Saturday 25th

It was decided that our first view of the ruins should at dawn so we set our alarms for 4am and  dragged out the stragglers for a 5am start to the ruins.  The trip to the ticket area was quick and some took out a day pass but 3 of us paid $65 US to have a seven visits over one month.  We then joined the throng of people travelling towards the ruins.  We were lucky as during an equinox the sun rises directly over the central tower of Angor Wat and we were there then.  Our first look at the ruins were that of pale pink dawn haze but we then had to wait for 50 minutes for the actual dawn.  The picture on the right shows the reflection of the towers in the lake.  Lovely.  Breakfast followed the sunrise and we then spent about 1 hour walking through the ruins.  It must have been fantastic in its hay day.

By the time we came out of the ruins and walked back to our vehicle it was 8.30 and stinking hot.  Not at all pleasant.

We then went on to Banteay Srei which was constructed in 967, there is not a lot of it left but well worth looking at.  Only problem is that it is hot!!We had been joined by then by our Khmer co-workers and they had not been to the ruins so it was interesting for them also.  They tried to tell me that the water was full of crocodiles but of course I was able to tell them that we in the Territory have them walking down our streets.  There will be a young Khmer working in the classroom with us if we get into any language problems, I think it should be OK as most of the people we have spoken to can read and write English but just have problems speaking it.
  
After we finished Iooking at the ruins we thankfully fell into our airconditioned car and went to look at our last one for the day.  It was the one where Angolie Whatever filmed the Tomb Raiders.

It was built from 1186 and was dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII.  It was truly swallowed by the jungle as there are trees growing right through the ruins and the trees are well over 200 years old.  It was a great ruins and we will certainly be going back to see it but in the cooler part of the day.

 

We were absolutely exhausted by the time we finished walking through the ruins and then through the swarm of hawkers to get back to the bus.  The trip home was good although our driver managed to run over a dog, which was not good although I am sure someone enjoyed the fresh meat for tea.

Talking about food, we have a lovely young lady who does our lunches and teas for us.  The main stay of the meals is of course rice but the extra dish is usually vegetables and more vegetables but I must admit for someone who hates vegetables I find that I quite enjoy the food especially now as there is always a second dish of food with chilies in it for me.

We look after ourselves on the weekend and unfortunately we have sandwiches but I am sure that we can work it that there is some rice left over.  On Sunday we are going out with all the staff to have a buffet tea which should be interesting.