Angkor... Wat!?!

Monday 6 October
Angkor Wat

So we meet up with our driver again and tuktuk it over to Angkor Wat . It's very hot and I sweat like a bitch once more. However the temple is awesome and rightly deserves its place in the pantheon of international treasures.

Of course what people think of as Angkor Wat is actually a series of many different temples (not sure of the exact number but something definitely over 10) with the actual Temple called Angkor Wat the biggest and most impressive, and indeed in the best condition. It's three concentric sqares with five parabolic towers in the centre. Each sucessive inner section was only accessible by higher and higher echelons of society, with the centre reserved for the king. The towers in the centre and the huge version of the Ramayana (the Hinduu creation story) on the walls of the second square are the highlights.

After Angkor Wat we go to Angkor Thom, which again is one name for a whole section of temples, separately famous for their massive heads - big, contentedly smiling face sculptures about six feet high that point out in every direction. The main temple of this complex contains hundred of them and is a sight to behold. Incidently the temples are still in use even today, and statues of the Buddha or Vishnu and his pals can be found in most of them, together with a (human) attendant and votive offerings and incense burning in front of them.

We see a whole bunch of other temples but they merge into one somewhat - a bit of temple fatigue creeps in, but more or less the last one - Ta Prom - is also a highlight and completes the triumvirate of the best temples.

This temple has over the years been surrendered to the jungle, and as a result the temple is mixed together with trees with their thick, sinewy, tentacley roots twisting ans reaching round the stonework like alien invaders frozen in time. As a result the structure of the temple is fragmented and interrupted, either by the trees themselves, or by fallen masonry. The result is a complete maze of passageways, courtyards, paths and shadowy chambers that is absolutely fantastic to walk around. I even found the invauable lost treasure of Kha-Thrah, which I swapped for a bottle of water as I was so thirsty. However I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't hit by any poison arrows shooting out of the walls, or chased by a lost tribe or a huge, circular boulder, but I thought it churlish to ask for my money back.

Afterwards we were tired and literally drained from all the sweat, so we snoozed a bit and took it easy in the afternoon.

In the evening we drink for a bit and have nice indian meal (though the Doctor eats the second hottest thing he's ever had, and the next day suffers from a cauterised oesophogus), we head back to Dead Fish again as we loved it so much, and in a bar after that I find that they sell all of the 2 Many DJs albums which are very hard to find (or were when I last checked, most people have only heard of volume 2), so I acquire a copy.

Oh, and the ftse falls about 400 points and Iceland melts or something.