22/11/2009

Day 48 - Siem Reap - Angkor Temples

Today we were up early and headed to Angkor to see the temple ruins. Today we had a driver, a guide and an air-conditioned van. It was our guide's first ever English speaking tour! His first language is Cambodian, then Spanish and third English, and he also told us he is studying Russian. The more languages he speaks the more work he gets. His English was very good and he talked lots and lots and lots. Mum and Dad hardly got a word in and when they did ask a question they got a really long answer. We learnt that the temples had been used by both Hindu and Buddhist believers, sometimes at the same time. The temples we saw were: South Gate, Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple, Phimean Akas, Elephant & Leper King Terraces and Ta Phrom Temple. Mum's favourite was the Bayon Temple as the carvings were beautiful. After lunch in town we visited the most famous site The World Heritage site Angkor Wat Temple. It was amazing! It was hard to believe that we were actually walking around Angkor Wat after having seen it on TV. I really liked the pond with the pink water lilies. I also played with some dragon flies! For dinner we were taken to a buffet for dinner and a show, both were average.