On the road to Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is a large temple complex situated

on the outskirts of Siam Reap in Cambodia.

It is the largest religious monument in the world

and is known as the 7th Wonder of the World.

It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple

for the Khmer empire and then gradually

transformed to a Buddhist temple towards the end

of the 12th century.

It has become a symbol of Cambodia and appears

on the national flag and is a prime attraction for 

visitors:

The real thing, taken by yours truly!

So, after breakfast at our hotel.......

and eating waaaaaay too much:

(but all good and healthy!)

We met up with our guide and made our way to 

the first of the temples.

Security is quite tight, we were photographed at

the main gate and given a pass which we had to

produce upon request:

Demons guarding the entrance to the temple!

Some of the statuary has been restored recently.

Between natural erosion over the centuries, looting

and vandalism, much has been destroyed and there

is little funding by the Government of Cambodia for 

restoration projects.

Part of a temple was being restored during our visit

and was being funded by a group from Germany.

We climbed up and down temple steps, it was an

incredibly hot and humid day.

The attention to detail was incredible.

And, on the horizon, two more ancient artefacts

in need of vital restoration!

At least we walked!!!

Our intrepid guide I called Indiana Jones (because of

his hat!)

He made us climb every stair in every temple!!

The place was crowded with tourists from all over

the world......

There were monkeys all over the place. I didn't see

what these two were up to till I looked at the photos

back at the hotel! Monkey business?

The photos don't really do justice to the place, the

temples were incredible.

At the end of the day, I was hoping to go on an elephant

ride - another first- but it really was TOO hot. So I settled

for a photo with this guy outside our hotel:

and on reading about the plight of "tourist" elephants on

the Travelfish.org site, I'm glad I didn't. These animals are often

ill treated, malnourished and beaten if they don't perform.

The elephant is featured widely in Cambodia as a symbol

of wisdom, strength and longevity and was used as a beast

of burden in the construction of Angkor Wat:

And, at the end of a VERY hot day, did I say hot?

A very welcome sit down in our hotel, next to this

cool (literally) marble duo:

and.....

an equally cool fruit mousse and a pot of English Breakfast tea!

                                   Talk soon

                                       Zoe