Siem Reap, Cambodia: Angkor Wat

In Macau I met Tom, a fellow poker player and invited him to join me in Cambodia. We flew to Bangkok for 2 uneventful nights then it was onto Cambodia. I always have my guard up at border towns and Poipet was one of the shadier I have been to mostly because there was no buses running or marked taxis and obviously everybody fighting for your business. I had to tell Tom to quit being so Canadian and stop talking to  everybody, they don't want to be your friend. Eventually after about an hour we took a car to Siem Reap. I didn't like the situtation, but the driver ended up being really nice and just wanted the business  though I never trusted him until we arrived at the guest house

Siem Reap is is home to the temples of Angkor, according to many the top site in SE Asia. To say I have seen too many temples over the past year in Asia is an understatement, but I was obviously looking forward to Angkor Wat. Having already been to the other top contenders (Borobudur in Indonesia and Bagan in Myanmar) I wanted to see how she stacked up!

The night we arrived a Tuk Tuk driver was trying to get our business. I said I was going to sleep, he left his number with reception. I woke up at 11am and Tom told me the driver was waiting downstairs. Asked him what for, we never agreed to anything. Said he had been there since 7am waiting for us. We did need a driver, so we hired him for 3 days. Ended up being very friendly, a trend that has continued with tuk tuk drivers in Cambodia. They are extremely persistent and willing to work for dirt cheap, in the end they've all ended up being really great. Tom the beady eyed flapping headed Canadian says I need to be more trustful of people

Our Tuk Tuk driver Va

Our first stop was Ta Prohm, a temple built in the late 12th century in the Bayon style

Ta Prohm is most famous for the trees growing out of it and for being used in the film Tomb Raider

There are over a thousand temples in Angkor, some are massive, others just a pile of rocks similar to Bagan

This is Bayon, best known for all the stone faces

Went to catch the sunrise but it was too cloudy. One thing Bagan has over Angkor are the views. In Bagan from the tops of temples you can look out across the desert and see hundreds of deserts and pagodas in every directions. In Angkor most are hidden in the trees of the jungle. In this shot rice fields in the distance

The bbq in Cambodia is cheap!

Every time I do a sunrise I say never again, it is almost never worth it. Angkor Wat was no different, the only plus is that I got to play with my new camera.

Angkor Wat was built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. It was first dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu and later turned into Buddhist Temple. It is the largest religious building in the world

Angkor separates herself from Borobudur by being a complex of over one thousand temples, Bagan falls into this class as well. My conclusion is that Borobudur in Central Java is the single most impressive temple in Asia.

On to the next temple, don't know the name. 

MMMMM titty milk!

Being Canadian and talking to everybody has its downside. Tom gets hustled everywhere he goes. These girls kicked his ass in tic tac toe, the loss forcing him to buy postcards, which he had already purchased the day before. 

I don't know the name of this temple either, it was about an hour drive from the rest of them. It is really small but one of my favorites due to the intricate detail and high quality craftsmanship.

Tired of Temples? Me too. Headed to the War Museum. Basically a field with a bunch of old tanks and weapons scattered around

Next stop we throw a questionable birthday party for a Cambodian girl and get invited to her village 9 hours from Siem Reap near the Vietnam border.