Friday 07 April 2017 – Siem Reap, Cambodia 

We had a 4.30am rise this morning, to get out and see the sun rise over Angkor Wat. We were picked up from our resort by Prince. I swear that Prince is not dead, but is working as an Angkor tour guide in Siem Reap, because this guy looked just like him 😂. Anyway, he was the loveliest man, and had incredible knowledge about the temples – he knows all of the interesting stories, and the best places to stand to get a good photo opportunity, as well as how to best avoid the rest of the crowds and make it feel like you’re there alone. So, if anyone is going, I highly recommend booking with Wide Eyed. 

To get into the temples you need to line up with the masses of crowds (we are here in shoulder season, so I cannot imagine what these crowds are like in peak season) to get your pass, with a photo printed on it. They are very strict about these passes.

 There are lots of ladies swanning around trying to sell you pants to cover up with – everyone must have their shoulders and knees covered – which was just as well, because Craig needed some pants. 

After you go through this process it’s off to settle down on the steps to watch the sun rise. Unfortunately it wasn’t that spectacular today, but that’s ok! 

After sunrise, you head on in to the temples. My mind is blown by all of it… the fact that these incredible structures were made using this tool…

The fact that someone has perfectly depicted stories by carving the walls, and they are SO intricate…

And that after over 400 years the ruins were discovered overrun with jungle.. imagine finding that?! 

We spent five hours in total, looking through and learning about the three most popular sites- Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm (the Tomb Raider filming site). They were all amazing in different ways, and it was such a great experience, and I enjoyed learning a bit more about Buddhism too, which I think is quite fascinating. 

Craig had a wee run in with one of the locals – a monkey that he snuck up on, who wasn’t very impressed. He turned and bared his teeth and then he started to lunge at him. How he got out of that one, I have no idea, but it was somewhat hilarious. 

When we returned to the resort, we went and had a second breakfast (we’d already had a local one around 7am) because breakfast here doesn’t finish until 11.30am, so we thought that would do us for lunch. Oh my goodness, it is the best breakfast I have ever had… they have the buffet options, which are all amazing, but also a la carte and I’ve never had hollandaise that good before. Seriously to die for. It was nice to sit there relaxing after so much action… crazy to think we had done all of that and it was only 10am! 

The afternoon was really chilled – we had a massage booked and the therapist was so taken with my blonde hair that she asked if she could style it for me. 

We read our books next to our pool, and had our homemade drinks (😂), before heading out on our resort bikes (these are SO cool) for dinner.

Every little detail at this resort has had so much thought go into it. It’s incredibly impressive, and makes me want to check out their other properties around the world (though they’re mostly European and will be wickedly expensive) – they are the Zannier Group. 

Another great day ❤️❤️❤️