For once, in the dark the road were not stacked to the brim with motor bikes, but as we merged on to the road to Angkor it came apparent just how important this place is to the Cambodian economy. Remember it was not usual or considered safe to visit this area until the late 1990s. Siem Reap was cleared of people during the Kymer Rouge era (back to he land) and it was subsequently held by Vietnamese government forces.
I would estimate that more than a couple of thousand people also congregated at Angkor Wat to watch the dawn rise. It was to be fair fairly spectacular. As we have already visited AW as soon as we had witnessed dawn we returned to Ta Prohm (where we had been on day 1). This is the temple that provides the background set for video games (Lara Croft Tomb Raider) and Indianna Jones films.. By visiting at this time we were initially the only people in the place which was pretty eerie, but atmospheric. pictures to follow, but the temple is crumbling thanks to the strangler figs and tree routes mingling with the structures. No doubt in the UK it would all be declared unsafe, not just some parts as are now. The other benefit was that at 5.30 am t was a perfect walking temperature.
We returned to disturb 4 sleeping people (Liz E, K & J) around 7.30 am in our family room / dormitory and all had breakfast around 9am by which time it was already baking hot.
After some washing we went for a meander around Siem Reap, Joseph spent some of his holiday money buying a digital watch with a calculator and E a bag for university, all done with polite haggling, returning early afternoon for a swim.
Tomorrow we are moving on to Battambang which although a bigger city is said to be quiter - remember Siem Reap has a huge dependence on tourism as so many people pass through while taking in the temples of Angkor.
Later today we are due to visit a school, so will update the blog after that.
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