August 24, 2008

Angkot Wat Archaelogical Complex – Part 3

Thursday, August 9

It started to drizzle and we made our way back to the van and headed to Ta Keo, a temple built by Jayavarman V (968 – 1001). It was never finished, and thus is missing the elaborate carvings seen at other temples.


One of the most popular of Angkor's many wonders, Ta Prohm was recently used as the set for the shooting of Tomb Raider. This 12th century Mahayana Buddhist temple is one of the Angkorian era's largest edifices and has been left much as it looked when first discovered more than a century ago. The jungle is devouring its structures, with tentacle-like roots of mature trees slowly strangling the stonework, resulting in crumbling structures.


By then, we had been walking for almost 7 hours and it was only slightly after 12 noon. We settled for lunch at some stalls opposite Angkor Wat. After some much needed rest and replenish our energy, we decided to enter Angkor Wat again with the guide, just so that he can regale us with stories of Angkor Wat. As it was still early when we completed the tour of Angkor Wat, the guide brought us to another temple in the jungle, Preah Khan. Halfway through our walk in the temple, it started to pour and we quickly took shelter under whatever little is left standing of the temple. Our driver, John, who was waiting in the van, brought us some umbrellas so we could make our way back to the van. We were all wet with our feet covered with mud, coupled with temple fatigue setting in, we decided to head back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, we showered and were planning to take a short nap before hitting the Central Market. As we were all spent forces, we ended up sleeping for more than two hours, waking up at about 7pm. We headed for dinner at Dead Fish Tower, a restaurant specializing in Thai and Western food. Sis, mum and hubby ordered Thai food, which was quite good while I had club sandwich.

After dinner, we went across to the Central Market to do some shopping. I bought some books, pirated ones, :-) as they were cheap and of pretty decent quality and bags for myself, babysitter and her daughter.

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