Temperature:36 Degrees Celsius
Track of the day: "It's a holiday in Cambodia,"
"Wake up," Alecs says at 4:30 in the morning, "Rattana is going to be here in half an hour." It's our first full day of temple exploring and we're making an early start to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat. We wait in the lobby with the hotel dog and the super-friendly guesthouse staff who engage us in conversations about home before we leave. The air is warm as we sit in the back of the tuk-tuk that winds through the sleeping city streets past a beautiful canal illuminated by colourful lights. As we come closer to the temple complex the air becomes crisp
colorful lights. As we come closer to the temple complex the air becomes crisp and cool - a much needed change in temperature that unfortunately does not last very long. We are dropped off at the massive sprawling entrance to Angkor Wat - the most famous of all the Angkor temples and we make our way down the long stone entryway in the dark. Angkor Wat is more than just stunning architectural wonder, it is a symbol of the nation a source of pride for the Khmer people and a representation of their culture. It is surrounded by a massive moat enclosed by a laetrile wall and was built by King Suryavaraman II to serve as the holy capital city and then eventually his final place of rest. Once through the outer wall the magnificent view of the five towers which represent the heavenly peaks of Mt. Meru, the tallest of which was home to Vishna are before
us. Alecs and I stand in silence, unable to form words to describe this experience which is broken only by hoards of tourists coming in behind us. We find a nice ledge to sit on well away from the crowds where we have a pristine view of the awe inspiring temple. "I can't believe we're actually here," Alecs says as the orange sun peaks over the temple walls, "this place is amazing." Busloads of tourists pack in the processional and as night turns into day we listen to the surroundings and watch the sunrise. Moments after the sun has finally crept up over the temple peaks the majority of the tourists head back to the city for breakfast, but Alecs and I remain behind to explore the temple in silence. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a 190 meter long moat which makes the moats at European castles look like a joke. As we walk up the terrace to enter the ancient temple we wonder aloud what it would have taken to build this back in 1112-1152 AD. According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved more than 300,000 workers and 5000 elephants and yet it was never completed. It is built by sandstone rocks that were quarried some 50km away and floated down the Stung Siem Reap River on bamboo rafts and then taken to the sight and constructed
without any modern machines - simply impressive. Once inside there are bas-reliefs (or long carvings depicting stories such as heaven and hell and the army of Suryavarman II) that wrap around the outside of the central temple complex. There are four pools near the entrance and we stop for a moment to sit and enjoy the moment. "I think we should design our house in a similar fashion," Alecs says as we walk around the four large in ground squares where the pools would have been. "I concur," I say wandering over to the ancient libraries, "It is however missing a sauna and hot tub," I say jokingly. "Yes but in this weather who needs either of those," Alecs replies wiping the sweat off his forehead and taking a drink of already warm water. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and it takes us close to two and a half hours to see most of it. "Now I will take you to Bayon," Rattana says as we climb back into his tuk-tuk. A two minute ride down the tree-lined road with monkeys carrying babies on their backs and stomachs has us at another incredible temple. Bayon is highly recognizable by the giant faces carved into the rock, visible from any angle within the temple. There are 54 Gothic-style towers with more than 200 smiling faces that bear close resemblance to the king who had them built. As we climb to the top of the temple we can see more than a dozen faces at any given moment, either eye level or high above looking down 
on us. Most of the Angkor temples have been heavily restored pulling the jungle which took them over back and picking up the broken pieces. However, the stairs are still nearly impassible at times as they remain broken, uneven, steep and narrow requiring us to have some level of agility. Bayon is such a temple, and careful not to fall we wander around the summit where miss-Cambodia amputee (landmine victim) is doing a photo-shoot. There are relatively fewer tourists here and we relish in the silence for a few moments before a busload of Japanese and Korean tourists fill the temple. We walk down a few meters to the next temple - Baphuon which probably would have been one of the most impressive on the Angkor temples back in the day. It is pyramid shaped and surrounded by a large wall but remains under construction meaning we stay on the ground. Immediately
Baphuon is the 'Terrace of Elephants' a 350-meter long wall that was used as a giant viewing stand for public ceremonies and is decorated in a parade of elephants and their mahouts with three-dimensional trunks protruding out. "I can't believe the sheer number of temples
," Alecs says after we finish exploring Preah Palilay, Tep Pranam, Preah Pithu and the Terrace of the Leper King which all offer something different and equally impressive. All these temples are part of the walled city of Angkor Thom - 10 square km in size that is said to have had 1 million people living in it. We leave the city of Angkor Thom, passing under one of the five immense gates (20 meters high) that had the same faces as in Bayon as well as the infamous depiction of The Churning of The Ocean Milk in front" The 'Churning on the Ocean Milk' consists of 88 assuras (gods) statues on the
left and 92 devas (deamons) on the right churning up the sea to extract the elixir of immortality. The daemons hold the head of a 5-headed serpent while the gods hold the tail in a tug of war that ends with Vishnu incarnated as a turtle lending a hand (actually a shell) and of course defeating the demons. Just outside Angkor Thom is the next temple on today's agenda - Preah Khan or Sacred Sword which is a winding maze of narrow corridors and massive trees engulfing century-old walls. There are very few tourists at this sight and we wander around until we find a completely deserted area where we stop and relax in the shade before continuing on. All the temples require a considerable amount of climbing and most tourists head back to their hotels when the temperature gets too hot, but hoping to avoid the masses Alecs and I work right through the
heat of the day. "I can probably wring sweat out of my t-shirt," I say trying top separate it from my skin. Alecs barely nods his head as we climb
to the impossible high temple of Pre Rup, which closely resembles Ayutthaya in Thailand. It's nearly 2:30 in the afternoon and we've been visiting temples for nearly nine hours straight but we've completed the outer big loop and it's time to head back into town for lunch. We ask our tuk-tuk driver to take us to the FCC (foreign correspondence club) where we treat him to lunch. Rattana was given his tuk-tuk by one of the Filipino expats here named J.R. who he made friends with that lets him pay $1 a day until it's paid off. Rattana moved to Siem Reap from the capital Phnom Penh and with his wife and now 6-month old daughter in hopes to improve his English and become a tour guide.
As we pull up to the restaurant we found in Lonely Planet a glistening pool lines the walkway
where crisp white linen-clad tables sit under the powerful air-conditioning. As we sit down the waitress brings us three cold towels and Rattana examines every corner of the place telling us he has never been anywhere like it before. We order him a $10 hamburger and he tells us this would feed his family for a week. We both look at each other feeling guilty for having money but happy that we could let him experience a few moments of pampering. During lunch Rattana proudly shows us photos of his daughter and tells us how she stops crying and fussing when he holds her - and we wish we had more money to help him and his family. Rattana takes us back to the hotel after lunch and we take a quick nap before heading out for dinner with Kuya Tet (one of the Filipino expats) at a local Khmer barbecue where we choose raw veggies and meat from a buffet and cook them ourselves
in a wok in the centre of the table. "There's lots of opportunity for expat work here," Kuya tells me, "and it's a really nice place to live," he adds. Alecs and I look at each other both thinking the same thing - that perhaps after Australia this might be a place to spend a few months working. We head back to the hotel buzzing about our love for this wonderful city and the amazing people we've met excited about another day of temples.
So long for now,
Alecs and Meg in Siem Reap
Reference: Lonely Planet:Cambodia
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