Day 7

Off to Angkor Wat again this morning to catch the sunrise. Alarm goes off at 4:15 am and we have baguettes and croissants waiting for us at the front desk as well as tow Tuc Tucs. They are not the same as Bangkok. These are basically motorbikes with a carriage.
Off we go into the darkness. As we move along the roads other Tucs Tucs join the procession. It's a warm morning but with the trace of clouds overhead so we won't get the full affect I guess.
Get to Angkor Wat and there is already a huge number of people there. This is the low season so I can't imagine how many would be there during the High Season. We set up by the lake in front ready to watch the sunrise. Poor Remi starts feeling sick though so everything looks in jeopardy. Poor boy is suffering. Clouds roll over. We see the sunrise but we don't get the brilliant reds. Will have to catch them on youtube.

Have to use the toilets run by the monks there. Not an experience I will forget in a hurry and not one to write down here. After a bit of discussion about whether we go back to the hotel we decide to push on and see if we cover at least a few of the temples. I jump in the Tuc Tuc with Remi and the wind in his face seems to make him feel better.
First we go to Angkor Thom. Which is another city of temples. We begin with Bayon which as 54 large stone faces. It's like one great movie set. Breathtaking. And very hard to put into words. All the faces are resemblances of the King at the time who ordered Bayon to be built. There's not many people here which is great. We almost have the whole place to ourselves.  From there we wander over to Bayon which is a very high temple with very steep

From there we move to Baphuon. This is the one with lots of steep stairs. Unfortunately it doesn't open until 8:30am. So we go to look for the reclining Buddha at the back. We don't find it. Then we look for the Elephant Terrace but we can't find that either. By this time Bayon is open so we make our way back. Children under 12 not allowed in so Remi gets a bit upset because he wanted to climb the stairs. Luckily Melody is already fed up with the temples and is back with the Tuc Tucs.

Bayon is indeed a steep climb. I know my legs are going to feel it tomorrow.But it's an amazing feeling going up these temples. Places where over a million people lived and worshiped. We hang onto the railings as we climb. Earlier we had seen dogs zoom up the same steps. Lots of photos and then back to the Tuc Tuc. We turn around because someone is talking about the reclining Buddha. We ask where is it? He shows us. It's the whole back of Bayon. The stones form the Buddha. It's pretty amazing.
And on the way back as walk down stairs near to where our drivers are waiting we find we had been standing on the Terrace of Elephants. Big smiles all around because the elephants look spectacular in an old ruins sense.
Then it's off to Angkor Thom where Angelina Jolie filmed the sequence in Tomb Raider featuring the tree temple. Again spectacular to see nature completely dominating the ancient architecture. The roots of the trees look magnificent, It looks like the trees have fallen from the skies and landed on these buildings.
But now we're weary. Remi recovered but tiredness is getting to all of us.

we get back to the hotel before noon so breakfast is still on. Food, a dip in the pool and a nap seems in order. Then it's my turn to feel terrible. Luckily it's just for the afternoon and by evening I feel a lot better but we're all still exhausted from the early morning temple jaunt so we have our dinner at the hotel and go to bed early. Remi kips with me tonight so we watch The Beast from 20000 fathoms but fall asleep before it ends.