Today we were to meet the guys at 5am... Unfortunately our alarm didn't go off again so we awoke at 5am to Dan banging on our door. We jumped up and threw our clothes on annoyed at the stupid alarm, or lack of! Now we had very little time to get on the road and were likely to miss the sunrise.

We met the others about ten mins later in the lobby where they were waiting patiently having a smoke. We gave our apologies and got a 'no worries mate' response and jumped in the tuk tuk where we sped off. The journey through town didn't take long and we were soon on the straight road through to Angkor Wat. Here we were joined by several other tuk tuks and several people on push bikes... Now were were glad we weren't cycling after all. It was still dark when we arrived in front of the impressive moat leading up to the temple with just the lights of the tuk tuks twinkling in the trees to light the way.

The place already had numerous people milling about and tuk tuks parking up to wait, while the local women were setting up their stalls and selling overpriced soft drinks. We realised now a torch would have been a good decision but since there were several people wandering down the causeway with their torches we were okay. Dan and Rosie sat outside to watch the sunrise but I was determined to get to the temple and see the sunrise ...after all we had come all the way out here to catch the sunrise. We wandered in and walked down the inner causeway towards the view point, which had a beautiful view of the temple. As we walked down the causeway we both said wow and gasped at the beautiful sight ahead, all you could see was the eery outline of Angkor Wat against the darkness of the sky. As we got about half way down the causeway we saw the a large pond shimmering in the early morning light.... And the hundreds of tourists waiting to catch their perfect shot.

We crept in and I snuck my way to the front of the crowd, we sat on the edge of the pond on my sarong and waited patiently. We took a few shots intermittently but to be honest the real beauties came when the sun was up just over Angkor Wat causing it to be come a big dark outline which was stunning. While we were waiting I was watching a man pick lilies from the pond who then became a bit of a celebrity as he emerged from the pond. Tourists were crowding around and taking shots of him for a bout twenty mins to which point the guy looked a bit fed up, although a couple gave him some money which cheered him up. We sat for a while before I moved to a different spot as the crowd was beginning to disperse which actually surprised me as this was clearly the most beautiful part of the morning and the shots were beautiful. In the end it was only me, Steven and a few remaining Chinese tourists.

By now it was about 6.30am and we noticed Dan and Rosie wandering towards us... Most of the tourists were now heading out of the site to go back to their hotels for breakfast. We thought we would take advantage to the lull and check out Angkor Wat while it was relatively quiet. We did not regret this decision as we headed up to the entrance and proceeded in and saw it virtually empty.... Angkor Wat is ultimately the mother of all temples and it pretty huge in terms of temples that we have seen previously. Angkor Wat literally means 'temple that is a city' and you can see why... The whole site is huge and you could kind of imagine the hustle and bustle that proceeded here in its hey day.

The temple its self is big and very impressive but probably a little smaller than I thought it would be and a lot easier to navigate around. I thought it would be a maze of tunnels like a rabbit warren but its actually a large openish square shape with an outer wall and an inner wall with beautifully carved murals depicting various battles and stories. Within the centre are a quinclux of impressive towers which tower over the complex and are what is best associated with Angkor Wat and you are able to climb up into one of the towers and wander around and marvel at its beauty. The tower opens at 7.40am and so we hung around thinking its better to do the tower while it was relatively quiet. I put on my long pants (you have to cover shoulders and knees and sarongs or scarfs won't do) then we climbed the steep stair case up to the tower. This was pretty nail biting but we made it one piece and were rewarded with a spectacular view over the site. In side is a square of corridors which intermittently have a corridor leading to the central tower which houses a shrine on each side. The view from all sides its pretty amazing and the shrines are beautiful... Each one housing a Buddha amongst other structures and are still actively worshipped. After taking a slow walk around this inner sanctum we wandered back down the staircase, which felt a lot steeper on the the way down.

As we left we carried on exploring the beautiful carvings of apsaras (heavenly nymphs) carved on each wall. These beautiful carvings were largely damaged during the 1980s by the Indian efforts to clean the carvings using acid. They have now however largely been restored and once again illuminate their beauty. On the outside of the central temple there are is a large 800 meter long bas-relief carved into the walls and they are beautifully intricate carvings telling various stories... Including 'The battle of Kurukshetra', 'The army of Suryavarman', 'Heaven and Hell' and many more. They are beautiful and so impressive, making you gasp regularly as you walk past them. The heaven and hell bas-relief is particularly interesting as it depicts both the punishments and the rewards of the 37 heavens and 32 hells. The hell carvings are pretty informative and show devils dragging the condemed to hell where they are brutally tortured... It is said that this may have inspired the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s during their time spent hiding out here. While wandering around we came to a small shrine and gave an offering while lighting incense... We then did the traditional prayer of holding your hands together in a prayer before bowing several times and touching our hands to our forehead in thanks.

It is believed that Angkor Wat was built as a funerary temple for Suryavarman II to honour Vishnu who the king favoured. This is further backed up by the fact that the bas-reliefs were designed to be viewed anticlockwise, which originally indicated that Angkor Wat may have originally been a tomb as this is originally present in ancient Hindu funerary rites. This is also due to the fact that the temple faces to wards the west which symbolically is the direction of tombs while Vishnu is also frequently associated with the west and thus the connection between the two. The bas-reliefs are absolutely stunning and very impressive... We really enjoyed looking at them. They were probably one of the most impressive aspects of the temple and really reinforce the wonder that is Angkor Wat. After we had finished walking around the temple we headed back down the cause way towards the outer wall of the site where a seven foot statue of Vishnu stands, which is very impressive... He has several arms holding various items and is surrounded by a small shrine where people give their prayers and offerings. We then headed back out and across the moat where numerous tour groups where striding towards us and we could see that we were leaving at just the right time.

We went to meet our tuk tuk driver Mr Beer O'clock and found Dan and Rosie waiting, who apparently had been waiting a while for us... Oops! We jumped in the tuk tuk after buying some overpriced water for a dollar and headed off in the direction of Bayon while reflecting on the marvel that is Angkor Wat. I think in reflection I wasn't looking forward to seeing it due to the amount of tourists that would be there and spoiling the atmosphere but actually in reality we were very lucky and actually caught the place at a good time. The light was beautiful and we walked around in peace.

Next stop was Bayon which is one of my favourite temples. Its a particularly well known Khmer temple and was built in the late 12th century or early 13th century. It sits in the middle of the royal city of Angkor Thom and is truly impressive... Especially the two thousand or so serene stone faces that are carved into the walls of over over fifty stone towers. As you enter the temple your first words are (in the words of Finbar ...wow wow wow), its truly an awesome sight. The temple its self has no enclosing wall but is obviously protected by the wall surrounding the city of Angkor Thom. It is made up of three levels which get smaller as you rise. The ground level has many doorways and narrow corridors covered in bas-reliefs (carvings) and I loved how the light and shadow literally change the colours of the walls from a grey to green to black. Its truly beautiful. The second level is also covered in bas-reliefs and equally pretty. The third level is much smaller and was very cramped as it was packed with so many people and had no respite from the sun. That was a bit annoying as it was amazing as you were so close to the faces and could really see their smiling faces and half closed eyes. We couldn't handle the crowd any more though and sought refuge in the lower floors where we sat with some monks who were enjoying a sneaky cigarette. They happily stood for a photo and we enjoyed sitting in the shade. We then wandered around the outer walls and went in search of the tuk tuk.

We found Dan and Josie chilling in the tuk tuk, which surprised us as we definitely didn't take a long time in this temple... Was far to hot. Anyway we jumped in and headed of to the great Angkor Thom, which is vastly spread out and huge. It was the last capital of the Khmer empire and is very impressive by its sheer size a lone without even taking into account the magnificent structures within its walls. Within Angkor Thom is Bayon as said above but also numerous other temples and such, the first one we came to was Baphuon which is a large and grand structure full of narrow steep stair cases but woth the hike as it provides a stunning view over the area. We then also explored Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, Prah Palilay, Tep Pranam and Prasat Suor Prat. The whole area is so large that I'm sure we didn't see it all. The walk was lovely though and often took us through shaded tree areas where there was little more than a small buddha shrine or a lady selling coconuts. The whole place was very tranquil. After this we headed back out to find our tuk tuk driver.

Our last stop of the day was Ta Prohm also known as the 'Tomb raider' temple which sadly is how even the locals refer to it now. It is located south west of East Mebon and east of the great Angkor Thom. On arriving you walk a short distance before you come to a very crumbly looking entrance, which you feel may collapse if you cough too hard. The whole temple is within the kingdom of trees and it now appears the trees want the kingdom back as their large (sometimes huge) roots slowly destroy the temple. It is largely untouched except for reinforcing the walls and roofs to stop further deterioration.... While we were there it was a bit of a building site.

You wonder around and can truly see nature at its best... The walls are being suffocated by the roots that are entwining themselves around the bricks and its like the place is being eaten by the jungle. We really enjoyed walking around but it is so precarious that your not sure where to walk. We soon came across the famous tomb raider spot and waited for the couple in front so we could get a picture... Good timing as within five mins or so there was about thirty people behind us including a very rude Chinese women who barged in front of the waiting dozen and demanded she be next as she 'was on a tour' ....and people actually didn't stop her!! Think if I was in the queue I would have grabbed her by the ear and frog marched her to the back of the queue... We don't care to much for rudeness. We finished looking around and wandered back out to the exit where the other two were waiting... Again?! Then jumped in day for the ride home.

On the way home we laid back thankful the sight seeing was over as it was sweltering and very heavy going. We chatted about plans for the afternoon and pretty much decided it wouldn't involve much. As we drove we suddenly saw a young boy on a moto behind us.... He can't have been more than twelve and had two friends with him, they waved and such and smiled before turning off down a side street. I couldn't believe he was so young and allowed to drive one of those things.

On returning we headed out to triangle to chill on the sofas and get out of the heat, we sipped a beer and ate some nuts and relaxed after a very tiring morning. We then wandered home and bumped into the other two who were off to have 'happy pizza'. First however we joined them for some beers before heading off to our favourite eatery for some delicious food. We then headed back and watched a movie before passing out!