Catching up & Cambodia

I haven't posted properly in a long time.  Time has slipped by with trips home, Christmas holidays, family, a new job and visitors.  Suffice to say that we are well and busy and getting on with life in Singapore.  Visitors have provided us with opportunities to explore Singapore in more depth and a wonderful excuse for South-East Asian travel.  In the last two weeks we have been to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see the temples and Hanoi, Vietnam to see Ha Long Bay, a 'provisional' new seventh natural wonder of the world (I loved the 'provisional').

Of the two trips Cambodia stands out and I can't wait to go back.  It is a two-hour flight from here so perfect for a weekend trip.  On our first day we persuaded our driver to take us back to the hotel (30 mins each way) for a siesta around midday after a hot and sweaty morning in the crowds.  This wasn't part of the plan and he wasn't keen on the idea but to be honest I didn't blame him - driving our underpowered moped with a tuktuk stuck on it looked like thankless work.  It was uncomfortable enough in the back.  But we persuaded him with a $5 tip and so, refreshed, we ventured out again in the late afternoon.  And it was very special.  The light was spectacular and what was really so wonderful is that most of our fellow tourists had finished for the day.  So we were (comparatively speaking) alone.  Bayon, my favourite temple, is famous for the multitude of Buddha heads on the sides of the towers, looking out in all directions.  The complexity of its construction and the intricacy of the carvings was really overwhelming.  We were seeing these places as shadows of their former glory, but it left me in awe of what man can achieve in the name of faith.  And despite it being a ruin, I found it to be a very spiritual place. 

There were just so many wonderful photo opportunities!  Here is a very small selection of the 400+ photos I took. 

Bayon Buddhas - don't they look so serene?

Bayon from a distance

Angkor Wat was probably my least favourite temple, although that is the one that everyone goes to see.  It is on the tourist trail like none of the other temples and it was literally overrun with people.  That said, it is an enormous complex (it used to be a city) and there is just so much to see so I'm not sure our one hour visit did it justice. 

The steep climb up to the highest point at Angkor Wat

Trees growing in the temple...

Diggy at Angkor Wat - those are windows