Day 11 - Temple time

Our group heads out and first stops at a large facility which houses the temple complex ticketing office.  We are each photographed and provided with a 3-day temple pass including our photo – the $60 USD cost has been included in our overall package price, as has been the case with the majority of meals, all the transportation and other entry fees.  We did, however, get charged $40USD each for a Cambodia tourist visa.

It’s about a 20 minute drive to Angkor Wat temple, probably the most famous of the approximately 20 historic temples in the complex.  This is a very large temple surrounded by a wide moat and walls.  It’s absolutely amazing that this massive structure with huge stones and incredibly detailed carvings could be planned and completed 1000 years ago. It’s a photographer‘s dream world to wander around this fantastic structure.  Unfortunately, one of the Scenic passengers, John, became ill from the heat and walking, and needed to rest then return to the hotel early.  One of our new friends from England, Judith, had been fighting a cold for a couple of days, and she also fell ill.  I think Duc was getting very worried that our group were dropping like flies.

The library at Angkor Wat

one part of the temple

There has been a lot of walking in the intense heat, and we’re a little relieved that the second tour involves a slow drive by viewing  of the elephant terrace.  This, however, is followed by a gruelling tour involving lots of stairs at Anchor Thom.  

Dan & Alan are feeling in urgent need of a swim by the time we return to the Hyatt, and they skip out on lunch in favour of a dip and cool beverage.  Duc is a little flabbergasted that our lunch group has diminished significantly, and he sends Sue & Nadine back with take-out food for the guys.

The afternoon involves a visit to Ta Prohm, a very famous and very ancient temple which served as the main set for the Tomb Raider movie.  It's amazing to see the very large trees sending roots great distances to attach to the stones.

Tuk tuks are little taxi carriages pulled by a motorbike.  We have one of these taxis take us on a tour of the city at night.  Siem Reap is a small city, but the explosion of tourist visits over the past 10 years ensures it will be growing quickly in the future.  We stop at a park where flocks of very large bats are noisily swooping through the tree branches.

Preparing us to fend for ourselves again after the tour, Scenic has not provided for our evening meal.  We consider a few options but settle for room service and watch the ending of a Fast & Furious flick.