The Cave

If anyone ever tells you that the staggering array of temples and sacred buildings around the ancient Khmer capital of Angkor are “amazing” or “wonderful” or “splenfumferously spangwobbly astoundingous”, they are understating in a big way.

Upon arrival in Siem Reap, the modern town just south of the sites, it didn’t take us long to decide on the 7 day pass to the temples rather than the shorter 3 or quite frankly criminal 1 day passes.

Armed with this handy laminated ticket and our trusty Tuk-Tuk driver Som (who luckily also had a tuk tuk) - we set off along the jungle lined route to the temples.

Day 1: Mini Tour Loop (Transport: Tuk Tuk)
Som is a delightful chap, and he has obviously been doing tours for long enough to know the routes of the larger tour groups pretty well. He was able to get us to sites before the masses reached them, and we didn’t feel rushed at any point - allowing us to explore almost deserted temple complexes at our leisure!

Our first day was the inner loop of temples, including Phnom Bakeng (perched on the top of a hill), the huge walled city of Angkor Thom (containing the Bayon, and numerous other temples), Ta Prohm (still overgrown with mysterious shaped trees, and the site where parts of the Tomb Raider film were shot) and finally Angkor Wat itself for sunset.

Day 2: Mini Tour Remix (Transport: Granny bike)
After our success at the valley of the kings, we decided to hire bikes for the day to explore some of the temples we’d visited the previous day in a little more detail and at different times of day.

Angkor Wat itself is reputed to be the world’s largest religious structure, and I can believe it! The entire structure is magnificent from a distance and the intricate carvings that cover the walls reveal themselves as you get closer. We huffed and puffed through the heat to reach the top of the main tower with a magnificent view of the surrounding jungle and the temple grounds.

We then looped around the southern moat of Angkor Wat, visiting some smaller temples en-route, to reach Ta Prohm just before sunset. This impressive temple is slowly being torn apart by the various trees and bushes that are entwined around the walls. The stones may not be so happy, but it does afford anyone with a camera a golden photo opportunity! In the future the jungle may be allowed to re-claim this site, but I hope the authorities resist the urge to cut the trees back as the atmosphere of the temple in the twilight is simply amazing! Once more we were almost alone at the temple, scrambling over blocks to find deserted courtyards and crumbling walls. An unforgettable experience!

Day 3: Sunrise and Grand Tour Loop (Transport: Tuk Tuk)
We forced poor Som to get up extra early to take us up to Angkor Wat for sunrise. He left us there and headed off to his English lesson, while we found ourselves a spot to watch the show. It turned out to be a little disappointing as sunrises go, but we still enjoyed the experience and watched some cheeky monkeys stealing toothpicks as we ate breakfast nearby.

When our faithful dude rolled back in, we headed back through Angkor Thom to the outer loop of temples. These included Preah Kahn, the watery Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup. By this point you would think we would be templed out, but the truth is that each temple had unique features and it was wonderful to reach a doorway only to find a new network of passages or another fascinating building just around the corner.

Day 4: Day Off in Siem Reap (Transport: our own little feet)
Tiring a little of the “Three for one dollar” hawkers around the temples and needing a little time to gather our thoughts, we decided to give Som a day off and spend a day in Siem Reap chilling out and writing postcards. We also visited a lovely little bar with a large net covering the grounds. The reason for the netting was to keep the hundreds of butterflies of all shapes and sizes from escaping. There were also many informative signs about the different fruits available in that part of the world.

We really enjoyed relaxing in Siem Reap in the evenings, as good food and drinks are widely available, and the temperature was just about right (as long as a fan was strategically placed somewhere in the vicinity)!

Day 5: Biking Again (Transport: Granny bike)
Once more we pedalled off into the distance on our trusty bikes, visiting Banteay Kdei at the eastern edge of the main temple area. As the day went on, Adele started to feel ill, so we returned to Siem Reap to recharge our batteries and chill out on the balcony of our guesthouse.

Day 6: North, South, East, West, um… UP! (Transport: Balloon and Tuk Tuk)
Having explored almost all of the main temple groups on the ground, we took to the skies in a tethered balloon near Angkor Wat. We timed it to perfection and were ushered on board past a waiting tour group. The views over the temples and the surrounding landscape were magnificent. Of particular interest were the huge Baray (man-made reservoirs) that played a part in the disasters of the Pol Pot regieme because of the mistaken theory that they were the key to the wealth of the Khmer Empire.

We decided to return to the Bayon in Angkor Thom for sunset, as we thought the oblique light on the hundreds of huge carved faces would give our cameras a healthy dinner. Som duely chased the sunset down the dirt paths leading to the temple, and we were certainly not disappointed!

Day 7: The Roluos Group (Transport: Tuk Tuk)
Our final day began with a dash along a highway filled with the most random vehicles known to man. After dodging trucks with no cab (some drivers do pop motorcycle helmets on), “motorised mules” towing trailers filled with various goods, motorbikes of all shapes and sizes and the ubiquitos pickup trucks with about three million Khmers piled in the back, we arrived at the Eastern Roluos group of temples that pre-date those at Angkor.

Both Preah Ko and Bakong were impressive temples, and the smaller Lolei, surrounded by a functioning Buddhist monestary was a nice surprise too!

It was then time to say goodbye to our trusty Som, the lovely Millennium Guesthouse,the remarkable Angkor region and the unforgettable Cambodia.

Methinks we’ll be back!

Click here for loads more photos!