Today was absolutely exhausting but incredible. I am so tired!!!!!
All but two of us woke at 4.30am and drove to Angkor Wat, a very famous temple in thee Cambodian forest built in the 1100s. Here we watched the sunrise. Lots of other tourists had the same idea though so there were people everywhere! But we had a great view, it was beautiful!!
We went back to the hotel and had breakfast and then bought some snacks at the minimart down the street for tomorrow's bus journey. Then we set off on a full day tour of the temples of Angkor. Ancient kings had these temples built in the 1100s and now the ruins are all here for us to enjoy, complete with carvings, archways and jungle vines all over them. I cannot believe though that you can climb all over them, touch them etc. Seems a bit ridiculous to me, one day it will all disintegrate. The first complex we went to out of three was Angkor Thom, it was fairly big!! We saw a huge well and lots of Buddhas. We explored the surrounding area with terraces and all up spent about an hour here. Then it was back on the bus to explore Ta Promh, the jungle temple that Angelina Jolie runs around in in 'Tomb Raider'. Here the jungle vines and tree roots have grown over parts of the temple, making it look ancient and forgotten.
We then had lunch at a restaurant just opposite Angkor Wat. I had chicken Amok and Laura had vegetable Amok. Amok is a Cambodian dish of minced meat (or veggies) served with various vegetables inside a coconut shell. It was delicious!!! Nina had it as well.
Then we went to Angkor Wat. This is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world, and just like when we watched the sun rise above it this morning, it was stunning. Its name means 'city temple'. There were swarms of tourists everywhere but we enjoyed it as best we could seeing as I had rude tourists pushing me from all angles (never again will I take personal space or queues for granted again in Melbourne - people just don't get it here). It was one of those experiences where it felt surreal being there!!!
After much walking and our early start we were all stuffed. But the adventure didn't end there for Laura and myself, as we had booked the adrenaline theme pack which includes three activities. The other day we did the flight of the gibbons and today was our all terrain vehicle tour. We thought this would be a 4WD we would be driven around in, but we were wrong! We turned up in nicish clothes and thongs only to discover we were driving quad bikes! Now as someone who had a terrible fall off my bike when I was 12, I'm not that fond of fast bike riding, especially over bumps. I was a bit scared if I'm honest. Our guide, Sophie (a man), took me for my "test" which involved driving around the block, turning, breaking, accelerating and avoiding some small children. We both passed! So off we went. The scariest part was going through the city a little bit. There are no road rules here. We followed Sophie on his motorbike and were quickly out in the rice fields in the countryside. I quickly gained confidence and turned into a speed freak jumping over bumps and hills, we even had to go through some water at one point! The scenery was unreal. We passed farmers bringing their buffalo in for the day, and all the neighbourhood children rushed outside to wave and shout 'hello!' to us. We stopped to talk to some of them and they were really interested in who we were and where we came from, one even hugged Laura! We watched the sun set over the rice fields and had a great chat with Sophie about our lives and his life. He is 23 turning 24 this year (we guessed right!!) and didn't finish school so either had to pick farming as a career, or driving tourists around. He said he loves his job and is lucky to have such a fun job. He guessed my age as 15 (oh dear) and complimented both of us on our pale skin, which seems to be what everyone wants here. Funny how people just want what they can't have!!! The silence when the sun was setting was different, all we could hear were frogs and buffalo. We rode back with our lights on through the dark (couldn't see the bumps coming!!!).
Tonight we all went back to Temple Bar for dinner, I had noodles with prawns which were yummy. We enjoyed an Aspara concert while eating dinner which is local Cambodian dance.
Laura, Rhi, Jo and I all left after that and the others stayed on for a few drinks, but we are wrecked. I just had the worst shower of my life in this hotel (the shower is terrible!!!) but I still appreciated it because I was covered in dirt, sunscreen and aerogard after what was a very long and fun filled day! I spent a good 30 minutes washing my poor top that is covered in red dust from the road. Soaking overnight, think my pants and cardi survived luckily.
Tomorrow we venture to Phnom Penh, see you there!
Love
Claire and Laura
Xoxox
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