It is still the rainy season in Cambodia, and last night proved it! We had very heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the night and into most of the morning. Our room is a bungalow located in some wooded area so it requires a walk outside to get to the main building for breakfast. Luckily the hotel had provided large umbrellas in each room for just such an eventuality. Outside the back of our room were larger puddles up to 45cm (18″) deep. Now I know the reason for the raised walkways.
After breakfast we met our guide for a 0800 start! Todays tour would focus on the most famous temple in Cambodia, Angkor Wat. Again, far too much information for me to take in and relate so here is the cheat sheet for Angkor Wat
It was only a short drive to the site, and the rain was still coming down. Much as we both dislike umbrellas, they did serve us well today. Angkor Wat is built in an are of Angkor Thom which is spread over 650 sq. Kms (250 sq. miles), a lot of walking for one day!! Fortunately we were only planning on seeing the main part of it.
Here are some pictures to go with your reading of the wikki!
Much like Machu Picchu all the blocks were hand carved to such precision that no mortar was required to join them together, the “smaller” blocks of 1 sq meter (10Sq Ft) weigh around 3000kg (6600 lbs). A great number of these blocks at the lower level have either intricated patterns carved in them or carvings depicting a story. The pillars supporting the roof of corridors are perfectly aligned as well.
Due to the rain not too many pictures were taken unfortunately. The last one above is a a picture of the three towers of Angkor Wat that feature on many things Cambodian including the national flag.
As we moved on a little to Angkor Thom the rain started to ease.
Angkor Thom translates to Giant City. Again a lot of buildings, but these were built about 30 to 50 years after the temple and the quality of the buildings is noticeably lower than the temple. This could be attributed to a new generation of architects and and engineers who had lost the skills of the previous generation
The ruins had been buried for a long and trees started to grow on them. The root systems are now so well entangled with the buildings it is impossible to remove them without causing damage.
You may recognise the picture below from a scene from the movie Tomb Raiders
As we left the area we saw a number of craftsmen creating or repairing stone blocks for restoration using hand tools.
There is one area where bats live in a group of trees, they stay there during the day, then fly about 15 miles at night to fruit plantations to eat.
After the tour we headed off to a local restaurant for a typical Khmer (Cambodian) lunch which was very tasty.
We then headed out to a handicraft / fabric store. They had numerous materials there, one that I thought was silk was actually spun from the lotus plant, there were also carpets made from bamboo fabric. Lyn was tempted, but resisted.
Next stop was the city centre to look around, however when we returned to our van it would not start! Our guide then hired a Tuk-Tuk for us to continue the journey around the market and return to the hotel! Actually the ride in the Tuk-Tuk was quite good as it was open air and the speed created a nice breeze.
Back at the hotel we caught up with eMails and then went for a swim in the large outdoor pool / lagoon. The hotel grounds are also home to a large number of rabbits.
Tomorrow we head off into the countryside, hopefully the van is fixed.