Temples of Angkor

I heard last night that the different ruins of Angkor cover about the same area as Manhattan. Of course, sometimes it's a 30 minute drive between one temple and another with not much other than a couple villages in between, but that's still a big area. Below are a few of the hundreds of photos we've taken over the last week.

Bantay Srei Temple

A pile of stones waiting to be sorted and maybe put back.

Angkor Wat - the areas that get touched most often look darker and almost polished.

A few of the faces at Bayon temple. One of my favorite places here.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Mister, you buy postcard, ten for one dollar. Lady, you like cold water? Cold water, soda two for one dollar. You buy one. Maybe later. You go to temple come back you buy water from me, okay? You remember me, I have white shirt. I remember you, you have green shirt. Where you from, sir? USA, capitol Washington DC, population 300 million, major cities New York, Angeles, Chicago. You like scarf?

And so goes the chorus greeting every visitor to every temple in Angkor Wat. We've been in Siem Reap for two days now after taking the six hour bus ride from Phnom Penh. Phnom Pehn was great. It was hot, dirty, it smelled and you always felt like you might get hit by a guy and his family on a motorcycle, but it all seemed to work and made it a great place to visit. The people we met were always ready to smile and laugh and there was lots of great food. Siem Reap is a city built around tourism and Angkor Wat. Not all bad, but can get a little old. Of what we've seen so far it was well worth the trip here. Six more days here. We'll tour some more on bicycles and on foot and then we'll head to Bangkok for Christmas.