg plant which was bland with a texture of stewed rhubarb but this didn't spoil a very enjoyable evening. A great way to end a fantastic day.