Angkor - Day 4: Sunrise and More Temples.

So today we had an "alpine start", which is odd, since there really is no alpine around here. We got up at 4:30AM, and met our tuk-tuk for 5AM. He drove us over to Angkor Wat, there the crowds were just beginning to gather. I found what seemed like a fairly photogenic location (in front of the reflecting pools), set up our camera, and eagerly awaited the sunrise. It did not disappoint; we watched as the hues of the sky imperceptibly but gradually became brighter and shifted from red to blue, until the brilliant brightness of the sun came into view from behind the temple.

At this point, we went inside the main temple and wandered around it some more, exploring the corridors and looking at the carvings and bas-reliefs at our own leisure. We encountered a number of 'tourist monks' from Vietnam, who were very friendly and we chatted with them for a while.

Once we felt there was nothing more to see, we left and our tuk-tuk driver took us back to the Bayon, where again, we explored at our leisure. Unfortunately, we converged on it with a bunch of tour busses, so it was much busier than the first time when we saw it, so it was not as good an experience.

Our final ruin of the day was Banteay Srei, built in the 10th century, by Rajendravarman. This one was out in the boonies, about 25km north of the main Angkor complex. En route, our tuk-tuk driver got a flat, and we spent a while walking along the country road while he found someone who could do the repair. Our driver found one place that could do the repairs, and while the owner was fixing the tire, his children were somewhat amused with the novelty of white folks. We knew almost no Khmer, and were trying to find a way to connect, when Carole asked them how old they are by holding up fingers and pointing to the youngest one. It is amazing how much communication actually occurs while exchanging ages in this manner.

We then resumed our ride, and within an hour we were there (our tuk-tuk was not the fastest). Banteay Srei is not a particularly big temple complex, but off all the ruins, the carvings and bas-reliefs are among the best preserved. It this regard, it stands out from all the other ruins. It was hard at times to appreciate they were over a thousand years old, and certainly gave a sense of what they other temples were like in their glory days. The quality and detail of the carvings and their coverage of all the walls was astounding.

Afterwards, we got back into our tuk-tuk for the long ride back into town, had dinner, and did a bit of pre-packing for tomorrows departure.