Siam Reap

The boat from Battambang was a strange experience. We sat on the roof and felt pretty confident that we knew what to expect from a river trip. The boat set off, carving muddy eddies into river water swollen with rain water. Rivers, as far as I am concerned, are longer than they are wide. Our little boat channel did not stay this way for the duration of our trip however. Great expanses of water soon opened up on either side with tree tops prickling through. Water as far as the eye can see which made panic flicker a little - how were they navigating across it all? Rivers don't usually have carpet, either. This river did-huge green swells of tightly meshed reeds that undulated around and under the boat edges. Houses on stilts appeared and seemed to be just the right height to let people wander out into a backyard of water. We passed floating villages too, and noted the boat heirarchy - low to the water wooden boats were swatted by waves from grander ships. Dogs just swam from one side of the street to the other.

Eight hours later we landed in Siam Reap. It seemed like a nice little tourist town with all western tastes fully catered for. Obviously we began by eating in some of the roadside noodle stalls but there's only so much fried Cambodian food you can get down when a street away you can buy delicious glossy patisserie items.... We decided to stay for four days, giving us a few days of relaxation and a chance to see the temples at Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

On our first evening we hired bikes to cycle to the temples. I was excited about having a chance to experience Cambodian traffic at more reduced levels but slightly concerned that an opportunity to appreciate Cambodia's most amazing temple site would be wasted if I had a head injury.

Despite a near miss caused by some pot-hole / dog / bike interfacing (neither me nor the dog were hurt) I arrived unscathed at Angkor Wat. Crossing the lake to the site I saw a monk meditating at the water side and peace seemed to sift down from sugary cloud edges. No sunset (pesky clouds) but I had plenty of time to gaze wide eyed at the three famous towers and touch ancient, sun warmed stone.

More cycling took palce the following day at 430am (still pitch black, still no street lighting - shivery trees and forest noises not helping instill a sense of morning calm) As I'd had a near panic attack after losing the others and convincing myself I was lost in some Cambodian wilderness I arrived tired and hungry to see some spectacular sunrise. If you like closely at my pictures though, you'll probably see that sunrise was an awful lot like sunset-a bit cloudy but certainly moody enough to satisfy our tourist requirements.

The temples themselves were incredible. Angkor Wat and its amazing galleries and statues kept us busy for two hours. The pineapple ridged towers are huger than you can imagine and we wished we cuold have climbed up and looked out over the lake from them. Time doesn't seem able to seep into the abandoned rooms and so you feel transported as soon as you slide a foot across the smooth stone floors.

My favourite temple was Ta Prohm-the famous tree covered ruin. I loved those white sinewy roots twisting through masonry and standing proud over mossy rubble. Despite the best efforts of mother nature's slow-moving, leafy soldiers, many walls still stood and were filled with beautiful rounded carvings of Apsaras and Gods.

Just as incredible was the Bayon where hundreds of carved faces pouted from high up on towery tops. Some had the most incredible head dresses and almond eyes. We clambered around counting eyes and mouths but the faces are everywhere you look, huge and dominating. Best not to know how many there are- just that their construction was a preposterous, brilliant idea.

The temples are magical. They fill your head for days after with throughts of the previous kingdoms of Cambodia. The country is fortunate to have such a rich history and an incredible site with such time-halting power and beauty. As I left Siam Reap, I couldn't help feeling a small dull pain for the ancient Khmer civilization that was lost.