Day 10 (10-Sep-2010) Siem Reap

Breakfast was a most enjoyable affair, partly because we no longer needed to pack up for yet another long day on the bikes, but primarily because it was Simon’s ‘Big Day’. A large table had been set aside in the centre of the restaurant, with all those present hailing Simon’s entrance with a rendition of Happy Birthday that was less basso profundo and more outoftuno, and Sue very fortissimo. A number of presents and cards were given, including a T-shirt with a photo of Simon cutting a magnificent chiselled pose in Speedos, gazing out across Ningaloo Reef. Alas, it was only much later that we discovered Nick Mueke had acted as 'stunt double', providing arms, legs and torso - everything really except for the round balding head.

At 08:00hrs we assembled outside the Hotel for the day’s bike ride to visit three of the most prominent temples at the Angkor Temple complex. Our ranks had now swelled to 12, with Andy, Kathy and Sue joining us for a day of culture. On passing through the gated entrance to this vast UNESCO site, we first cycled around the large moat surrounding Angkor Wat, the largest, and arguably the most famous, temple in the world, towards Ta Prohm temple. Along the way, we passed Prasat Kravan, the brick Hindu temple built in 921 AD, and the venue selected to celebrate Simon’s birthday later that night.

Ta Prohm is the ultimate Indiana Jones fantasy, and setting for the first Tomb Raider movie. It is a testament to Nature’s ability to reclaim any ground seconded by man, no matter how transformed. The crumbling towers and walls of this temple are locked in a slow, muscular stranglehold of vast root systems that also force their way into the tiniest cracks to eventually render apart roofs, walls and columns. It is the most atmospheric ruins at Angkor, and with the appearance of being slowly swallowed by the jungle, looks very much the way most of the monuments of Angkor would have appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them.

With our cultural appetites suitably wetted, we next headed for Bayon, a truly massive temple featuring 54 gothic towers decorated with 216 enormous smiling faces. These huge heads glare down from every angle, with a dozen or more always visible from any location within the temple grounds. It is situated at the exact centre of Angkor Thom, a fortified city built at the end of 12^th century, and is some 10 sq km in extent, surrounded by an 8m high, 13km long, wall, and encircled by a 100m wide moat. At the height of the Khmer empire, Angkor Thom is reputed to have supported over one million people in the immediate vicinity.

With body now wilting under the hot sun, legs tired from ascending numerous stone staircases, and cameras suffering from photo overload, we shuffled along to Angkor Wat for a spot of lunch before then heading into the temple complex. Angkor Wat translates to ‘temple that is a city’; rather apposite given the size and grandeur of the place. It is a stunning blend of spirituality and symmetry and an enduring example of the huge time, effort and resources which have been committed by successive major civilisations to honour their gods. Inscriptions at Angkor Wat indicate that over 300,000 workers and 6,000 elephants were involved in its construction, over a 60 year period, using sandstone quarried 40km distant and floated down the Siem Reap River. It is also the only temple at Angkor that has been in continuous use as a place of worship since its construction 900 years ago.

Suitably impressed in equal measure by both the vast scale of the complex and, at the opposite extreme, the intricate attention to detail imbued in the exquisite bas-reliefs (the longest wrapping the outer wall of the central complex for nearly 1km, making it the largest in the world), we limped back to the Hotel at 16:00hrs. Exhausted, some opted for a nap to recharge batteries for the Big Night ahead. Others decided to revive themselves with a few cocktails.