Angkor wat ??

angkor wat -----------------------------------tree overtaking a temple


seb helping the gods to win the tug of war ----- hanging with the heads in bayon @ 6 am

hidden buddha ------------------------------------riverbed sculptures


angkor official guide (is this lonely planet an original ?) --- snake bites ?


Cedric et le barbu a Angkor wat bar -------------angkor beers and the bad eggs


fruit shake anyone ? ----------------------------night food stores for late snack after big night


bayon having good times with us ----gin tonic pitcher (check bayon is not happy)


Niall and his mate -------------------Kristan intense concentration before the pool shot

Apres un long trajet en bus impliquant qq stops gastronomiques ou vendeurs de fruits, araignees fries et grillons se battent pour nous vendre leur produits, on arrive a siem reap lessives. Siem Reap est une petite ville tranquille et assez jolie qui gere quand meme ses 2 millions de touristes annuels. La ville est super dans la mesure ou elle permet de relacher un peu la pression (plein de restos et bars sympas) apres les longues journees passees a Angkor.
Angkor est une vraie merveille, notament le bayon (le temple avec les 150 tetes de buddhas qui te regardent d'en haut) et les portes d'entrees amenant a angkor tom (representant les dieux et demons dans un combat de tir a la corde pour decider du sort de l'humanite).
Angkor phrom reste le plus impressionnant avec la jungle qui a repris possession des lieux (des racines monstrueuses qui semblent engloutir les murs de pierres)
Aussi, Siem Reap, c'est l'occasion de se retrouver avec Alex, Charlotte, et Kriston de Luang Prabang et de renconter Niall, qui va nous suivre dans notre epique periple siem reap/bangkok en bus. 12 h d'enfer apres une soiree plus qu'arrosee (a 3 USD le pichet de biere, meme dave peut pas trouver mieux dans paris) et un reveil sur le fil a 7h00, on se fait le sentier (car il n'y a pas de route) dans un bus surcharge sans clim (pas de soute pour les sacs donc il faut s'imaginer 40 vadrouilleurs et leurs enormes sac a dos empiles dans les rangees et un peu partout)...
La journee sur Bangkok nous permet de se refaire une petite garde robe de t shirt sur khao san road et de reprendre notre souffle avant le vol pour Singapore.

perhaps a combination of hoi an and luang prabang, i would say. the same chilled, mellow, friendly vibe that made us like/ love the above places so much.

initally, the sole purpose of going to siem reap was not to explore the city too much, but to use it as a base for the angkor temples.

days were completed with temple viewings by tuk-tuk or bicycle. we bought a 3-day pass and it was almost not enough. one cannot imagine the details and spleandour of the temples. what was nice with this pass, was that when we (and the camera) were tired of them, we were able to leave...and come back and leave again. three that i loved were angkot thom, ta prohm and ta keo. angkor wat was also splendid but it was a little worked up, i found. perhaps i should not compare...

evenings were packed with hanging out with the fab bad eggs, juliette, nialle and kristan, eating at mmm delicious roadside stalls, the odd g pitcher and befriending the " wa dollllaaaaaaa" kids on the street.

yet another location, i was sad to leave and to think that it was replaced by a 13 hour bus trip to bangkok was quite dismal.