Angkor Hot

It seems that marvellous places are always best early. Bloody early. Like well before dawn.

So it was that we found ourselves, bleary-eyed but twitchy with Christmas morning-like anticipation, in front of Angkor Wat. In the dark. The very dark. Needed torches to get there kind of dark. Didn't really sleep last night dark.

Got there just before the tourist hordes kind of dark. In time to sit on the stones next to the pond with the fish, frogs and mozzies, to best catch the dawns reflections kind of dark. Ly, our guide for this week, knows his stuff and timed it beautifully. Even two minutes later, we would have been standing.

It feels refreshingly cooler that time of day, probably only 30degrees

After the spectacular sunrise, we didn't hang around, we'd be coming back later in the morning. For now we were off to Ta Promh, where I hear you say. When people think of Angkor Wat they frequently mean Ta Promh, the ancient temple a thousand years old, with trees growing through them...think Tomb Raider. Ta Promh is known as the jungle temple. The jungle did take over many of the temple cities for hundreds of years after they had been abandoned following war with the Thai civilisations of the times. When most of the temples were rediscovered they were burnt to remove the jungle, this one the jungle is very much a part of. And our favourite.

By 7:30am we'd seen two temples, time for breakfast. We returned to Angkor Wat, now maybe 10am and the worst part of 38 degrees. Much like chateaux, we conclude that it's better viewed from outside than in - which isn't to understate its marvellous bas-reliefs, long stretching symmetry and headless Buddhas. It's just that majesty rarely withstands close inspection. Though some of the stone carving is intricate and has withstood the test of time and nature. Some extremely steep stairs take us to the top level of Angkor Wat's Central temple and afford a great view over the ruins and jungle.

We have a free afternoon in which to see more temples, a silk farm, floating markets, a crocodile farm...of all this excitement it was difficult to choose. Airconditioning won and we had a very restful...and cool, afternoon in our room. We are on holiday after all.