Day 2 (pm): The Smiling Face of Angkor

My Isadora Duncan moment

Bayon Temple

Temple Sunset

Ian was keen to go up in the hot air balloon to get a bird's eye view of Angkor Wat, which turned out to be a good call.  Having spent the morning crawling all over the temple, it was great to see it in totality and get my bearings.  In addition, it was much cooler up there, with a very welcome breeze and I managed to recover my equilibrium.  We had lunch in a traditional Angkor restaurant  - a big, buzzing place with plenty of cheap rice and noodles - and then moved on to Angkor Thom.  This was built 100 years after Angkor Wat and translates as Big City.  As a walled city it's bigger than anything in Europe, and reminded me a bit of the Roman Forum, although in its day the ordinary folk weren't allowed in.  Angkor Thom contains a number of temples (all smaller than Angkor Wat) and other buildings, of which the Bayon was by far my favourite.  The Bayon is made up of 2000 beaming faces that made me feel as though the gods were truly smiling down on me.  I am guessing that you recognise the enigmatic, thick-lipped Universal Buddha, yes? It's a powerful image, up there with the Apple and Coca Cola logo, and I found the entire assembly most delightful.  We have purchased a replica face, which has prize position on our mantelpiece.  Richard and I love our souvenirs, and maybe it's a bit naff (discuss), but they do instantly recall magical moments.    After this, the heat was seriously sapping my energy and enthusiasm.  We toured the royal enclosure, the elephant terrace and who-knows-what-else (sorry, but at this stage I would only be quoting from a guide book), finishing up at Pre-Rup to watch the sunset, which didn't happen because of cloud cover and by this stage the men had pumped up their grumpy old git impersonation, which wasn't helpful.  We arrived back at the hotel at 6.30pm after 10 hours of sightseeing in 35 degree heat - dedicated or what? Even poshpackers have to dig deep sometimes.

Informative message board outside our hotel

  MARKS OUTTA 10

Rich: Angkor Wat was fantastic but I was all templed out by the end of the day and I coudn't see the point of the sunset thing.  8/10

Ian:  I also thought Angkor Wat was fantastic.  At times I was just too hot to enjoy it all.  The balloon ride was excellent.  8/10

Louise:  I gave Angkor Wat 11 of out 10 but I would give some of the others less and so I will average the day at 8/10

Jackie:  Bayon was serene and another 11/10.  The only reason I was ever less than entranced with the rest was because I was brought down by the heat.  8/10