MERRY CHRISTMAS TO OUR FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND AVID BLOG READERS.

Christmas Eve started aboard a motocyclo at 8am with our guide Mr Em So Much, a real character (see later in post) After clearing the checkpoint and flashing our passes we arrived at the entrance gate of the old city, Angkor Thom. It was built in the late 1200's by King Jayavarman VII and is 3km sq walled and moated city, with many temples inside.

The city was not discovered till the late 1800's as the whole place was overgrown with vegetation and the jungle. We took a walk down the bridge and through the entrance which had giants and gods flanking the way. I was taking photos and nearly got trampled by an elephant, which gracefully sidestepped me!!!!!

Inside the city we saw monkeys sitting and grooming one another. Back on our cyclo and a short ride to Temple No 2, the Bayon Temple again built by Jayavaram VII and in it's heyday had 54 towers crowned with 4 faces on each tower. Unfortunately only 37 towers remain, but also here are amazing stone carvings depicting battle scenes with the Cham warriors and day to day activities like markets and c*** fighting.

Still inside Angkor Thom city and to an older temple, Baphoun was constructed under the orders of King Udayadityavaraman II in the mid 11th century and is all but ruined, there were efforts in the 60's to rebuild it but that got interrupted by the war and then Pol Pot's regime.

Temple No 4, Phimeanakas or the Kings Temple, it was still only 10.30 and really hot but all 4 of us made the climb up the steep steps for a good view of the jungle. Legend says that it was crowned with a gold dome that housed a serpent which changed into a woman at night. All the kings that Angkor had needed to make love to the serpent every night to prevent disaster falling on the city!!!!

By the time we had ascended we needed water and Mr So Much (real name) took us for water and a 10 minute break where he told us a bit about himself and all the lovely things he had eaten, which included 5000 rats, spiders and elephant (but not a whole one!!!)

Feeling a bit cooler we took a walk through the jungle to the Terrace of the Leper King, so called because the statues fingers and toes are missing, you took the corridor past nagas (snakes) and other mythological creatures to arrive at the Terrace of Elephants, here are the 3.5m carved elphants and 5 headed horses. It would have been from this terrace where the king would watch elephants fight and magicians perform.

All of us were glad when lunchtime arrived as it gave us time to cool down and get our energy back before visiting the star of the show, Angkor Wat. This temple is breathtaking to look at and was built by a Hindu King, Suryavaraman II it has a huge 3 tiered pyramid topped by 5 lotus style flowers that stand 65m high. It is dedicated to Vishnu (the preserver). The moat that surrounds it is 1300m x 1500m and there are nearly 2000 apsara (heavenly women) carved into the temple.The whole thing is spectacular and dates from around the middle of the 12th Century. Mr So Much added to the excitement here by telling us traditional stories in which he acted out all the roles which proved to be really funny.

Our last temple of the day has been made famous by the Tomb Raider movies and is another Buddhist Temple. Ta Prohm is quite different from the rest because it has been left to get overgrown by trees and the jungle.They are literally growing and spreading their roots around the ruins and structure which make really good photographs. Again Mr So Much added to the fun by having a discussion with Alex about haemorroids for 10 minutes, to ask him his thoughts on herbal remedies, very random and I must say that Alex is no expert on this subject matter. Finally it was time to leave, the whole day was exhausting but so much fun and we all learnt so much.

The cyclo ride back to the city cooled us all off and we had dinner in a restaurant called the Temple just to continue the theme to the end of the day.

Christmas Day

I cannot recall the last time I got up at 4am on Christmas morning, but our 2 alarm clocks rang to wake us up for the event of the day, sunrise at Angkor Wat. At 4.50am we were whizzing through the streets of Siem Reap in a trailer being pulled by a scooter in the dark!!!

We arrived early and got a great position at the reflecting lake and waited for the show to begin. Within 30 minutes the sun started to wake up and paint the sky a pinky/purple and gave Angkor Wat a superb background. It took just over 1 hour to come up fully and the whole place was bathed in the morning sun, which made for an easier exit. We tried to go up in a helium balloon to get an aerial view but the wind got the better of us and it was cancelled.

Tonight we are having a Christmas dinner in the hotel with all the trimmings which should make it feel festive although we did swap pressies early from our $1 challenge earlier in the week and luckily the challenge went well and we were all thrilled with our presents.

Lots of love and have a great day wherever you are.

Lots of love

M & M