...of our European/Asian/Australian adventure is upon us. And we moved into the second half of our journey with 6 days in Siem Reap to visit the Angkor Wat complex, and get our first taste of the Khmer Empire. This was Troy's top location to visit over the course of our trip and Angkor did not disappoint. This Cambodian gem was the first stop on our 2 week tour through the country.

We flew in late from Bangkok and had a tuk tuk waiting for us at the airport. The tuk tuks here in Cambodia are different than those we have become accustomed to in Thailand; small scooters with carriages attached to the backs. Very comfortable, and it's been fun zipping around in them! (But very dusty. Proceed with caution without protective sunglasses.)

We had briefly considered renting a bicycle and riding to the temples from Siem Reap (roughly 10 km), but after our exposure to the immense heat, this was deemed complete nonsense, and instead we forked over the money to have our own designated driver, Mr. Anan, for 3 days of temple exploration. After each temple as we arrived panting and dripping in sweat back to the tuk tuk, he was patiently waiting for us with cold water, fresh fruit, and a friendly smile. Worth every penny!

So the temples are...impressive. It is Angkor Wat that you always read and hear about, and it is of course worthy of all the praise, but each complex we visited was wonderfully unique. Troy stands by his allegiance to Angkor Wat, and Clare preferred Ta Prohm. We both marvelled at how the trees grew majestically through the ruins, twisted into fantastic fairytale-esque shapes. You could spend many days exploring this area, but we had to narrow it down to the highlights. It felt like enough by the time we left, and we curious to get to Cambodia's capital; Phnom Penh.