Luang Prebang to The Plain of Jars

I have so much to write I am unsure where to begin. I will start with Sunday morning.

Not being deaf, John and I must be heavy sleepers because when our 6am alarm woke us we could hear laughing and chatter in the road outside. Emerging onto our balcony (we are on the first floor), we found the pavement below full of people sat on mats; local residents waiting for the Buddhist Monks to come past for their food donations. When they arrived there must have been 200 saffron clad monks filing past, seniors first and juniors in the rear, it was quite a sight. Apparently it's a daily event to which we had been totally oblivious - shows we have clear consciences!
The reason we were up so early was that we had booked a car to take us to Phonsavan to visit the Plain Of Jars. We knew it to be a seven hour drive and decided to do it in reasonable comfort and overnight in Phonsavan before returning. What a good decision this was.
The journey was amazing in so many ways. Perhaps one of the unforeseen benefits was having a glimps of life outside of the cities Vientiane and Luang Prebang. Had these been the only two places visited here we would have left Laos with an incomplete picture of its life.
Once outside the main town of Luang Prebang (which is so beautiful) you see life as it is led by the vast majority of people and this is really quite poor. A basic house is made from what looks like panels of woven bamboo strips and with a roof thatched with the leaves of Pampas Grass. Some houses are walled with wooden boards and just a few from rendered brick but the great majority were of the simplest construction.
The parts of Laos which we have seen have been sparsely populated and this was reinforced on the journey.
To say the journey was amazing is not to do it justice. For seven hours we travelled roads so winding that to find a straight run of about 50 yards was impossible, we have crossed over mountains so high as to make your ears pop and from where the views from both sides of the car were into wooded valleys so deep it was difficult to see the bottom. When we set off it was an overcast morning but we climbed through the clouds and, for much of the journey, looked down on them ... it was unspeakable incredible.
Dotted along this road were tiny villages of a dozen or so houses all with their frontage right on to the road so every domestic chore was performed for all to witness. We saw women cooking, washing clothes, children naked queuing up at the communal water source to be bathed, babies being bathed in washing up bowls, people washing their hair, men bathing in their underpants and women bathing in their sarongs, it was all there to see. The children played in the dust, often frighteningly close to he traffic, even toddlers who could barely walk would wander into the road. There were cows, water buffalo, goats, pigs no larger than a small dog, dogs and cats just using the road and the habitation as one. There were chickens who must be the super models of all chickens with the longest legs, sleekest bodies and shiniest plumage who played 'chicken' with the traffic (I had wondered where the expression came from, now I know). Children who have little can be very inventive. In one place we saw children on a wooden wheeled sledge whizzing down a dirt hill towards the road - amazing fun but hugely dangerous.

The visual impact of all this was enhanced by the scenery of valleys and mountains covered in trees. The roadside lined with white and silvery pink pampas grass, a humble dwelling made chocolate box perfect by a swathe of cerise bouganvillea. Bushes of marigolds glowing orange in the sun, wild Poinsettia bushes taller than me; yellow daisies on tall stems which looked like they had been transported from an English cottage garden and new bamboo shoots reaching the sky like redundant fishing poles. To add to the picture there was the inevitable washing drying in the sun alongside mats of rice and bright crimson chillies, it was incredible.

At Phou Khong, about midway, we stopped for a short break. The street food market had the usual array of tropical fruit & veg and suspect cooked meats. We were, however, a bit shocked to discover one stall selling hundreds of dead bats, all so tiny it seemed such a waste when they were barely a mouthful. Another with the corpse of a kind of bush-baby, not good.
After this assault on our senses we arrived in Phonsavan, a bit of a one horse town where the sole reason for its existance seems to be servicing the visitors to the Plain of Jars. There are many locations of Jars but three main sites for visitors. We went straight to Site 1 the main site. You are probable aware that the Viet Cong were very active in the North of Laos (the border is very near) and Laos came in for a huge amount of bombing by the Americans, the Plain of Jars was heavily used as part of the Ho Chi Minh trail so this area was extensively bombed. Trails have been cleared of unexploded ordnance and are clearly marked, needless to say we stuck to these paths. There are large bomb craters all over the place and trenches used by the Viet Cong. Then there are the Jars. Site 1 has a 250 jars with about 100 in a group in large clearing. They range from one as large as about 7ft tall to a small one of about 1ft. As some are sunk in the ground it is difficult to say exactly how large they are. Archeologists are of the opinion that they were used as burial containers and it would be difficult to see that they could be used for any other purpose.

There is always something strange, and rather moving, touching something made by people who lived and toiled two thousand years ago. It is one of those experiences where if time travel was possible I would like to travel back to see just how they were made and used. Walking around the site and up the hill to where more Jars were located gave one a sense of wonder at how anyone could move such huge pieces of stone with equipment we have today let alone 2000 years ago.
We then checked into our Guest House for the night, sufficient to say it was adequate and John clearly has a more robust constitution than me as he ate my dinner as well as his own!
The following morning, our driver collected us early and took us to Site 2, even better than Site 1. As it is several miles along a rough dirt road, it was more difficult to get to but oh so worth it. We were the only ones there and the morning mist was still in the air as we walked up the hill to the main group of Jars. They were quite ethereal as they emerged from the gloom of the fog, gathered together under and around a large tree which seemed to add to the mystery and atmosphere of our visit. Many of the Jars were remarkably well preserved and I have to confess to a strange urge to get inside one of them. This I resisted as it seemed to be irreverent in a way - but I was also concerned I wouldn't be able to get out again.

The whole experience was something I shall always remember and treasure.

Luang Prebang

Our journey to Luang Prabang was uneventful, the flight was short, on time and with a delicious snack of freeze dried fruit, really tasty. Entertainment was provided by the in-flight magazine, issue number one, which hadn't been proof-read very well and had some wonderful errors.

We had booked out Guest House in advance and first impressions were just about OK. It is in a quiet side street in the centre of the town and so the location is just perfect. However, whilst relatively new, it is suffering from a lack of maintainance so some things do feel a bit three legged. For the first time we have a bit of spring in the mattress which is something of a relief. Breakfast is fruit, fruit juice, french bread and eggs cooked how you want them, perfectly fine. Yesterday I had an omelette so today I thought I would have scrambled eggs for a change. When it arrived it was just an omelette as yesterday but chopped up. I thought it highly amusing but also summed up the place.

I have restrained myself in describing Luang Prabang; that is because in many ways words fail me as it is so wonderfully beautiful. The whole town is a world heritage site and it is obvious why this should be. The buildings have a destinct French feel to them with big shutters and french doors on just about every building. The streets are quiet and many are lined with trees of all sizes and types. Bouganvillea and frangipani are everywhere.

The town is located in the junction of two rivers the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The rivers clearly swell at times so the banks are deep and quite steep in places and the riverbanks are just lovely with terraces and trees growing down to the waters edge. There is always some activity: people fishing, children bathing, small boats floating along, it is quite quite beautiful. Along the pavements there are restaurants, cafes and guest houses but there are also ordinary homes too, with everyone going about their daily business. This stops the town feeling like a museum and makes it feel real and a wonderful place to live. I know I keep saying this but... we love it here.

Around the town there is a profusion of historic Wats, many shabby and falling into disrepair which is terribly sad. Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest in the town, has a series of buildings around a courtyard. The outer walls of two of them have the unusual decoration of village scenes, all picked out in mosaic of mirror glass and each telling a story of village life. There is everything, from harvesting of rice to dancing scenes to justice and even a beheading. I could have spent ages there just trying to unravel all the activities shown. In the market I had seen handicrafts with these scenes embroidered on them but it wasn't until I saw the buildings that I realised the significance of this embroidery.

Talking of markets this has to be a shoppers paradise for silk, fabrics, handicrafts, bags and just about anything girly you care to mention. I have no idea how all the vendors manage to make a living as there are hundreds of them all lined up for the very large night market. The stuff is irresistable and I am going to have to ditch some clothes to compensate for the additional weight in scarves alone. A typical price for a scarf is about two or three pounds, just crazy. As I walk through I think how my friends would just love this.

Last night we ate in the market, it was with a bit of trepidation I have to say as hygiene appears not high on the agenda. You queue up at your chosen stall with either a large or small plate and help yourself from the various dishes of noodles, rice, vegetables and other things which I didn't have a clue what they were. Once you get to the front of the queue, you hand your plate to a lady who tips the lot into an electric wok to be reheated. I think if she has a long queue it doesn't get as long in the wok as it would if she was quiet. You then choose either fish or meat from the barbeque, pay and then find a seat at one of the bench tables along the opposite wall. We had two enormous plates full, some chicken and a whole fish, John had a large beer, all for £5 - my tum is fine today!

We had booked to go to the Pac Ou caves today which is about an hours journey from the town. We traveled there in the back of a truck, we do seem to have adopted this form of transport. As you are all currently knee deep in snow, I understand, I feel a bit guilty saying this but the journey there was quite chilly. I should have put on my cardy as first thing in the morning can be a bit fresh! Anyway, the truck took as far as the river and you then get a boat across to the caves, it was all very picturesque. The caves are famous here for the number of statues of the Buddha which were found there and for the fact that people continue to bring more statues so there are now about 3000 Buddhas.

There also seem to be about 3000 steps of varying shapes and sizes. There are two caves, lower and upper: the lower is itself up a flight of steep steps and the upper ... well, it was a feat of fitness to get to the top. We took frequent rests as we were sure that having a heart attack there meant certain demise! I think that some people might have found the trip a bit of a non event but for me it was great; it was the only time I have been into a deep unlit cave with just a torch and with only John and I in there, it was an unmissable experience.

When we got back across the river we stopped at some roadside vendors and had fresh coconut juice. The coconuts were then split for us to eat the flesh too, yummy.

OK I also bought another couple of scarves, one can never have too many!

More from Luang Prebang and Laos later.

Vientiene Laos

Our plane was delayed in Phnom Penh so we did not arrive in Vientiane until it was dark. Our first taste of Laos was getting a taxi at the airport. Our experience so far has been that you emerge from a terminal with a $ sign on your forehead, you are seen as easy bait and the negotiations start from there. We came out prepared for this and... there was nothing, no taxi, no tuc tuc drivers, nothing. We then realised you have to go back inside to book and pay for the taxi first. There is a fixed price for the trip into town regardless of where your hotel is - what a change. This sense of order has, in many ways, continued.

The roads here are not so crowded and much to our surprise some people do use their indicators and they also obey the traffic lights. There seems to be an understanding, too, that the traffic keeps to one side of the road rather than just taking to the piece of road ( or pavement! ) with the fewest vehicles. We actually felt that we could hire a car here and drive comfortably, not a feeling we have felt anywhere else.

I know I have bored you by saying we 'love this place' before. Well we really really love Vientiane. Before we came we had read that a couple of days here is enough so that is all we have booked in for. We deeply regret this as this last two days has been so interesting and rewarding.

Yesterday we took our 'Lonely Planet' guide and started one of the suggested walks. First stop, the local market. The interesting bit is always the food section and this was no exception. To see all the meat laid out is enough to confirm my vegetarianism and to enhance John's love of a pork chop. However, even the committed carnivore did draw the line at the sight of this very large bowl full of hundreds of live toads which were destined for the dinner table!

We visited two of the Wats near to the hotel: That Dam and Wat That Fume. We did not stay long at the latter as there was a funeral taking place, the mother of a Governement minister apparently and we felt we were intruding.


We then wandered up the road to the monument Patuxai, which means Arch of Victory. It was built in the late 50's and has a strong resemblance to the Arc De Triumph, with an oriental flavour. It commemorates those who died in the independence struggle with France - strange then that it should be modelled on one of the most famous Parisian landmarks. If you were feeling energetic you could climb to the top, we decided on a leisurely lunch at a pavement cafe instead.

With regard to the above I should point out that French is the second language here and the city does have a French feel. Lots of old colonial buildings line the streets and the Presidential palace is a rather grand chateau. There are good cafes and restaurants, many of them tucked away in secluded locations where it is a pleasure to eat.

Yesterday evening we ate at one of the open air street restaurants and took a stroll along the riverside where the handicrafts and mementos on sale - just irresistable and so cheap.

This morning was more sightseeing, the Palace, a museum and another Wat.

This afternoon we've had a real treat and visited a silk weaving and dyeing workshop. This workshop trains women from the villages who have not had the benefit of education so have no trade. After several months they can master the basics and work up to be really skilled weavers. Initial training is free and once they are competent they are paid a wage. If they have very young children they bring them along to work, there was a ten month old little girl asleep on the floor at the side of her mother's loom, later I saw several on the women sat on the floor playing with the children, it all felt just so right for everyone.

To get there, they came and collected us from our hotel in a lorry, in which we had to sit on benches in the back. The worksop was a good 20 minutes drive from town and along an unmade road, a very jiggly experience. Only John and I were there, so we had a private guided tour and saw the women weaving the most intricate patterns on ancient manual looms. We were shown how the silk is dyed prior to being woven and then were given our own raw silk scarves to dye ourselves. I was hoping that John would have a go too and he did and really enjoyed it. We made two scarves each which, for a modest sum, we have kept. We are both very proud of our efforts.

It is with regret that we leave Vientiane tomorrow and travel to Luang Prabang. If you are thinking of coming to Laos I would suggest you do it soon. Tourism here is not well developed and so many of the things we have found so annoying in other cities are largely absent. Not once have I been asked to buy post cards, I haven't been bothered by anyone trying to sell things, and the cost of things for sale is very reasonable. Vientianne is highly recommended.

Sihanoukville Cambodia

We are in Sihanoukville and have been for the last three days, today is our last day here. I know I have said it before but we love it here! We are having a particularly lazy few days, there are quite a few things we could be doing and we decided it was time just to recharge batteries.
To give you a picture, I am sat on the small veranda of our beach side bungalow, I am in a circular cane chair which is padded and very comfortable. If I wanted to I could climb into the hammock which is by my side but this would make doing the blog quite difficult. Our veranda overlooks the garden and the sea, In front of me is a large fan palm, some coconut palms, a pink hibiscus and an aloe vera type plant and through all this foliage I can see the sea.
The bungalows are all built up a hillside so everyone has a perfect view. The accommodation has its own bathroom, is built from wood, is pretty basic, and very rustic - but then so is the price of £20 a night for us both. I think they make up their money on the food, which is quite pricy for here at about £3 each. We were just saying we have been in South East Asia too long as we are starting to think that is expensive!
We have just been for breakfast in the dining area by the sea, I had fruit salad and yogurt, perfect. (John had a full English, you can't change a man overnight). The other guests are the usual mix of Europeans and Americans but all are friendly and fun. I think we are the oldest ones here.
Yesterday we broke our pledge of just lazing around and reading books and went out on a boat to the Islands which are about two or three miles away. There were six of us in the boat, us and two German couples who were really chatty and nice. (I am amazed at the good level of English spoken by all the non-English people we meet, I can't think that we have ever been in the company of anyone who did not have a decent grasp of English.) We had an excellent day on the boat and spent some time snorkling around two of the islands. The snorkling was good but not brilliant, there were some lovely corals but also some which had been badly broken, I don't think the boat owners take a lot of care when they drop their anchors as I think these do quite a bit of damage. John also thinks that they may have been using explosives to stun the fish to make them easy to catch, this too has caused damage. The fish were few but lovely, I think I was spoiled for snorkling in Oman where the fish and coral are plentiful.
We landed on Bamboo Island, the boat driver said it should be called 'No Bamboo Island' as there actually isn't any bamboo, seems logical to me. We lazed on the beach and had a swim then climbed back on the boat and had a delicious lunch of fish and salad and french bread with fruit salad for pudding, it was just lovely.
I just mentioned climbing back on the boat, well, that is exactly what you had to do. When we were going out towards the Islands I had scanned around the decks looking for a ladder as I could see that there was quite a drop into the water. I had asked to John if he had seen one, as the eternal optimist he said he felt sure there was one. The first time we stopped and the snorkeling equipment was handed out, I casually asked if there was a ladder. Of course there wasn't but I was assured that there were ledges along the side of the boat to help you get in. Ever the pessimist, or should I say realist, I didn't believe this and getting into the water was difficult enough.
All the time we were snorkeling I kept thinking of how I was going to get back in the boat. With dread we approached the boat and, to my horror, I saw the others were already on board - I was at least hoping I could be undignified in private. My first attempt to lift my leg to my shoulder height to get a grip on this so called ledge failed miserably and my suggestion that they tow me along was not taken seriously, although I was deadly serious. After a series of contortions that Houdini would have been proud of I eventually landed on the deck like a dead fish being slapped on a plate. This manouevre was repeated on three occasions during the day. You would have thought my technique would have improved but in fact the last attempt was the worst. I am just pleased there was nobody in the water viewing me from behind! Just as a footnote the other two women on board were in their late 20's with bodies to die for, I think you get the picture.
Tomorrow we are off to Laos. So we leave here early in the morning to go the Phnom Penh airport to fly to Vientiane which is the Laos capital so more blog from there later.

Phnomn Penh and the Boat Festival

We arrived back in Phnom Penh from Siem Reap and are staying at the Manor House again. We really like it here, at the moment I am sat by the pool with a gin and tonic, with the scent of Frangipani in the air writing this blog, life doesn't get much better than this. But I suppose I am going to have to tell you about the water festival so I shall make a start.

We spent the whole of Saturday at the river side watching the start of the festival. We were fortunate, as there is a pavilion for non-Cambodians which is run by the department of tourism, all very civilised for us. The pavilion is right next the King's Royal Enclosure so, as you can imagine, the view is terrific.

Day one is the day for eliminations to see who goes into the next round, consequently we saw all the boats and all the crews. There were 423 boats with an average of 50 rowers to each boat (that is more than 20,000 rowers!). The boats are dragon boats holding up to about 80, mostly rowers but there is a chap who sits on the front and seems to be the stroke master, but he gets so excited there is no way any of the rowers could keep up with his time. There is also someone in the middle who bails out all the time and is obviously crucial to the success of the whole enterprise. Finally, the chaps at the back are the ones who steer the boat, one or two of them getting so involved in winning that they started rowing too, often resulting in chaos. Keeping 70 or so people rowing at the same pace must be difficult and where some of the crews lost their rhythm the boats were starting to flex in the middle and looked quite unstable. There was an interesting pattern of placement within the boat. As a general rule the first third sat down to row, the second third knelt and the final third stood up. There were a few boats where they all the rowers were standing, facing forward, using oars on what resembled a platform. It all looked most unstable as the boats had a very little clearance above the water. I think these boats must have been in a different strand of the competition but it was difficut to tell.

All the boats were highly decorated, usually with some sort of serpent or dragon. The crews, too, were colour coordinated: there were blues, greens, oranges, reds, pinks, infact all the colours of the rainbow - quite a sight.

The boats raced in pairs and the finishing post was between two canoes, moored to buoys, in which judges sat with a large drum in front of them. Each boat was bonged in on the drums as they crossed the line. All very high tech.

In the evening the King took his place and switched on the illuminated floats which came up the river. These floats depicted his coat of arms and the emblems of all the Ministries. Once these were underway there was an amazing firework display. What an incredible experience.

After all this we had to walk back to the hotel; not easy as the crowds were immense and it was difficult to move. Astonishingly, amongst the pedestrians, shuffling along shoulder to shoulder, were motorcyclists beeping and trying to make their way.

Apparently the population of Phnom Penh is swelled by a million during the time of the festival. I can well believe this, We encountered them all that night, or thought we had.

When I got this far with the blog I saved what I had written, intending to write more today.

You may have heard on the news that there was a dreadful incident at the end of the final day, Monday, when over 300 died and many were injured. Fortunately, we had decided not to go out that evening, as the day before the crowds had been so dense and it did feel unsafe. This sad event has rather taken the joy out of what was an amazing experience, I hope the following

pictures give you a flavour of the event in the first two days.

Lake Tonle Sap

To give ourselves a bit of a change from temples we decided to take a trip out to Lake Tonle Sap. This is the largest Lake in Cambodia and could be likened to a huge reservoir of water for the Mekong. We had heard that it was well worth a visit so off we went.

I have already mentioned Hat, our Tuc Tuc driver. Well, he was keen to have as much time as possible with us (there is fierce competition amongst the drivers and several days can go by without a fare). He told us that he would take us in his Tuc Tuc. If you have ever travelled for two or three hours in a Tuc Tuc you will be able to imagine how wind-swept we were on arrival. It was a great adventure though, because you are open to the elements and travelling at quite a slow pace you get to see everything. We stopped and watched the harvesting of rice; stopped to buy tubes of bamboo stuffed with sticky rice, black beans and coconut juice, and then barbequed (scrummy); we brought sweets made at the roadside from palm sugar and just watched the world go by, it was fabulous.

It was amazing to watch the traffic go by and to see the strangest things on the back of motorbikes. We saw several bikes going in the opposite direction with really strange looking loads. It was only on closer inspection we realised that on the pillion seat, cross-wise, was a live pig, trussed up and lying on its back being taken to market I presume. When we saw this we thought we had just about seen it all until we saw one bike with three trussed up pigs on the back. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of the trio but we did of the one pig.

We saw trucks piled high with people going into town, flat bed carts being towed by rotavators and carts being pulled by buffalo, there were cows everywhere, it was a real experience.

When we arrived at the lake, a couple of tourist buses were just decanting their loads on to boats. Not the easy way for the Pointons - we were led to 'our own boat', and had a private tour of the lake. No luxury yacht, John kept looking at the steering mechanism of the boat, which had an old car steering wheel and a couple of ropes coming from either side of the rudder at the stern to the front, where there were a couple of turns around the steering column. There was another slack piece of rope tied to a bracket by the steering wheel which disappeared into a box at the stern. This was the throttle; driver rested his foot on it to take up the slack and pressed to go faster. All very high tech!!

The floating villages on the lake were extensive, all built on very high stilts and about ten foot clear of the water. They have to be built this high as the lake can swell dramatically in the wet season. Some of the houses looked quite affluent and others quite poor. What was very noticeable was the lack of rubbish in the water, clearly relying on the water for their livelihood has led them to respect this environment, I can't remember seeing one piece of plastic or paper or detritus of any sort.

Our boat took us past a school which was supported by the State of Carolina in the USA, there was also a US aid building, and a school run by Buddist Monks. We landed on an Island which has a small market and a Buddist temple. As we approached the Island it was obviously time for the primary children to go home. All these children got into boats to go home, there was no adult to take them, no life jackets, just half a dozen of them in the boat all rowing off to their homes, perhaps we don't give our own children enough freedom and responsibility.

Hat was very good and told us about the different people who populate the river, some were from Cambodia and had worked the river for generations, others were locals who picked up work when ever they could and some were from Vietnam who came on a seasonal basis to catch fish. We had a great day and then had our journey back to town in the Tuc Tuc again ...I loved it

Angkor Wat and the temples

I have seen photos of Angkor Wat so had some idea of what I was going to see but no picture can prepare you for the reality. Adjectives to describe the experience, the beauty and sheer scale of things are lacking but I will do my best.

To start with, our Tuc Tuc driver, Hat, said the best time to see Angkor Wat was first thing in the morning so I was mentally preparing myself for an early start of about 8am, well it is a holiday! The reality was somewhat different, he said he would pick us up at 5.15 to see the sunrise over the temple. After doing a quick rethink we agreed this was a good idea. It really was amazing. Crossing the moat to get to the main gate was an experience alone, the moat was the size of a small lake and the first of what we kept remarking on as extreme engineering.

Despite there being several hundred other stalwarts who had also got up at this ungodly hour, it was peaceful and serene and a magical experience. Overnight it had rained and the sun reflecting on the few remaining clouds just added to the experience. After about an hour of just standing and wondering at the beauty of the exterior of the temple, and taking loads of photos we crossed the enormous outer area, and entered the temple.

The temple complex is vast and covers an area of 400 square kilometers and has 200 monuments, I was unprepared for the size and complexity of the site. It is remarkably well preserved considering that much of the building dates back to the seventh century. It was possible to walk round the whole of the temple, go inside most of the rooms and climb the steps to the top of the temple tower. This was my initiation into stairs and steps in all the monuments. To say they are steep is an understatement, some of them are virtually vertical. I think they must all have had very small feet too, as the depth of the step is really narrow, so much so that in some cases it was easier to 'climb' down backwards - inelegant but necessary. Not only was it steep and small but in places some of the stone had broken away so it was a bit scary, but worth it every time.

The picture (left) may give you some idea of the steepness of the steps

The steps at Angkor Wat and also other temples were as steep, if not steeper, at times. Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu and most of the Bas relief around the temple tells the stories, and depicts the characters from Hindu mythology. There are numerous aspara carvings, who were again mythological celestial nymphs, these carvings replicated in just about all the temples. In the 12th Century, Buddhism became the Cambodian main religion and it was then that Buddhist features appeared in the Temples. It is interesting that in most cases the Hindu carvings have been preserved and maintained. Angkor Wat is a must for any traveller to Asia.

This was not the end of our day of temples for we then visited the group at Angkor Thom and Bayon, another vast complex and from where the picture of the scary face above was taken. We ended this first day at the temple at Ta Prohm, which is where 'Tomb Raider' was partly filmed. (Angelina Jolie is very popular here!). Despite the fact that they have had to construct wooden walkways through the temple you still have the feeling that it is still partly absorbed by the jungle. For me, this has to be the most atmospheric of all the temples and we felt absorbed into the history and atmosphere of the buildings.







By the end of two days of visiting temples we were beginning to get 'templed out'. There are two main 'temple circuits' the inner and the outer. We have visited all of the inner and most of the outer circuits with Angkor Wat the most famous and well preserved of them all. What was so impressive to me was the hugeness of everything and the state of preservation of most of the carvings, some looking so well preserved that they could have been tens of years old rather than hundreds. One essential for the visit is a good reliable Tuc Tuc driver and we were very lucky with Hat (we have his phone number if you are thinking of visiting Siem Reap). The temples are far apart but there are a couple of short cuts to some of them which Hat knew about. He was also a bit of a guide in that he knew some of the background and history and so could prepare us for things to look out for. We did not have a guide at any of the temples but we did quite a bit of reading beforehand and eavesdropped on the guides of other visitors. The benefit of not having a guide was we were able to go at our own pace, spend time exploring and sit and take in the views when the fancy took us. It was an experience to treasure for the rest of our lives. We have loads of pictures but hope these give you a taste of what we saw.



(Remember you can click on the thumbnail pictures for a better view)