Angkor part 1

3/13/12:

I'm battling an awful cold, gastro and some sort of fever right now. Needless to say I'm not 100%.

With that said ... We headed out to see some of the minor temples at Angkor today. We read that you should build up to the big daddy at Angkor Wat so that's what we did. Hired a tuk-tuk for $20 for the entire day and set out for the distant Banteay Srei and then what's called the 'grand circuit.'

Before I go any further you have to understand that anything we say about this place just will not do it justice. You have to see it for yourself to understand. It really is that amazing.

Banteay Srei is around 34km north of here so we had quite a ride to get there. Our tuk-tuk is actually a scooter with a bench thing attached to the back. It's pretty comfy but slow going which was nice cause we got to take in all the scenery. Banteay Srei isn't a very large temple but the details and colors more than make up for that.

After that we headed to some other smaller temples and just tried to take it all in. Simple amazing that these temples were all built around 1000 years ago!

Angkor is fantastically beautiful and breathtaking and amazing and any other wonderful adjective you can think of. Even if Wats aren't your thing, this place is great. Our only complaint was the heat. It's like the devil himself is breathing down your neck all day. There wasn't one second we weren't completely drenched in sweat. Oh I guess another complaint is the children trying to sell stuff all over the place. They're very pushy and won't take no for an answer. One child asked us to buy a postcard and when we said no he asked us why not. Pretty bold little turd.

Had some pizza for dinner and then called it a night. We'll see how I feel tomorrow about going to the larger temples.

Pics:
1) Carolyn in our tuk-tuk.
2) Banteay Samre
3) Us in the tuk-tuk.
4) East gate of Ta Som
5) Carolyn at Banteay Samre