Day 11 13.12.2014 Chill Day ! Breakfast, reading at the pool ...Clint is stuck into the Keith Richards Biography and I was reading all about the Cambodian history. This country and all its people - especially our generation who were teenagers at the time - have been severely affected by the horrendously brutal regime and guerilla war of the Khmer Rouge from 1973 to 1993 - really recent history. It is estimated that about 2 million people died, having been murdered or executed or dying of desease and starvation due to the attempt to force all citizens to become peasants in the agrarian revolution. City dwellers were forced from the cities to the rural areas to work in the fields as slaves. Any objections were met with summary executions ...this included the elderly and sickly. This countries traumatised population has had to overcome severe famine and hardships and have only had the last 20 years of relative stability to rebuild their lives. The Khmer Rouge took everything that was dear to them : their families, their food, their fields, their faith. Many NGOs and aid agencies are involved in the development of Cambodia, especially working for the development of education and health. The conservation and restoration of the Angkor Archiological Park is also being supported by the UN agencies and donations of both grants and skills from many European countries. It is certainly needed, as it would be sad to lose this cultural treasure, which will struggle to withstand ongoing decay due to the natural elements (The pollution in the surrounding cities and roads adding to the acid rain) and especially the damage caused by the multitude of tourists. Explored the old city along the river on foot a little later in the day and were most surprised to stumble across a newly established Hard Rock Cafe. Badge and T- shirt in hand we wandered back to pur hotel through the myriad of small market stalls - where, as everywhere in the world, you tend to find most of the sames wares for sale ...same, same ...but different ! An evening of a team supper at a local Khmer restaurant, indulging in the traditional Amok (fish steamed in fragrant coconut milk wrapped in a banana leaf and served with rice), fruit shakes and drinks and cocktails in Pub Street, ended another great day in Siem Reap. Day 12 14.12.2014 Papa/Opi's Birthday !! Last day to use our Angkor Pass ...so organised the same TukTuk driver and left a bit earlier for the longer route. Getting there before the tourist buses meant having the atmospheric Pra Khan temple almost to ourselves. Large roots ( like giant anacondas the size of tree trunks) of Kapun Trees find their way into any small nook and crevice in the walls and proceed to force to large rocks apart, causing bending moments in walls and lifting roofs. As no adhesive products are used between the stones and only their weight keeps them in place, if the roots are left uncurbed, walls tumble down and roofs crash down as huge rocks are moved out of kilter. The small island water temple, Neak Pean, built on a man- made island in a large man-made reservoir (Jayataka Baray)....man-made in the 12 th century that is ...was a totally different type of place of dedication and worship to the one's we had seen. The strict religious guidelines of lines from East to West and North to South and 4 separate ponds with a higher centre-piece facing all directions can be found in this small temple. On the way back, we again drove through the Angkor Thom gates and past the impressive Bayon temple. Another opportunity to gaze in wonderment at this ancient marvel. We stopped at another mountain temple on a hilltop, just before Angkor Wat. Phnom Bakheng is reached by a 10 minute walk up a footpath. The rock staircase is overgrown, has collapsed in some areas and dangerous at this stage (even on Cambodian standards ....the British Health and Safety officials would have a field time here !). I think the Cambodians of the 10th century were people small in stature and with very small feet - judging by the doorways ...even I need to bend down...and the stairs....I definitely have to walk them sideways. The temple is of the same design as Pra Prerup ....with magnificient views over Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. As there is a huge preservation and restoration project going on, we marvelled, not only at the original temple, but also at the skill of the mammoth job being undertaken to preserve and restore this temple. It seems nearly impossible to identify all the fallen rocks and work out where they fit. It is not as if you can just pick them up and try them out. It is impossible to move the stone blocks even just a millimeter - never mind lift them about 3 meters high. Something that is insteresting about the landscape is that there are no highrise buildings - generally nothing higher than 6 stories. The reason being ...no building is allowed to be higher than the central cone of Angkor Wat ...65m. Interesting also to note, that one hotel built higher and was then struck by lightening shortly afterwards. The gods will have their way ! Before leaving the park we spent another hour in Angkor Wat - just to savour the environment and let it soak in again. The first impressions tend to be so overwhelming that it all washes over one like a giant wave ...and on the second visit one is able to relax, recline and let it all soak in. Luckily there seemed to be less people milling around at this time, which made it even better. This is definitely an area where one can do research on the definition of "personal space" of the different nationalities ...as well as the lack of volume regulators in certain nationalities. If you aren't interested in history or temples ...this is people watching at its best ...masses of examples and species from all corners of the world ...in isolation and in herds ...all options represented. Now those observations would make an amazing book...especially taking note of all the comments that one overhears and interactions one becomes aware of.