October 28th
We were out of bed around 4:00 am, not much of a sleep, our room backs onto a rooster roost; it's a myth that they c*** in the early morning, they actually perform at all hours of the night.  we met in the Hotel lobby at 4:45am to arrive at Angkor Wat for sunrise around 6:00. the temple is believed to be the largest religious structure in the world and may have been built as a funerary temple for Suryavarman ii in 1121-1152 to honour Vishnu , the Hindu deity. When we arrived it was dark, with torches in hand we walked the stone causeway, dodging puddles from the previous day's rain. A young fashionable Japanese girl in flip flops and without a torch or good friends, fell  when she stepped on a part of the path where the stones were uneven; tourist stopped to help her while her friends looked disinterested (drama queen i am guessing) she cried that she had enough and we were only a few minutes off the road. we made our way to the pools in front of the library, ordered that horrific drink the cambodian's call coffee with a touch of sweetened condensed milk and watched hundreds of tourists setting up for the perfect and for some the imperfect shot of the temple; flashes were going off left right and centre having little affect on lighting the temple which stood in the far distance.  the sunrise was a bit underwhelming; perhaps expectations were too high and/or that the sky started with the beautiful morning colors as the sun first rose then turned to that yellow glow that diminished the beauty of the temple.  Megan and I moved to the library for different perspective; by now we could see the onslaught of tourist and hear the musicians playing in the background-I did not mind so much, reminds me of India, Megan however found it quite irritating.  our guide, Sokhom, took us to the temple and explained the architecture and the history.  the temple replicates mt. Meru, surrounded by it's smaller peaks, bounded in turn by continents (the lower courtyards) and the oceans (the moat). the seven headed naga becomes a symbolic rainbow bridge for man to reach the abode of the gods (the causeway). the temple has three layers. the first has 800 meters of bas reliefs depicting battles, heaven and hell, churning of the ocean milk and so on. commoners we allowed on the first level, religious sect on the second and royalty on the third.  the top level opened at 7:45am, Sokhom instructed us to hang around the end of the roped area and rush as soon as they started opening the line.  I was first and Megan second.  we climbed the very steep steps that overlay the original steps once used by royalty.  the steps are very narrow and steep, this was designed to be climbed on hands and knees in respect, and decent the same as to not turn ones back to the gods. Now time for breakfast, tourist price of $5 for farmer omelet, baguette and ice tea. back on the bus to travel to Ta Prohm, a small testament to the jungle. this is a buddhist temple built from 1186. Large trees hundreds of years old, the most famous now deemed the Angela Jolie Tomb Raiders tree, another looks like a naked person scaling the stone wall have intermingled with the stone structures.  the boys wanted to see monkeys before we leave, there were some beside the road along with a banana and corn vendor. as we arrived a monkey jumped on a lady sitting on a motorbike, the male driver laid on the gas headed down the road as his passenger screamed to stop, a few seconds later the monkey jumped from the moving bike, more than likely as traumatised as the woman on the bike.