Siem Reap - Ankor Wat

I've already done two days of Angkor Wat and i can safely say the temples are awesome. On the first day i woke up at 6.15 and rented bikes with a French guy and spent about 9 hours at the temples. We did the 'mini tour' which involved all the main ones, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon as well as a number of smaller but just as interesting ones. Angkor Wat was certainly the most spectacular in terms of scale but became less amazing as you got closer and you couldn't do as much up close compared to other temples. Next was Bayon which i enjoyed more as there was more to explore and better carvings. We did loads of other temples as well but the best ones were hidden away in the jungle away from the main drag and less touristy. At all the big temples there were bus loads of tour groups constantly arriving and leaving meanwhile the more remote ones were far more peaceful. It was hard work though, the sun was scorching and it was so hot making cycling and walking around the temples hard work. To add to that is the endless line of children and adults trying to sell you trinkets and books and clothes although i've figured out how to deal with them after 2 months in Asia. It's still annoying being constantly mobbed, stalked and shouted at by Cambodians. The other issue is the people selling cold drinks and food, as soon as you acome within 70 meters of them they scream "Miiseter, Misster you wan cold drink'' , "no ok when you come back you buy''. One way of avoiding them is by hiding behind far wealthier and older looking tourists. It kind of disturbs the peace of the temples.

The next day i did the same shift but did the 'grand tour'. I enjoyed this route more as there were fewer tourists, and the temples were just as impressive and more fun to explore as there were more rooms and passages, and the jungle had encroached into many of them so you can woander into the jungle to find more ruins hidden there. I did it all on a bike again and because of the size of the grand route and the detours i made i probably cycled for 40 km and when i got back to the guest house i was destroyed. So today i'm giving myself a day off to recover before doing my last day at the temples tomorrow. To be honest 3 days isn't enough as there's still a lot to see.