Siem Reap, Cambodia, SE Asia

2nd and final stop in Cambodia, which unfortunately means that my time here was very short, however, it ended with me seeing one the wonders of the world - the world's biggest religious building; Angkor Wat (plus the MANY temples that surround the area).

The entire Cambodian nation is proud that they hold this title that it is even the main symbol on their national flag, and to explore this temple plus all of the other temples within the vicinity could take days or even weeks. Therefore, in such a short space of time we were only able to see the highlights.

Starting the day at 6.30am meant that it was full on, first stop being the big one itself. Having arrived so early meant that we could wander and absorb the enormity of Angkor Wat (its tallest point stands at 55 metres high) without bumping into hordes of tourists along the way. As we walked around and listened to our guide, we were able to understand the stories behind many of the carvings on the walls and the intricate details that makes the temple so special. A UNESCO heritage site, which meant that the building is very well preserved, so much so that it was easy to see the original reddish colour.

Around Angkor Wat sits many, many other temples, including Angkor Thom which made it onto our short list of ones to see. Bayon sits within the Angkor Thom complex and makes an interesting stop with its 216 enormous faces peering at you as if they are watching you every move. Bayon was followed by a couple of smaller temple and then to finish the day we visited Ta Phrom, or the Jungle Temple as it is fondly know as.

Ta Phrom has been overtook with nature, roots of trees a hundred years old or more have managed to work their way into crumbling bricks, climbing through, up and around its many nooks and crannies. It was amazing to see how drastic nature has took its course, causing many areas to become danger zones where the trees have caused the walls to collapse.

Siem Reap is under a mass development project, having been discovered in the last 10 years and placed on the tourist trail. More and more people are visiting the city and Cambodia itself each year and I would imagine that it will be a completely different place in as little as 5 years time.

A pity that time was so limited here, but it's back to Bangkok to catch a flight to Beijing, for a month of travelling China!