We didn't get the early night we wanted last night and infact got hardly any sleep at all- maybe a couple of hours if that! We were so knackered! We got right up though and ready, went downstairs and the tuk tuk was waiting for us. When we set off in the tuk tuk and the breeze hit us it got pretty cold!! Plus it was just before 5 in the morning! I had a scarf in the bag which we wrapped around us until we got to Angkor Wat. When we got there we were told we had to buy a ticket into the temples which was $20 each, which we didn't have clue about! We just turned up not knowing anything at all! Luckily we had $50 on us- hopefully we wouldn't need more for anything else!
When the tuk tuk stopped and told us to get out, there were lots of people doing the same. It was pitch black still and there were no lights anywhere! We didn't even think about that either- luckily we had a tiny torch in the bag, but we just followed the masses of people anyway, as they seemed to know where they were going and we didn't!
We came to some water where everybody was sitting down at the edge so we thought we best do the same and get a good seat. You still couldn't see much at all but you could see so many people gathering! We knew there would be other people doing the same but we didn't expect this many people!
We sat and waited as the sky began to get lighter and after sitting there in the pitch black, Angkor Wat temple appeared in the light right infront of us over the water! It was brilliant to see as when you arrive in the dark you don't have a clue what is there, but as it gets lighter you see all these beautiful big temple ruins around you- with the main one infront, reflecting off the water. Once the sun had rose, we could see the actual amount of people there and it was ridiculous. There was at least 500- in fact probably more, I'm not good with guessing numbers!
Once the sky had lit up, we went for a wander around the ruins of the temple. Most of the frame of the building was still in tact, and you could just imagine what a magnificent building it used to be. It was still so beautiful! It was massive! Every corridor we went down lead to another opening! We walked around everywhere we could until we saw the sun coming up behind the temple and shining through! So picture perfect and amazing!! That's what we came for! :)
After taking in the sight of the sun over the brilliant Angkor Wat temple we went up the temple to see views of the surrounding area and other temple ruins. Walking out of the grounds was all new to us as we couldn't see a thing in the morning and didn't know what we were walking past! It had very large grand grounds!
When we got back to where the tuk tuk driver was suppose to be we saw him drive past us down the road?! We waited for quite a while wondering where he was and if he was going to come back! I was just about to try and ring the booking company when he came back around the corner. He still didn't spot us until walked over to the tuk tuk- then he gave us a massive smile.
For the rest of the day he drove us around other temples and ruins, but to us they kind of looked the same so we weren't overly interested or overwhelmed by them after seeing the main attraction first. There was also no information regarding the history of them, which was a shame. We enjoyed going around in the tuk tuk though! We went to Angkor Thom grounds which had Bayon Temple there, which we went to have a walk around. In these grounds we saw a pig trotting at the edge of the road, there were monkeys playing in the trees and people on elephant rides around the grounds!! We were pretty shocked to see elephants walking by!
When we went to find the driver again, he wasn't there! We looked about for quite a while and then he just pulled over laughing at us, saying I was over there! He thought it was hilarious!
After we went to Ta Prohm Temple and had a look around but again it didn't look much different. He said we had one more temple to go to, but we didn't fancy it and we very knackered by this point so we asked if he could take us back to Old Market in the town. We came near a shopping centre and found a restaurant in there doing a lunch deal so we grabbed some food there. We shared a minced pork omelet and some chicken fried rice which was lovely!
We did some more shopping today again so Nath could get some T-shirts, which where so cheap again! We then went back to the accommodation as we were near and I needed the toilet, but I ended up laying down and having a nap for an hour! My eyes just wouldn't stay open at all! I was exhausted!
We went out for dinner early to a Mexican restaurant and I had Pad Thai- oh how I'd missed you!! And Nath had sweet and sour chicken, which was different to normal but still yummy! Just what we needed to sort us out! After we grabbed some snacks from the shop for breakfast and headed back to the room- hopefully for an early night as we were up at 5.45am for the bus!