We'd arranged to set off early for the airport and fortunately everything went according to plan, though after checking our bags in and joining the long queue through security it gave us only a short time to spend our last few baht before we were onto a plane for the first time in three and a half months. At first we were panicked by the prices for food on board, a necessity for this length of flight - then a 'luxury travel pack' was delivered to us though we didn't open it for fear of being charged - though soon after we were also delivered trays of food so we accepted it was all wonderfully free, thank you travel agents!!
We soon arrived in Singapore where we collected another stamp in our passports, and since we had a while before our next flight we popped outside for a breath of fresh, saturated air then went and checked our bags back in, taking the opportunity to do some window shopping in the departure lounge. This was pretty nice, to be honest why people even leave the airport I don't know.
Soon we were underway, we hadn't realised til this point that we had a stop in Darwin en route to Cairns, so duly at 4 in the morning we pulled up and were shepherded into a small departure lounge where more or less every passenger took advantage (or was taken advantage) of the cash machine to buy tea and coffee, a necessity at this early hour. Soon enough we were under way again, then upon arrival we had a short panic about mud on the soles of some trainers but this was quickly resolved and we were into Australia, only 23 hours after we'd set off.
We hailed a taxi to take us to the backpacking hostel we'd carefully picked online, which wasn't too bad - a bit messy in the dorms but when people are longstayers I couldn't claim I'd fair any better. Since it was early we had a good chance to prepare ourselves for our impending poverty, so asking the gardener where the best spots to hunt and gather were we set off out for the nearest supermarket. We had a good walk around and after stocking up we headed back, ate and slept off our jet-lag / tiredness.
Next day we headed out again and took in some more of the city, heading down to the sea front and to the marina where some kids were attempting to net prawns before walking back along the Esplanade past the Lagoon, full of local families and tourists alike. On our way back to the hostel we heard a racket emanating from a bunch of trees, looking up we spotted hundred upon hundred of bats!! They all set off around dusk which was quite a sight in itself, though as we walked round taking some pictures two ladies and a young lad from a conservation group came over as one had been reported to them as paralysed on the ground due to a tick. Turns out they're fruit bats, it was great to see one so close and hopefully this group will be able to bring it back to health to fly another day.
We headed to the marina again the next day as we'd booked in for a dive at the Great Barrier Reef, so soon enough we were on the open ocean and after a quick stop at Fitzroy Island we were off to the reef. Since I'm not qualified I was in with the group doing a 'try dive' although only one out of four of us had never dived before.. After arriving at Thetford Reef we all kitted up and after running over the basics were heading down. It was great to be diving again and some of the sights were nice, though as we were 'learners' we had to stay close and be shepherded along - a far cry from the lax attitude in Thailand - then before we'd been under for more than twenty minutes we had to head up as one of the group had fallen below 50 bar on their tank so for safety we were soon back on the surface.. To me this felt painfully short, so I got my kit off and headed straight back out snorkelling. In many ways this paid off, since the only difference was how you were breathing.. The variety of corals and fish compounded by their amazing colours and patterns was more visible and along with more time to take them in at my own pace made this much more enjoyable. Soon enough everybody was back on board and our move to Moore Reef was underway. Since I didn't fancy paying another AUD$30 for a second dive that could be as much a disappointment as the first I took off snorkelling as soon as we'd stopped and everyone was kitting up - I wanted my moneys worth!! This was a much larger site so setting off I swam a good 2-300 yards away then checked my position - and was surprised that due to the tide I was a good 100 yards away from where I'd aimed to be. As a result I made sure to follow the reef 'wall' and also keep surfacing to check my position anyway. This was another wonder-wander, so many sights and after wearing myself out I headed back to the boat where one of the dive instructors who was from the UK wasn't diving so offered to show me some of the sights - although funnily enough what he intended to show me was dead and in the end I seemed to be showing him new spots!! Soon after we were done and heading back, a long boat ride ahead and an exhausting day behind us, most people slept through the trip.
Next day we headed out to suss out our train tickets for moving on - as it turned out due to flooding in Brisbane the train we'd intended to catch wasn't going to be running so we'd have to leave the next day on a slower train - this wasn't really an issue though since Cairns was far too expensive for us to do anything else and the town itself was somewhat limited in its attractions unless you were able to drive.. We spent the afternoon at the lagoon as once again the sun was beating down so enjoyed a nice cool day before one final meal at the backpackers we'd eaten at every night with it's fine choice of meals (not) and vegetarian option - pumpkin, carrot, vegetable then tomato soup, mmm.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Bangkok-a-too
The border crossing from Cambodia was a long haul, lugging our bags from one exit gate to the entry point through Poipet, an area which seems to have an unsavoury reputation, which I could believe.. We queued for a fair while then when through waited for our bus group to collect, we jumped into a minivan to some peoples dismay (though it'd be faster) and set off - fortunately we were being dropped off just round the corner from Khao San road which meant no further transport costs for us. We found the hotel quickly somehow - more luck than good navigation - halfway down Khao San in an alleyway, pretty good considering what others would charge.
We headed out to see why this was the tourist centre for backpackers and holidaymakers alike, a fusion of love and hate, East meets West and small portions for big prices. Some things I'll spare your mind from, but overall it was as expected. We trawled the stalls and shops finding most things we'd seen elsewhere at half the cost, and after a full 24 hours there I was pretty tired of the surroundings.
Next day we went off in search of new areas of Bangkok, making it as far as the Democracy Monument on a roundabout about 5 minutes walk away when a local 'on holiday' chatted to us and explained it was Buddha Day so lots of the temples were free entry that day, and a tuk driver would take us round for only 20 baht.. Cue a tuk driver pulling up, and never one to turn down a bargain we jumped in. First stop was the temple of the Lucky Buddha, quite dainty but nice none the less and a plethora of statues there making it impossible to discern which was the lucky one?! We headed off towards a 'clothes market' which was just a tailors.. We walked through and out without sparing much time.. Then to a 'jewellery market' which unsurprisingly was a jewellery shop.. We took a bit more time here but still were out in no time. On to another 'market' where when we arrived our driver asked us to spend more time inside - say 10 minutes so that he could get his fuel voucher which was what makes the trip so cheap. After a painful 10 minutes in the tailors, feigning interest and walking away with nothing ("you are tight-fisted like Jew") we were offered to visit a tourist office to book trips to other temples out of town.. Well after this charade and with the sun setting I insisted we weren't interested in these places and wanted to carry on seeing the temples as planned.. So we headed up to Wat Indrawiharn the home of the Standing Buddha a 100ft tall image with feet as long as we are tall. There were some other nice statues and one temple had really different and nice paintings around the walls. We headed out to find our driver to move on.. But.. He was nowhere to be seen!! Abandoned!!!! Fortunately we were only 10 minutes walk from Khao San and glad to have finished our trial of a trip!! Turns out this is all intended as a scam - no surprise there - where you would buy gems or hopefully something, but our tight-fisted nature / genuine lack of money was a saviour!!
On the weekend we headed out of town to Chatuchak Market, a vast 35 acre market. We were looking for an identical pair of shoes that we'd bought at the start of our travels and had been coming to the end of their life several times had it not been for super glue. It was quite fun but to say it was baking hot is an understatement. We spent a few hours there, zig-zagging then methodically weaving our way through the aisles but alas though the same shoe was there not the same size - and we weren't going back the next day irrespective of the certainty of a perfect fit. We'd bought a few odds and ends and settled with another pair then headed back.
Our next day out was to a cookery school, Ma-Sa-Man just up the road with the popular Chef Lee. We were in a class of only four, an American couple from a cruise ship tour making up the numbers. Firstly we headed to a small backstreet market to pick up our fresh ingredients for the day - crossing the canal on the way we happened to see a monitor lizard bathing on some wood - then a turtle, and then a much larger monitor swimming along shortly behind!! We soon got back on track and spent the next few hours chopping, mixing, frying and eating a variety of currys, soups and desserts. It was really informative, tasty and good fun, I just hope that we can find some of the ingredients when I'm back!!
We moved hotel the next day as the price had started to rise where we were, so arriving at our new place we accepted the space given and headed out - maybe we should have inspected it a bit more first; that evening from 8 onwards we had live cover music being jammed out yards from our door on the ground floor, then around midnight we realised we weren't alone in bed.. Bedbugs!!!! A first, and we soon packed up, got our money back and moved to another place we'd checked out. Needless to say this was much better and was a comfortable stay before we set off to the airport early one morning to begin the next leg of our trip. We'd done the full circle of Asia, and were sad to be leaving - although Bangkok was definitely the most unfortunate of cities!!
We headed out to see why this was the tourist centre for backpackers and holidaymakers alike, a fusion of love and hate, East meets West and small portions for big prices. Some things I'll spare your mind from, but overall it was as expected. We trawled the stalls and shops finding most things we'd seen elsewhere at half the cost, and after a full 24 hours there I was pretty tired of the surroundings.
Next day we went off in search of new areas of Bangkok, making it as far as the Democracy Monument on a roundabout about 5 minutes walk away when a local 'on holiday' chatted to us and explained it was Buddha Day so lots of the temples were free entry that day, and a tuk driver would take us round for only 20 baht.. Cue a tuk driver pulling up, and never one to turn down a bargain we jumped in. First stop was the temple of the Lucky Buddha, quite dainty but nice none the less and a plethora of statues there making it impossible to discern which was the lucky one?! We headed off towards a 'clothes market' which was just a tailors.. We walked through and out without sparing much time.. Then to a 'jewellery market' which unsurprisingly was a jewellery shop.. We took a bit more time here but still were out in no time. On to another 'market' where when we arrived our driver asked us to spend more time inside - say 10 minutes so that he could get his fuel voucher which was what makes the trip so cheap. After a painful 10 minutes in the tailors, feigning interest and walking away with nothing ("you are tight-fisted like Jew") we were offered to visit a tourist office to book trips to other temples out of town.. Well after this charade and with the sun setting I insisted we weren't interested in these places and wanted to carry on seeing the temples as planned.. So we headed up to Wat Indrawiharn the home of the Standing Buddha a 100ft tall image with feet as long as we are tall. There were some other nice statues and one temple had really different and nice paintings around the walls. We headed out to find our driver to move on.. But.. He was nowhere to be seen!! Abandoned!!!! Fortunately we were only 10 minutes walk from Khao San and glad to have finished our trial of a trip!! Turns out this is all intended as a scam - no surprise there - where you would buy gems or hopefully something, but our tight-fisted nature / genuine lack of money was a saviour!!
On the weekend we headed out of town to Chatuchak Market, a vast 35 acre market. We were looking for an identical pair of shoes that we'd bought at the start of our travels and had been coming to the end of their life several times had it not been for super glue. It was quite fun but to say it was baking hot is an understatement. We spent a few hours there, zig-zagging then methodically weaving our way through the aisles but alas though the same shoe was there not the same size - and we weren't going back the next day irrespective of the certainty of a perfect fit. We'd bought a few odds and ends and settled with another pair then headed back.
Our next day out was to a cookery school, Ma-Sa-Man just up the road with the popular Chef Lee. We were in a class of only four, an American couple from a cruise ship tour making up the numbers. Firstly we headed to a small backstreet market to pick up our fresh ingredients for the day - crossing the canal on the way we happened to see a monitor lizard bathing on some wood - then a turtle, and then a much larger monitor swimming along shortly behind!! We soon got back on track and spent the next few hours chopping, mixing, frying and eating a variety of currys, soups and desserts. It was really informative, tasty and good fun, I just hope that we can find some of the ingredients when I'm back!!
We moved hotel the next day as the price had started to rise where we were, so arriving at our new place we accepted the space given and headed out - maybe we should have inspected it a bit more first; that evening from 8 onwards we had live cover music being jammed out yards from our door on the ground floor, then around midnight we realised we weren't alone in bed.. Bedbugs!!!! A first, and we soon packed up, got our money back and moved to another place we'd checked out. Needless to say this was much better and was a comfortable stay before we set off to the airport early one morning to begin the next leg of our trip. We'd done the full circle of Asia, and were sad to be leaving - although Bangkok was definitely the most unfortunate of cities!!
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Sisophon way from home
After a short panic about our trip to the bus station we were picked up by a hurried and rather elfish looking minibus driver, we'd thought time was getting on but gladly we were actually the first pick up. The vehicle soon filled and we set off.. As far as the junction at the top of town where a bus was waiting, unloading and re-loading our bags we got in - making sure to say we were heading to Sisophon, whereupon another tourist kindly informed me this was the bus to the station.. Oh well. Twenty minutes later we'd arrived and having repositioned our bags set off. The journey wasn't too bad, only one stop and on arrival we took up the option of a tuk as we had no clue where we were or where to go - then we noticed one of the shoes tied to the outside of a bag was missing.. Do we chase the bus in a tuk?! Bad idea methinks, we agreed to sort this out once we'd found somewhere - stopping first outside the one place we'd heard of although we weren't too impressed. Luckily before we bothered our driver offered to show us another so we ended up at Pyramid, for the same price and seemingly much better value for it. We checked the room then got straight to the shoe issue - back to the station the next day to wait for the bus, it was safe!
Sisophon or Svay for short is the main town in the province of Banteay Meanchay, set around the two main roads around Tonle Sap lake - one from Battambang and the other from Siem Reap heading out toward Thailand. It's roughly a triangle divided up into side streets and blocks of houses, flats, municipal buildings or charities - although for its size tourism isn't one of its key components, it is more or less an every day Cambodian town unaltered. We headed out to tackle our next problem, where to eat. We soon found one place - the menu presented linguistically 'fried rice or noodles?' though for the price we were happy to have found it. Heading back out we went for a walk - instantly faced with a park featuring the most delapidated fair ground rides I've seen, possibly ever will see. We carried on through to Phsar Meanchay the central market, it was a real melting pot of trades - from elaborately sequinne patterned tops and dresses to diamonte setting, nail painting and the usual food markets coating the outer walls. We picked up some fruit to save our tastebuds from blandness and make a good breakfast then that night ate at the first guesthouse we'd seen. We took the opportunity while there to start working out our method of getting to Banteay Chhmar as the initial price quote from our tuk driver was laughable.. This drop-by was enough to reassure us we'd stayed at the right place.
Next morning we set off for the bus station, hoping to collect the missing shoe.. Lets just say it didn't happen, two hours later we returned defeated and had to change room due to prebookings.. By the time we had, somehow the receptionists who'd been helping us to recover the shoe.. Did!! How they did can only be claimed as one of lifes great mysterys.
That night we went for 'restaurant' number 3, The Mirror. This was a kind of fast food joint, fried chicken, chips, ice cream.. With about two other choices it made for interesting eating, fine if you're travelling and not budgeting too hard and brilliant if you're local - a big party was dining alongside us that night eating what looked like an oversized poppadom stuffed with possibly fish.. So we'd investigated the three most obvious restaurants in town and felt we could get by with a supplemented diet.
Next day we set off for Banteay Chhmar - Banteay translates as barracks or fort and Chhmar to cat. This was also built under Jayavarman VII as testament to the conquest of the Cham people. It's currently being part restored by the Global Heritage Fund with the aim of achieving World Heritage Status, one of the main issues with this is likely the ease of access. We jumped aboard a tuk ready for a healthy 2 hour ride. Two hours later we were passing towns that I recognised from the map as being around half way there, so, a further two hours later we arrived. Our bodies had been shaken to the point of numbness but as promised there were so few people here that we could really get around and see some more bas reliefs and elements of the site with hardly a person in sight. The only people we did encounter were an English couple working with a charity in Sisophon who were on their way back as we arrived, two policemen patrolling the site and a gaggle of kids also 'patrolling' the site and playing. Most of the site is semi-dense woodland with most of the outer walls' structure intact, inside was slightly more broken but some parts were holding their form where sites at Angkor had not. Again the area had been heavily looted only a few decades ago - the most recent noted attempt to move one bas relief to Thailand was foiled at the border though it's now kept at the National Museum. During the initial looting the area was also heavily mined, now cleared thankfully, though the surrounding countryside is still prone to the savages of anti-personnel mechanicry. We set back off after long, knowing that too long and we'd be travelling in darkness. Passing again the vast fields, working farms, schools, wats and rivers - then as we got back toward Svay we slowed, just in front three columns of armed troops marching down the main street presumably toward the town. The area clearly still holds an important military standing..
That night we headed back to the Mirror where I tried the 'poppadom' which turned out to be filled with shredded chicken and bean sprouts, ripping sections off and adding salad before dipping it was certainly an interesting dinner though maybe not one i'd try again in a hurry. My stomach was full enough though and that was what counted. Our plan was now to spend a few more days here just til our visa expired and we could head to Bangkok without having to spend too much money there with the higher costs, so another few plates of fried rice, noodles, chicken and chips later we were back on the road and into Thailand.
Sisophon or Svay for short is the main town in the province of Banteay Meanchay, set around the two main roads around Tonle Sap lake - one from Battambang and the other from Siem Reap heading out toward Thailand. It's roughly a triangle divided up into side streets and blocks of houses, flats, municipal buildings or charities - although for its size tourism isn't one of its key components, it is more or less an every day Cambodian town unaltered. We headed out to tackle our next problem, where to eat. We soon found one place - the menu presented linguistically 'fried rice or noodles?' though for the price we were happy to have found it. Heading back out we went for a walk - instantly faced with a park featuring the most delapidated fair ground rides I've seen, possibly ever will see. We carried on through to Phsar Meanchay the central market, it was a real melting pot of trades - from elaborately sequinne patterned tops and dresses to diamonte setting, nail painting and the usual food markets coating the outer walls. We picked up some fruit to save our tastebuds from blandness and make a good breakfast then that night ate at the first guesthouse we'd seen. We took the opportunity while there to start working out our method of getting to Banteay Chhmar as the initial price quote from our tuk driver was laughable.. This drop-by was enough to reassure us we'd stayed at the right place.
Next morning we set off for the bus station, hoping to collect the missing shoe.. Lets just say it didn't happen, two hours later we returned defeated and had to change room due to prebookings.. By the time we had, somehow the receptionists who'd been helping us to recover the shoe.. Did!! How they did can only be claimed as one of lifes great mysterys.
That night we went for 'restaurant' number 3, The Mirror. This was a kind of fast food joint, fried chicken, chips, ice cream.. With about two other choices it made for interesting eating, fine if you're travelling and not budgeting too hard and brilliant if you're local - a big party was dining alongside us that night eating what looked like an oversized poppadom stuffed with possibly fish.. So we'd investigated the three most obvious restaurants in town and felt we could get by with a supplemented diet.
Next day we set off for Banteay Chhmar - Banteay translates as barracks or fort and Chhmar to cat. This was also built under Jayavarman VII as testament to the conquest of the Cham people. It's currently being part restored by the Global Heritage Fund with the aim of achieving World Heritage Status, one of the main issues with this is likely the ease of access. We jumped aboard a tuk ready for a healthy 2 hour ride. Two hours later we were passing towns that I recognised from the map as being around half way there, so, a further two hours later we arrived. Our bodies had been shaken to the point of numbness but as promised there were so few people here that we could really get around and see some more bas reliefs and elements of the site with hardly a person in sight. The only people we did encounter were an English couple working with a charity in Sisophon who were on their way back as we arrived, two policemen patrolling the site and a gaggle of kids also 'patrolling' the site and playing. Most of the site is semi-dense woodland with most of the outer walls' structure intact, inside was slightly more broken but some parts were holding their form where sites at Angkor had not. Again the area had been heavily looted only a few decades ago - the most recent noted attempt to move one bas relief to Thailand was foiled at the border though it's now kept at the National Museum. During the initial looting the area was also heavily mined, now cleared thankfully, though the surrounding countryside is still prone to the savages of anti-personnel mechanicry. We set back off after long, knowing that too long and we'd be travelling in darkness. Passing again the vast fields, working farms, schools, wats and rivers - then as we got back toward Svay we slowed, just in front three columns of armed troops marching down the main street presumably toward the town. The area clearly still holds an important military standing..
That night we headed back to the Mirror where I tried the 'poppadom' which turned out to be filled with shredded chicken and bean sprouts, ripping sections off and adding salad before dipping it was certainly an interesting dinner though maybe not one i'd try again in a hurry. My stomach was full enough though and that was what counted. Our plan was now to spend a few more days here just til our visa expired and we could head to Bangkok without having to spend too much money there with the higher costs, so another few plates of fried rice, noodles, chicken and chips later we were back on the road and into Thailand.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Aspara the eye can see
So we woke up, managed to obtain tea and coffee from the security guard before setting off in darkness. As we travelled more groups funnelled in from the side-streets forming a convoy of tuks rallying toward the temples ready for the dawn of another day. We crossed the bridge to Angkor Wat again - we didn't have a torch so were glad of our familiarity and for the other tourists wayward lights when we reached the steps of the gate. Tucking in another cup we sat waiting for about half an hour til the skies started to brighten and more people flocked to the grounds - mostly taking up pitches in front of the pond to capture an early snapshot. We joined the battle for space and got some pictures before getting some food in and heading inside to be ready for the queue to form below the pagodas we'd avoided the day before. Though we weren't first to arrive we wangled our way to the head of the line ready for it to open - then felt pressured to conquer the steep steps to the entrance. Another interesting area with wonderful views of the surroundings - a balloon was rising in the distance though by its height I'd assume we had the better vantage point - for free. There were several pillars engraved with different writings and languages - including less refined graffiti and tags etched in from over the past century - and also a buddha that had been saved somehow; the other statues that should fill the Hall of 1000 Buddhas we'd unwittingly seen at the National Museum in Phnom Penh so didn't miss their presence quite so much. As we left we reached the last set of steps to the grounds and encountered monkeys in the grounds for the first time - one having claimed a monks robes as its toy or trophy, much to the envy of the rest of the troop. No thievery on this occasion and we left, then steaming straight on through Angkor Thom and exiting to the North onto a new, vaster route.
First stop was Preah Khan, similar in a fashion to Ta Prohm with trees climbing upward and collapsing parts but without the walkways and number of tourists. The two were built at the request of the same monarch, Jayavarman VII the former for his mother and this, his father. Various religious and symbolistic features can make this apparent even to casual observers - and other buildings referring to his defeat of the Cham are portrayed in an equally depictive manner.
We moved on to Neak Pean which meant walking a long thin wood bridge path over the vast man-made lake Jayatataka - or Baray of Preah Khan. Sadly this was mostly fenced off so we could only really see about a third of the site so we soon set back to carry on. We moved on to Ta Som, quite a nice smaller site with the roots of one particularly large tree encircling the entrance at the rear. At each site you have locals offering you a vast array of tat, from postcards to bracelets, wooden jews harps to all manner of drinks and food and here we spoke to one lady for a while - a large village settlement sits to the North of the Srah Srang and others are dotted around the site so unlike many UNESCO World Heritage sites there are thriving communities within the grounds, earning from tourism - sadly this applies not only to adults but also to children of all ages.
We carried on out and made our way to East Mebon, a similar era temple to Pre Rup in it's form and having been made from pink sandstone though here with the added bonus of elephants on most corners - though I wasn't certain as to the age or authenticity of these adages.
We thought that we were then finished, tired, exhausted, dehydrated and so hot that cooking a fried egg on a car might not have been out of the question - alas, there was one last place on the schedule, Prasat Kravan. This was on the initial road and our lack of enthusiasm to take in another temple wasn't disappointed by what greeted us. In fact we spent more time attempting to coax some horses to our tree shade for a stroke. A fairly bizarre place seemingly modern or renovated to such clinical precision that the stone work was stamped..
Well that was that, we'd finished the two main routes and a large number of temples at a leisurely pace, so when asked 'what time tomorrow' I think our valiant driver was as greatful as we were to not be returning. That night although we were quite tired we headed down to the Temple Club for dinner as they had a nightly performance of the traditional Aspara dancing, there was a band seated cross legged to the side of the stage playing backing Pan Peat music while we were treated to around six different dances - from fishing to myths the whole thing was quite fun to see.
After taking a few days to recover we headed round to the Angkor Night Market and the Psar Chas Market to collect some last odds and ends. Our plan from here was to get to Banteay Chhmar - another Khmer relic around 60km North of Sisophon, the next main town on our way to Thailand via the border at Poipet. This would be our last stop so although completely uncertain of the area, where to stay and what would be available to eat we set off on the bus another bright shiny morning, emergency biscuit rations in hand.
First stop was Preah Khan, similar in a fashion to Ta Prohm with trees climbing upward and collapsing parts but without the walkways and number of tourists. The two were built at the request of the same monarch, Jayavarman VII the former for his mother and this, his father. Various religious and symbolistic features can make this apparent even to casual observers - and other buildings referring to his defeat of the Cham are portrayed in an equally depictive manner.
We moved on to Neak Pean which meant walking a long thin wood bridge path over the vast man-made lake Jayatataka - or Baray of Preah Khan. Sadly this was mostly fenced off so we could only really see about a third of the site so we soon set back to carry on. We moved on to Ta Som, quite a nice smaller site with the roots of one particularly large tree encircling the entrance at the rear. At each site you have locals offering you a vast array of tat, from postcards to bracelets, wooden jews harps to all manner of drinks and food and here we spoke to one lady for a while - a large village settlement sits to the North of the Srah Srang and others are dotted around the site so unlike many UNESCO World Heritage sites there are thriving communities within the grounds, earning from tourism - sadly this applies not only to adults but also to children of all ages.
We carried on out and made our way to East Mebon, a similar era temple to Pre Rup in it's form and having been made from pink sandstone though here with the added bonus of elephants on most corners - though I wasn't certain as to the age or authenticity of these adages.
We thought that we were then finished, tired, exhausted, dehydrated and so hot that cooking a fried egg on a car might not have been out of the question - alas, there was one last place on the schedule, Prasat Kravan. This was on the initial road and our lack of enthusiasm to take in another temple wasn't disappointed by what greeted us. In fact we spent more time attempting to coax some horses to our tree shade for a stroke. A fairly bizarre place seemingly modern or renovated to such clinical precision that the stone work was stamped..
Well that was that, we'd finished the two main routes and a large number of temples at a leisurely pace, so when asked 'what time tomorrow' I think our valiant driver was as greatful as we were to not be returning. That night although we were quite tired we headed down to the Temple Club for dinner as they had a nightly performance of the traditional Aspara dancing, there was a band seated cross legged to the side of the stage playing backing Pan Peat music while we were treated to around six different dances - from fishing to myths the whole thing was quite fun to see.
After taking a few days to recover we headed round to the Angkor Night Market and the Psar Chas Market to collect some last odds and ends. Our plan from here was to get to Banteay Chhmar - another Khmer relic around 60km North of Sisophon, the next main town on our way to Thailand via the border at Poipet. This would be our last stop so although completely uncertain of the area, where to stay and what would be available to eat we set off on the bus another bright shiny morning, emergency biscuit rations in hand.
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