After the wonders of Prasat Preah Vihear, I was interested to see what experience Angkor Wat would deliver. Sonja and I had planned this visit for several months, and given ourselves plenty of time for the Angkor temples however I was still rather perplexed by their sheer number. The are many dozens of temple ruins in the vicinity of Siem Reap alone. Way over forty. This is further complemented by many in a 80 km radius. The very famous one is Angkor Wat, but the next two well known ones are Bayon (with its many carved faces) and Ta Prohm, which is the overgrown one with trees, which has been used by Hollywood several times. We both agreed that these three temples were must visits. However deciding what else to do involved some extra research.


The majority of the sites are all fairly spaced out around the north and west of Siem Reap and although you can walk between them, its best to get some form of transport if you wish to complete several in a day . This being the rainy season, fortunately the tourists are not out in force, however the downside is that the sunsets and sunrises are far from dramatic.


Sonja and I decided on a plan of attack and she hired Mr Heng as the tuk tuk driver as she knew of him from ACCB. Mr Heng turned out to be great choice and a far cry for the pushiness of Johnny. Our plan involved starting at Angkor Wat, then Neak Pean, Ta Som, Pre Rup and Ta Prohm on the first day with a start after the sunrise when hopefully the main crush of tourists would have departed the site. We would then return to Angkor Wat for sunrise the following day and get early start to Angkor Thom, the Bayon, the Terrace of the Elephants, Wat Tang Tok and finish up with Bakong some thirty kilometers to the east of Siem Reap. This we felt would give us a good overview without (we hoped) temple fatigue. Little did we know.


To say Angkor Wat is littered with temples is somewhat of an understatement . The best way it was described to me was by Smiley at the guesthouse, who remarked “it’s very much a competition of one up man ship. One King built one and every subsequent monarch tried to out do him, either in the surrounding area or much further away.”  The result is a sort of temple wonderland with each one (that we visited or drove past) being quite unique and different. Angkor Wat itself is dramatic. Conceived as a spiritual journey from the oceans to the inner sanctum of heaven, it necessitated moats (vast moats) outer rings, inner rings all leading gradually to the inner sanctum. Ta Prohm is an overgrown temple with the famous giant roots covering the walls and temple passages. Ta Som is a smaller more intimate over grown temple, with a small stretch of water. Luckily its much quieter than the others. Bayon is the temple that dominates the Angkor Thom and is famous for its huge faces, usually four on each pagoda which appear to follow you as you move around. Pre Rup has huge sky scraping pagodas reaching up to the heavens, while the Bakong was surrounded by a moat (dry) again, but on a smaller scale that Angkor .


All in all during those two and a bit days we covered approximately 5-10% of the known temples. This was also exhausting with temperatures often in the mid-thirties and suffocating humidity. This made everything rather draining and by lunchtime on the second day we had really had enough.


In the evenings we would return to Rosy’s Guesthouse to meet Norm and compare notes over a dinner, before early bed and up again. After this temple assault it was time to for Sonja to return to the animal center ACCB. And she left early in the morning after Norm and I gave her a farewell breakfast.


I myself had decided on a day off and then planned to accompany Norm to Beng Melea. This was a temple some 80 kms back on the road to Phnom Penh. It is a large temple complex, very much in the popular design of Angkor, however this one is virtually untouched with no attempts at refurbishment and was completely swallowed whole by the jungle. I had suggested we use Johnny again and Norm seemed slightly weary but I was convinced he had learnt his lesson. Actually for the whole journey he was rather subdued.


Beng Melea turned out to be sensational. It was covered in all manner of foliage from roots through to tree trunks etc. Parts of the complex has also collapsed under the weight of the jungle over the years, so a guide was essential as was clambering over the rubble and collapsed sections. About half way around, the heavens opened and we got drenched. “I was drier when I was in the swimming pool this morning,” remarked Norm. This was true, as I could ring a litre of rainwater out of my t-shirt alone. It was a struggle keeping the camera dry.


Nevertheless this visit was great and Johnny drove us back through the countryside without air con so we could get dry. That night Norm and I went back to Touich Restaurant for a final dinner, and then he departed for Phnom Penh.


I still had a final weekend to go with one further trip to the temples. I was keen to revisit Ta Prohm later in the day when the crowds had hopefully disappeared. There were so many tourists when I visited with Sonja that trying to photograph the ruins was quite a challenge. I had been recommended a five o’clock visit, and this indeed turned out to be best, especially when the police closed the ruins and I left rather slowly.


I also wanted to see a famous sunset, however again the weather was to thwart this attempt as Mr Heng drove me back to Angkor Wat, the skies were just grey with no redeeming features and the sun was nowhere to be seen. In the end we had a coffee together and watched the Wat disappear in the descending darkness.


The last day in Cambodia was just relaxing and I did not do much. I had been frequenting a great cafe, called the Leaf Cafe in town. They were a charitable cafe selling books and donating all profits to several Siem reap causes. Cafe actually seemed an injustice as the chef”s food was sensational, especially his salads. Banana Leaf and Minced Pork salad being my favourite. During my last visit, the staff informed me that the orphans residential school in Siem Reap were giving a traditional dance for their patrons and the Leaf Cafe suggested I attend and see where my money had gone. This was my last night and i set off in another torrential downpour. At the start I was the only one there again, and I guessed that the rain had put people off. However once underway a group of Americans arrived and the nine of us were treated to an enthusiastic display by the older children ranging from 14-7 years. This was all performed in home made costumes, with a narration in English by some of the younger students. Excellent.


Now I am in Bangkok. I had a slow bus journey here yesterday with a rather slow and painful three hours crossing the border. Now I am back in the Atlanta Hotel and getting all my gear ready for India. Last night I caught up with an old school friend whom I had not seen since the 1980s. John Thompson looked well and was sporting far more bushy hair than I am ever likely to have again. It was great to see him, hear about his life in Bangkok and about other school buddies.