Day 16

Today was our first day I Siem Reap. I am staying together with 9 guys from our group and our coordinator. Our coordinator chose to do her own things. She did a tour around the temples and went to the circus and a dance show in the evening. We (me and the 9 guys) were working out what we want to do today in the morning. I knew guys love exercise. I knew that some of my friends love bicycle riding. But what I did not expect, was a bicycle ride around 3 of the temples and a hike up a mountain. We rode 25km to the temples and 25km back. In total we rode 50km and climbed around 700 steps (luckily there were stairs) up to the the mountain. And that at around 35°C and high humidity. The temple on top was amazing and also the temples we stopped on the way were beautiful. The bike ride was worth it. It was quite a work out. I am very proud of myself that I made it. One of our friends gave up after around 10km. He chose to stay at the first temple we passed and had a good time with the locals. After the bike ride, we straight went into the pool of the hostel to cool down. After some dinner we decided what we will do tomorrow. We’ll get up at 4 am to see the sunrise at one of the temples. Maybe Angkor Wat, but we are not too sure yet. It is a very good place to watch the sunrise, but it is usually just over crowded at that time of the day. The plan is to stay at the temples from sunrise to sunset. Hopefully our muscles will not be too sore in the morning.

1. Temple

The entrance of the temple

Inside the temple. The temple has only one level. Usually, temples have either 3levels or only one.

An old lady praying inside the temple. We had a nice talk in englisch and khmer. She was very nice.

The lake on the other side of the temple

A monkey at the side of the road. Later, one of the monkeys tried to steal a bag from us. Luckily, he did not succeed.

2. Temple

This is on the top of the temple. I need to have a look if i can find a picture of the whole temple. The whole temple looks quite impressive and has three levels.

A picture I took from the top of the temple looking down.

3. Temple

This is what we found on top of the mountain. It was really worth the climb.

The temple on the mountain only had one level. There were these two, then another slightly bigger one behind.