We got our breakfast to go. Aparna tried the coffee and we think it's instant. It is not good but I'm weaned off coffee by now. A short drive to buy our tickets. Our guide takes us to the east entrance as it way less busy and a shorter walk. We miss the West gate but it's dark and we will see it in the afternoon. Seeing Angkor Wat at first light is magical. You start to see the silhouette as it lightens up outside.
See the anniversary post for our sunrise. After the sunrise, we made our way to the central tower to avoid long line later. The climb was very steep but the views are majestic. We walked around the outside to see the bas reliefs. These depict various Hindi stories. So many Aspara. From there we head towards the west gate. We didn't take any water with us which was a big mistake as it was about 9 am now and the heat was already getting to us. Fortunately we stopped to eat our breakfast and drank water. I didn't get photos of the food but we order the same thing tomorrow so you will see the rice and pork and the fruit. From now we took water with us.
Next up was Bayon. This is home of the smiling faces. While the stupa roofs are not restored the other features are in great shape. For me, this site was in my top 3. We exited via the Victory Gate.
This is the same story as the bas relief picture pulling on the snake. Ta Keo was a lot of steep climbing but the views were great.
The backside has a huge lying Buddha but it's not fully restored and hard to make out. Face is on the left. We exited the complex via the Terrace of Elephants. Ta Prohm is where Tomb Raider was filmed. I hope this is the right tree. We took a break for lunch. It wasn't the best but I don't blame the guide I'm sure he gets some kickback. Aparna ordered amok(?) the classic fish coconut dish. It was bland. So she eat the coconut meat. I asked her why she didn't more. I'll let Chuck Noland summarize "Coconut milk is a natural laxative. That's something Gilligan never told us." I ordered a smoked fish salad. It was ok. The fish wasn't what I expected.
There was a misunderstanding between the guide and the person who arranged the tour. He brought us back to the hotel when we were expecting a full day including a sunset. We probably should have checked with the guide when we first started what the plan was but we had an email so we assumed everything was fine.
We headed back out to Banteay Kdei. From there Pre Rup. This is interesting as it uses a lot of brick and limits the use of large sandstone blocks. The weather here is very hazy so the sunsets/sunrises haven't been very spectacular.
Since we were dead, we eat our free dinner at the hotel. The fish curry is way better than lunch. And I don't like coconut that much. Drinks and tip came to $6. We pass out shortly after as we start at 5:30 am tomorrow.
Food total for the day $26.
About 22k steps and just under 8 miles.



















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