Day 64

03/09/2009

Second day at Siem Reap and second day visiting the Angkor temples. Yesterday we went around the central area which are the most frequently visited and best known, so today we went a bit further out to see some smaller, quieter temples.

And I got that "wow" feeling several times during the day so it must have been the mood I was in yesterday.

These really are quite remarkable places, built between 1000 and 800 years ago and whilst they were partially demolished by the jungle, much of the carving is still very sharp. The scale of the major temples is comparable to anything elsewhere in the world and belongs to a civilisation, the Kymers, I barely knew anything about.

It's a "must visit" if you're anywhere near this part of the world.

Sadly we ran out of time to visit the last of our planned temples, but we did allow most of an hour at the Camodian Landmine Museum, run by a Cambodian guy who has been removing landmines for about 20 years both as an employee of clearing organisations and self funded. Cambodia has a huge problem with landmines due to the Vietnam war, which injure several people every day, even 30 years after the war has ended.

This was unexpctedly to be our last day with Tom. He'd been planning to leave the group in Bangkok but hadn't firmed up his plans, but a combination of the great temples, the relatively low cost of living and a text from Sonja who he met in Vientiane to say she was heading to Siem Reap seemed to cement his plans. It's sad but we each have our own lives and objectives, and travelling with people all more than twice your age means you risk missing something of what travelling is all about.
At least we were able to show him that married life has some downs aswell as all the ups!