Day 112: Temple wow, temple WOW

So here we were, Cambodia's premier tourist attraction. The big one. In many traveler's cases (however wrong 365 feels this may be) the only reason to come to this wonderful country.

Built over what would eventually span a 400 km² , Angkorian kings started in AD802 to build what would be known as Angkor Wat.

In fact Angkor Wat is but one of the thousands of temples that have survived wars, the force of nature and repeatedly being forgotten by their protectors only to be 'rediscovered' again; safe to say, this will not happen again.

With much to see, we left early so as to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, a grand entrance to this holy site. In the darkness we followed the crowds over a rocky path that we'd later discover was a beautiful walkway surrounded by a lily-pad strewn lake and into an opening lined with more Japanese tourists and protruding optical zoom lenses than I've ever seen in one place at one time. Ever.

The sunrise, as you can see, was stunning. There were points at which it was difficult to distinguish tree-tops from the temple turrets but as the sun shone bright and clear it was obvious, but none the less breath taking, to see the fullness of the temple.

All the more satisfying was the ability to climb all over the intricately carved stones. If the temples had been built in England, health and safety would have lost their tiny risk assessment minds and cordoned the whole thing off; but thankfully, not here.

The temples here are much more spaced out than at My Son so we had arranged for a tuk tuk driver to take us round (elephants, helicopters and even a hot air balloon are available but, of course, not budget friendly.)

We were sped onto the Bayon group of temples, which were my favourite. The main temple, built by Jayavarman VII in the 12th Century comprises of 54 gothic towers with no less than 216 faces carved into them, which apparently (though unofficially) look rather like the king himself. Should anyone at the time have had any doubt about his all-seeing but gracious power as leader, they need look no further than the gently smiling faces that adorn this magnificent structure.



Our final stop was at Ta Prohm, which has affectionately come to be known as "the tomb raider temple" since it's appearance alongside Angelina Jolie in the hit movie.

There the trees that once surrounded the temple have completely integrated themselves into the structure. Huge roots curl like fingers around the stone, holding walls in place and giving the site an organic and other-worldly feel. One cannot help but feel tiny, passing under trees and temples (here beautifully indistinguishable from one another) into this larger-than-life snippet of years gone by.

Since we had opted for the 1 day pass our time was up, real temple fanatics can purchase 3 day and even 7 day passes. There was much that we didn't see, but more than happy with what we had seen we called it a day and retreated back to Siem Reap for a cool Angkor beer while 'Dr.Fish' removed 3-months worth of bad skin from our feet (please see photos for further explanation of this.)

Another incredible day.

Day 6: Take me to the river

Continuing our voyage east from Agra, we arrived in Varanasi after a typically Indian train journey - delayed, hot, busy and at one point so dusty I couldn't open my eyes. The quintessential India that we are looking for could not have been more apparent in transit to Varanasi. We hoped for an equally honest portrayal of life from the destination itself and as one of the holiest places in the sub continent we thought we'd be able to learn a lot about a completely new way of life. It turns out that on this occasion the 'real' India is harder to come by and less obvious than the rail networks into it.

The place seems to be surrounded by a tourism created force-field that makes it very difficult to discover the true culture of Varanasi. It soon appeared that is near impossible to talk to locals and find out a bit more about the heart and soul of the place as they'll quickly ignore your questions and inquisitive nature by just trying to sell you something. And they try really hard, trust me.

Don't get me wrong, this place is beautiful. We took a pre-sunrise boat trip down the Ganges, explored the ghats and the town, had a seriously special moment witnessing a cremation and took back many great memories. And when the survival of the locals pretty much depends on westerns like us coming to visit with more money than most Indians can imagine, you can't get angry or annoyed when they try and sell you a postcard. Perhaps this is the quintessential India we are looking for, just a 21st century version of it.