We spent three days in Siem Reap - eating, drinking and, of course, visiting the many temples dotted around the area. Angkor Wat is the most famous and although it's impressive I much preferred the one known as 'jungle temple' where the film Tomb Raider was set. It's the one with tree branches protruding from the stone and just looks stunning. I also liked the temple of Bayon, where the photo of the three faces was taken.
The pictures on my camera phone don't really do any of it justice but I've taken hundreds on my SLR camera. You'll just have to wait a bit longer for those!
We spent the first few hours on arrival in Siem Reap as a free afternoon so Natalie and I went exploring the town. Natalie is a girl after my own heart, she's a couple of years older but has just moved back in with her parents to save some money! We've bonded really well since we've been in the group and so have been seeing the sights and going for a wander which is great. Always good to have a buddy who is keen to do the same things.
The following day we cycled to the temples of Bayon, Angkor Wat and other ruins dotted around. By this time we were getting a bit used to the kids trying to sell you tourist tat and fruit. 'You buy from me, one dollar. Why you not want?' It was a scorching hot day and we were all exhausted by the end of it so it was a fairly quiet night out wandering through the night market and buying a few souvenirs (small ones of course that pack easy!).
Day three we cycled further out to a very impressive temple called Bantay Sreay (not necessarily remembering the spellings accurately here) and then on to jungle temple. On the way we passed through villages full of little huts on stilts with stalls by the roadside selling palm oil, fruit, lots of wicker souvenirs. All a fascinating insight into the local culture. We stopped at a little house where they cultivate the local palm trees for sugar. The farmer showed us how he used his tools to cut down the fruit and they were making the round discs of palm sugar which we bought from them afterwards. It tastes delicious, really rich and sweet. We also tried the juice and jelly from the fruit.
On the cycle back the weather took a turn for the worse and we got absolutely drenched in another thunderstorm. It was great fun cycling along in the rain and before it got too heavy we were racing each other to try and outrun the rain. We then stopped at a temple where we climbed up the water-drenched steps and sheltered for a while.
We were slightly disturbed at the foot of the temple to find some chickens, which we thought were dead, hanging upside down fully plucked. But one started flapping its wings and gave us quite a shock. It didn't seem to fit with Buddhist teachings but as our guide explained not all the locals have a full understanding of what the religion means.
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