Help - only 14 minutes until I am going up in a balloon for sunset over Angkor Wat, but I will try to do justice to our time in Siem Reap before that.
We got up at 5am to fly here from Phnom Penh and when we arrived it was raining and a mere 30 degrees so that was a huge relief. I had been dreading having an Olympus experience i.e. being dimly aware that you are somewhere amazing and historic but the overwhelming sensation is of the sweat trickling down your back...
We headed out to the temples about 9am and visited Angkor Thom, a huge 900-year-old temple complex with over 200 faces of the Buddha. As it is low season and there weren't that many people there, and it is surrounded by trees, you could imagine what it would have been like to discover it, or to be there by yourself, being watched by all these serene faces.
We had a local guide for the last three days. His name is Yous Sa. For a start we couldn't quite place his accent but eventually worked out that it was Brummy. He says he learnt his English from watching TV - too much Jasper Carrott perhaps? Anyway he was good value entertainment and treated us to his impression of the four smiles of the Buddha - quite impressive.
Yesterday we went to the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed and Yous Sa was able to tell us all about the day he saw Miss Angelina stand in this doorway with her lips pouting like she want to kiss me, then walk very sexy over here and smell a flower and then walk off through this doorway over there. Unfortunately she had to do it twice as he and another guide who were crouching behind a pillar looking down from above were overcome by a fit of giggles when she puckered her lips.
This morning was another 5 am start to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, but more on that later.
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