And then there was Angkor Wat.
After a false start the previous day (having gotten up for the sunrise only to find the cloud cover insurmountable and so going back to bed) we made our way up to the legendary ruins to watch the dawn break of the largest religious monument in the world.
From daybreak Jen and I went in for a closer look at the marvel. And the first thing that blows you away about Angkor Wat, before getting up close and personal with the towers and structures themselves, is the range of phenomenal bas reliefs found telling their epic stories around the outer walls of the complex, which includes the legendary Churning of the Sea of Milk...
Once inside the complex, Jen and I were treated to the kind of views that literally take the breath away - the monumental towers and buildings are still in great shape (no doubt helped by fairly constant restoration work), and one such tower can even be climbed to obtain both great views over the complex and gardens, and also a look inside the central structure.
Finally, a walk out into the grounds presented a wider look at the gardens and other buildings, as well as of course the wondrous money shot of the entire, magnificent central complex.
Having arrived before dawn, we were finished at Angkor Wat before lunchtime - meaning technically we still had a half day available to explore other Angkor buildings if we'd wanted to. But we were more than happy to finish with Angkor Wat. After that, there really could be no more.
So that brings Cambodia to a close for us and tomorrow we'll cross the border into Thailand once again and head down to Phuket for some sun, beer and serious R&R. Despite having another seven months of our adventure still to come, Jen and I do actually have to be back in the UK briefly in mid-December, which has put a limit on how much time we could spend in Southeast Asia. And truth be told we've short-changed Cambodia somewhat. On each occasion that we've decided to spend an extra day somewhere, or indeed made the decision to go to a country not originally on our itinerary (such as Myanmar) that time has been shaved off what we had available for Cambodia. Which is a shame, because we've loved it here and feel that it deserves more of our time. There's only one thing for it, of course, and that's to add it to the (long) list of places we just have to come back to...
Things Jennie will remember about Angkor:
1) Awesome shakes at Orchide Guest House.
2) Our budget tuna sandwich breakfasts.
3) That the temple of Angkor must truly be blessed by the Gods as not only did Sean and I cycle something approaching 100kms over three days but we also abstained from beer for 2 days and got up TWICE at 4am for sunrise (albeit that we didn't go out the first time as it was cloudy, but we did get up and dressed so it counts!)
4) The lovely man at the bus stop who was so concerned about us when our guest house driver didn't arrive to pick us up that he let us use his phone and basically sorted it all out for us! We're sorry for immediately thinking you were trying to scam us when you asked for our guest house phone number.
5) The pimped up tuk-tuk with in-built stereo/MP3, DVD player, beer, cooler, reclining seats and fan. We're sorry we couldn't afford to hire you for the day - but my goodness your tuk-tuk was awesome!
6) The bat-mobile tuk-tuk - equally awesome!
7) All of it - I loved Angkor. Every temple is a new discovery and they're all different. Can't believe how lucky Sean and I were to avoid the crowds most of the time. Every decision we made was perfect. This place rocks.
Here are the pics:
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