Picked up by Tuk Tuk driver Mr Nin for our trip to Angkor Wat. The cost was US$15 for driver and then $20 entry fee for a single day pass. We arrived at Angkor Wat Temple first and followed the crowd of tourists to the 12th century Temple that is dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu. It is the best preserved religious architecture out of all that we saw today. The Temple is surrounded by a moat and an exterior wall 1300m x 1500m. The amount of tourists is just mind boggling as they are everywhere. Local guides speaking in many different languages explaining the Temple. From here we headed to Angkor Thom – Bayon Temple located in heart of Angkor Thom is one of the largest Mahayana Buddist temples in the Angkor complex. It was built in late 12th century and its most distinct feature is the multitude of massive stone faces that grace its many towers. We then headed to Ta Keo which was quite run down and then to Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is a picturesque tree-temple built in 1186AD and is where Temple of Doom was filmed. Kevin lost interest whilst we were looking at the outside so he headed off to find Mr Nim while I kept wondering inside the temple.It was amazing how the trees grew through the buildings and walls. We then hit our last temple- Banteay Kdei and it was here that we ran into Sofi again and so offered her a ride back to the hotel. It was now around noon and so we had certainly had enough as it was 36C and very hot. We hit the pool after lunch and while Kevin caught more rays I had a massage. Wasn't bad. Headed out for tea and got dropped at Pub Street but first I ended up buying a latex pillow US$24 for myself as the pillows here are just too hard. We stopped at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant which was well patronised and were unable to get a table but the friendly waiter said their other restaurants had vacancy and he took us down an alley to the restaurant. After tea we wondered around Pub Street area and was amazed at the vitality and fun happening. We saw tourists sampling Fried crickets, spiders and other creepy crawly things I didn't know what. Another early night after the strenuous day had. Overall my view of Angkor Wat complex was that I was amazed at the intrinsic carvings on the stonework and the size of the blocks etc. it must have been a mean feat to construct these amazing structures. As I mentioned Kevin lost interest after the first 2 and didn't really appreciate the amount of skill that must have gone into each Temple.
