Sunrise over antiquity

It was recommended that we save Ankor Wat for an early morning event. This would enable us to get a unique postcard picture and avoid the crowds which frequent the place during the day. And so we dutifully employed our driver Mike to meets us at 4:30 am with a Tuk Tuk to take us there. On the way through the warm dark morning we slowly came to realise we were not the only people to come up with this clever notion. We were particularly concerned that everyone on the road was passing us, whilst being assured that our machine was working O.K., it sure did not sound and behave like it was. The ticket complex was open and a plethora of staff was around to make sure the revenue was flowing even in the wee small hours.
Ankor Wat is the largest temple in the world – this means that it can contain millions of tourists annually to watch the sunrise. Most of them were here today - swarming across the causeway like a marauding horde of glow worms. The gates and the walls of the complex completely failed in their design of keeping intruders out. As we all elbowed each other for the best vantage point the sky slowly changed from late crescent moon to tropical sunrise. Wasn’t overly spectacular (as far as sunrises go) but was still worth getting there for. Once we realised the scale of the place, we left the milling throng at the entrance and wandered towards the temple, snapping happily as we went.
By the time we left, we had completed a pretty thorough inspection of the complex (another fascinating look into ancient wonders) in relative piece – it appeared the hordes were only there to watch the silhouette of the complex become defined in the brightening sky – to actually come and look closely afterwards was too much, or maybe they just wanted breakfast instead.
Mike then took us to Akor Thom which contains the Bayon Temple. This was another fascinating example of Mankind’s creativity. The smiling faces beaming out in all directions was uplifting. Being all templed out, we then tuk tuked back to the hotel for brekkie and a lie down to make up for the early start.
A final dip in the pool preceded our noon checkout. To fill 3 hours before we hopped on the bus we used Mike to the fullest by visiting 2 markets and Pub Street for lunch. All very interesting and still cheap. Once on the bus we wondered how we could possibly last 4 hours cramped into the small seats. And so we headed off - 12 souls hurtling down the road with the sole aim of scaring as many people as possible. The road was safely wide enough for cows, motor bikes and passing cars, trucks and busses – if they were all heading in the same direction. Unfortunately it’s both way traffic which means the middle of the road (whilst defined by meaningless lines) is no-mans territory – heading out there takes a combination of timing, finesse, guts and the appropriate ammunition. Our driver’s key weapon was the horn. Mostly used for warning, sometimes for no reason at all, occasionally reaching a high level of creativity as an instrument
The ensuing game of chicken was an experience to behold. These roads are crowded, lined with ramshackle houses the whole way, people are always moving around them, on foot, pushbike, scooters (some carrying ridiculous loads), cattle driven carts, cars, buses, trucks – pretty much the whole gamut, also a plethora of skinny dogs wandering around as if they own the middle piece of bitumen as well. The game was going quite well – we won some showdowns, lost others and generally kept on track.
Just make the game a bit more interesting, the door to the bus jammed at our halfway stop (making a quick escape impossible) and it got dark and the roads deteriorated. This meant that the obstacles were still there, we just couldn’t see them very well. Our driver was up to the challenge though and the game went on..
We eventually arrived to the bright lights of Phnom Pehn. A short Tuk Tuk trip through town and we were back in the safety of the Clements compound to be warmly greeted and treated to a fabulous dinner. Needless to say we slept very well.