16th Dec: Got to Siem Reap and got  my 3 day pass for the Temples of Angkor. Got a glimpse of Angkor Wat while going past on the bus and it looked good! After dumping my stuff, I had a wander round the Old Town and wandered down Pub Street - very ancient sounding! On the way back, went along the river, seeing all the battered homes on stilts but looking in, they all have wide screen TV! Went to bed early, as I was due to be up at 4.30, but the Liverpool V's Charlton match was on so it was later than planned.

17th Dec, Got up at 5 so a bit later than planned, but still a stupid time and went to Angkor Wat for the sunrise. Angkor means capital and wat mean Temple or holy city. It's one of the wonders of the world and is very impressive. It's massive and took all morning to walk around. It starts with a huge moat then the temple itself consists of 3 levels - the final one inside so you have to climb steps that are so steep you need to use your hands and don't look down. I left at around 12-ish and went to the land mine museum and bought myself a T-shirt. There is still a massive problem with the land mines and lots are there to pick up and look at - they were just like the one we found in Vietnam!!
After relaxing for a bit, I was back out temple-searching and headed for one called Bayon, which is part of the Angkor Thom complex. It's filled with giant stone faces and again steep steps leading to the main centre temple. Leaving there, I headed for sunset at the Pre Rupo temple and sat watching the sunset with an Angkor beer - the end of a long day.

18th Dec: Off to Banteay Srey, which is a bit of a journey, but a good one to go for as it's quite small compared to the previous ones, so was packed out. It's different because it's made of pink sandstone, so its stands out as being different. Leaving there, its was off to Ta Prohm, which is still covered in jungle growth and my favourite. They can't clear the trees or the Temple will collapse and it's where they filmed Tomb Raider. Angelina Jolie is very popular here, as it helps with tourism apparently. Anyway walking around, it's like a cross between an Indiana Jones film and the scene with King Louis in jungle book and really good fun. After that I was pretty much Templed-out and just went out for a few beers and rested my little feet.