We travelled on to Siem Reap, a touristy but lively little town with a lot of great places to eat. Everyone is there for the same thing - the ancient temples of Angkor - and they don't disappoint.
At 5am in pitch black we were picked up by our tuk-tuk driver and taken to the most famous of all the temples, Angkor Wat. We stumbled through the darkness, following other people's torch beams and entered the huge site. The excitement was intensified as it was impossible to see anything but vague shapes. It was a bit like being led to a nice surprise whilst blindfolded.
Slowly the sun came up and the greatly-photographed towers of the temple became clearer. In the soft sunlight of the early morning, we left everybody by the banks of the lake trying to get the perfect photo and expored the ancient building, practically on our own. A fantastic start to the day, we rounded it off with an overpriced breakfast in the grounds and then hopped back into our ride to the next destination, the temples of Angkor Thom.
A road lined with stone figures leads up to the entrance of Angkor Thom, where there is an incredible archway with four giant human faces in the rock. This theme is continued in main temple inside, which is mostly ruins but looks impressive with it's many pillars of stone faces, staring off in all directions.
Next was the temple apparently made famous in the film Tomb Raider. The jungle has been gradually reclaiming its space and giant roots swallow up the walls like oversized octupus tentacles. The effect is definitely worth seeing.
We also visited the devastating Killing Fields, where a lot of the people who were at the prison in Phnom Penh were murdered. Needless to say, another sobering sight - particularly the memorial tower which is filled to roof with skulls.
On a lighter note, we spent the next few days in the town relaxing and enjoying the local food, particularly the fish in coconut leaves dish 'Amok'. We made the most of the cheaper prices, as Australia was just around the corner and we knew that the cost was going to be a shock.
