We left Battambang Saturday morning on a $5 bus bound for Siem Reap - we were the only travelers on a bus full of locals. We arrived in Siem Reap in just over 3 hours and took a tuk-tuk to the Lotus Lodge, a spot we had pre-booked on the internet. Our driver, Sok Pen, was a really nice guy was really smart too. He talked us into a tour of the temples in his tuk tuk, starting at sunrise the next morning. We wanted to rent bikes to see the area, but decided to try at least one day with him, to orientate ourselves.

Our hotel was amazing - it is outside of the main tourist area (in fact, it's outside of the main city, on a dirt road with a cow pasture next door!), and has a swimming pool. We splurged a bit to stay here at $11/night! Turns out, the place was just bought by 2 young Canadian guys. They're really nice and really interesting to chat with.

Our first day of touring, we got up at 4:15am Sunday morning and were picked up by Sok Pen. Cruising along the dark streets of Siem Reap well before dawn was a great experience. It was almost cold sitting in the tuk-tuk with the cool breeze rushing past. We bought our entrance tickets and headed to the first and most well-known temple, Angkor Wat. When we arrived at the entrance, it was just after 5am and still completely dark outside. There were only a few other people arriving at that time so we followed a small group over the long bridge, through the front gate and into the grounds. It was so dark that we couldn't yet make out the 5 tall spires that form the famous image of Angkor Wat - shown on the Cambodian flag and all their currency. It was great to arrive so early because it was not yet crowded and we had our pick of places to sit and wait. We bought a couple coffees from a young lady, and in turn were permitted to sit on her mat on the edge of a small pond with a great view of the temple. As the time passed, the crowd grew, as did the amount of light in the sky. Well before the sun was up, the shape of Angkor Wat showed dark against the morning sky. As the dawn came, we were amazed at how many people were there to watch with us, though I swear we had the best view! And when the sky finally turned pink and the sun was peeking out from behind the temple, it was gorgeous! We sat and enjoyed the view even as the area around us cleared - it was stunning and both Mark and I were so happy to be there at that moment.

It was just after 7am when we started the rest of the tour, which was great because there were so many less people around and it was still relatively cool outside. Our next stop was Angkor Thom, the biggest of the temples. Here, we saw Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of the Elephants, and the Terrace of the Leper King. Bayon was incredible - there were huge faces carved into the spires, who stared down at your from all angles. Baphuon has been recently restored and had a huge, startling central spire. The climb to the very top was closed, but we still had quite a view from the next level. The Elephant and Leper terraces were covered in very intricate carvings.

From here, we visited 2 smaller temples outside of Angkor Thom. In one, there was an artist selling temple rubbings - they looked like prints or paintings, but were in fact made by rubbing colour over carvings on the temple walls.

We then visited Ta Prohm, which was one of the places we were most looking forward to seeing. This temple had been abandoned for many years and was taken over by the jungle surrounding it. It is now being restored, but has HUGE old trees growing on, in, around, and through the walls of the temple. While it is beautiful, we arrived here in the middle of the day and it was just crawling with people. We tried to get around the big tour groups and enjoy some peaceful moments, but in the end, the chaos won out and we left. We arranged for Sok Pen to bring us back around dawn the next morning so we could have some solitude and experience the energy of the place. Our last temple of the day was Banteay Kdei.

We had lunch back at the Lodge and spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing by the pool. In the evening, we dared to rent bikes and headed out onto the main street of Siem Reap. As it was near sunset, we had only the goal of heading to the bank nearby and heading straight back to the lodge before dark. Riding a bike along this main road was an incredible and terrifying experience! Cars, mopeds, tuk-tuks and bikes weave in and out along both sides of the road in a very intricate ballet. Mark was very observant and figured out the rules of the road, he would call them out to me as we peddled along and kept us both safe!

Monday morning, we slept in until 6am and met Sok Pen at 6:30. We figured we didn't need to be back at Ta Prohm for sunrise since it would be hidden by the tall forest, but we wanted to be there around this time for the cool air, the soft light and peaceful time of day. It was great having the temple all but to ourselves to explore and photograph as much as we wanted. It is such a beautiful place and even more magical when not overrun with people.

As the big buses started to arrive, we left and headed out on our tour. We visited Ta Keo, Preah Khan, Neak Poan, Ta Som, East Mebon, and Pre Rup. It is amazing how these temples all share a common thread but despite this, can feel so different. We had the brief benefit of a local guide at Preah Khan, who explained a few aspects of the temple, but mostly, we just roamed around - unaware of all the little details and meaning but gaining much from the experience as a whole.

Again, in the afternoon we relaxed and cooled off at the pool.

In the evening, our buddy Sok Pen brought us to the Old Market where we strolled in and out of the busy aisles and haggled for some souvenirs. This was our first time in the tourist area of Siem Reap. In staying out of the city a bit, maybe we missed out on meeting other travelers and eating at "western" restaurants, but it was so nice to spend time in the "real" Cambodia. We had dinner at a Khmer BBQ outdoor grill along the main street, and wandered around Pub Street looking for cheap beer. We found Sok Pen and he took us to the Khmer Beer Garden where we found $2 pitchers of beer and hung out listening to a local band and Khmer singer. We got to hear about Sok Pen's life and learn more about this amazing country.

This morning, Mark and I finally did rent those bikes to visit Angkor Wat. On our first visit there at sunrise, we never actually went into the main temple, so we just had to go back. Biking along the back roads near the lodge wasn't nearly as intimidating, and the main road into the temples has a nice, wide, bike lane. The temple was packed when we got there, but mostly from the sunrise crowd. As we toured around, the crowd gradually thinned and we had a nice, less busy walk through the main structure. It was beautiful and impressively large.

Tonight, Sok Pen picked us up and we headed back to Pre Rup to climb it's steep face, and watched the sunset from the top. Turns out it is Valentine's Day today so we brought along a bottle of wine and some cashews and had a lovely date at the top of the temple. The sunset was a bit anticlimatic - the sun disappeared into the haze before it even set and the bright colours were muted as well. All the same, it was a beautiful night. Afterwards, we went back into the city for some more Khmer BBQ with our smiley friend, Sok Pen.

In the morning, we board a bus to the capital of Phnom Penh. Not sure whether we're interested in another busy, chaotic city, but it is the most central jumping-off point for our further travels.