After breakfast we jump in a tuk-tuk and ride out to the Angkor main site. We stop at the modern entrance office and get our photos taken for our 3-day passes. Back in the tuk-tuk and we start an amazing day-long exploration of the main Angkor site.
The entire site is a lovely combination of dirt roads, hidden monuments and glorious temples. It’s a real pleasure just driving around. We stop first at the Bayon temple, and move onto many more.
Each one different but just as amazing as the last. Many of the temples have undergone restoration, most being sponsored by contributions from different countries. Some of the temples have been left to let nature take its effect. It has been 1000 years since these temples were built, but they have stood the test of time well. But nature is impossible to stop.
The temple nature has the biggest grip on is Ta Prohm. So many massive trees are growing out of the temple that the restoration projects have decided to nature reclaim the building.
It starts to rain just as we are about to explore it, so we hide under trees and inside the corridors. The rain stops, and the shining walls and floors add to the atmosphere. As we are leaving Ta Prohm I see an imagine I have seen many times, the massive tree than has engulfed an entire wing of the building. We stop for quite a while waiting for a good photo opportunity.
Out final stop is at Angkor Wat, the biggest, and for many the best of the temples in Angkor. We explore whilst the sun sets.