to the moat, on a footpath which was totally devoid of other humans, and immersed ourselves in a still peacefulness which was unbelievable in such a touristy place, before heading back outside to our waiting tuk tuk. I think it was at this point that we made the decision that we wanted to come back the next day to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, which the guidebook said was one of the highlights. We asked our friendly driver, who said it was no problem, he’d meet us outside the hotel at 4.30am! Gulp! After a welcome cold drink, we headed off for our next destination, Angkor Thom, the capital city of the Khmer civilisation.

The Ancient city of Angkor Thom is surrounded by a huge moat - crossed by bridges lined with 54 Gods on the left, and 54 demons on the right, which end in an imposing gate topped by an enormous face, which is said to be a fusion of the faces of the King at the time,

and Buddha. The idea apparently was to freak out any approaching enemy, and it must be said that I reckon it would have worked! The major temple within Angkor Thom was the Bayon, a magnificent place with 54 towers, each one having a large face carved into each of the four sides, similar to the faces on the gate. This was followed by a look at the Baphoun temple, which although now not much more than a pile of rubble, was once the most impressive temple in Angkor Thom, being a massive five staged pyramidal tower lined with Bronze. A huge Restoration project is in progress, although it was started over ten years ago, and was supposed to be completed in 2002, the problems encountered are apparently not trivial, and there is much delay.

After a couple more visits, and a hearty noodle lunch, we headed off to Ta Keo, another vertigo inducing towering temple, and then to Ta Phrom, a little different