Day two of our vacation in Cambodia started off very early. We had to wake up before the sun because we wanted to watch the sunrise! Our tuk tuk driver (the same Mr. Phuc Me!) picked us up at 5:30am and we drove to Angkor Wat. Then it started raining...
Sunrise was a bit of a bummer, but the rain didn't last long. We zipped ourselves up in the tuk tuk and headed over to the Ta Prohm temple. This temple was made famous by Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider movie. This temple has been taken over by strangler fig trees and is completely haunting.
There was some construction, courtesy of the Japanese government, and I think they were trying to tell me that they were sorry... Maybe. I'm not really sure what this sign was trying to say.
The temple was hidden beneath a layer of jungle,
intricately carved,
and then the sun came out.
Get there in the morning (i.e. 6:30 am) and you'll have the place to yourself.
After Ta Prohm we continued on the Grand Circuit and visited Pre Rup. This temple was a wonderful departure in color from the other Siem Reap temples. The yellow bricks at Pre Rup shine in the sun and are a beautiful contrast to the green jungle.
Then it was time for breakfast. Bring it on spicy egg in a roll! It cost me $1 and was delicious.
East Mebon was next. An adorable little squat temple with rooms upon rooms and more carvings and reliefs than you could look at all day.
One of my favorite temples was Neak Pean. You have to walk along a wooden boardwalk for ten minutes before disappearing into a copse of trees.
The temple is hidden within the trees and sits in the middle of a pool. It was so hot at this point in the day (it was maybe 11;30 at this point) that I considered jumping in.
The final temple on the Grand Circuit was Preah Khan. This was a massive temple! The boyfriend and I were getting tired at this point, but there was so much to see on the grounds of this temple.
After all this walking, I just had to stop at this fruit vendor and pick up a pineapple! You can buy baby pineapples that are peeled (do you peel a pineapple? Hulled? I don't know) and ready to eat. These little pineapples are the perfect amount of sweet but completely packed with flavor. I want more of them!
Our Grand Circuit tour was complete at 1:00 pm and we headed back to the hotel for some pool time. And some Ernest: Scared Stupid...
What? It was Halloween! And apparently the Cambodian people love Ernest. We had dinner close to the hotel and hit the sack early!
Stop back tomorrow for the last day of our Cambodian adventure!
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