One the first day we got to Bayon (one of the biggest temples) just before sunrise (about 5am). We were the only people there for ages and it was quite creepy as it was totally quiet and bats were flying about our heads. We had no idea what the temple looked like before we went, so as first light broke through we could start to make out the shapes of the towers and then as the sun came up we could start to see some of the details of the carvings in the stoneworks and massive 12ft high buddha faces became visible.



We spent one day in a tuk-tuk motorcycle thing touring round and today we rented mountain bikes to explore a little deeper. Proved to be a bit of a false economy as the peddle fell off Maz's bike and we missed sunrise. I got a replacement bike and headed out for the day and completed the 'grand tour' circuit (about 30km) stopping at every temple en route. One of the smaller ones was really funny - it was down a dirt track and not well signposted. It didn't look like people went there often, but in a grassy area in the middle of the walled area of the temple a family had erected a wooden hut as the family home, with a couple of cows tethered outside!



We're off to Bangkok tomorrow on the infamous road from Siem Reap to Poipet. There were bad rains in October and the road is badly potholed, so bad that the tourist bus was suspended. The alternative route is by boat then bus, but this is now so overloaded that 2 of the boats sank recently! So, we decided to go by 'pick up truck' to the border, though there will be six people in the cabin! It'll be a story for the dinner table when we return anyway...

Hopefully we can then get an overnight train from the border to Bangkok and then another sleeper train down the coast to the beach resort of Koi Samui. We'll need a break after all that travelling! </William> <!--5:26 AM-->