Monday 29th November 2004
I met Heiko and Katrien at 10.30am outside their guesthouse. We are going to temples of Angkor today in a tuk tuk. It will cost $10 for the tuk tuk for the whole day, which is a bargain between 3 people. We bought our 3-day passes at the checkpoint for $40 each and started the day exploring the Bayon and Angkor Thom and finished the day sitting by the lake in the grounds of the majestic Angkor Wat waiting for sunset. We decided that Angkor Wat deserved more time to look around than the time we had left today, so that is why we chose to stay in the grounds for an hour and appreciate the sunset, so today is an external tour of Angkor Wat and the day after tomorrow will be the full exploration inside. The details of the day are summed up best from the photos. Words don't really do it justice and you can read plenty of guide books on the temples of Angkor.
The photos of Angkor Wat at sunset were among the best pictures that I took on my trip. I believe there is an unquantifiable magic to Angkor that transcends our immediate senses. If you take the trouble to silence the noise in your mind and sit calmly for a few moments whilst you are there, you will notice it, then you will feel it and everything will just make sense for that moment. Then you will know that you got the real experience of 
Angkor; the one that so many people miss whilst they breeze through, viewing the place through their camera lens and chatting with their friends. Spiritual lesson over!
We headed back to Siem Reap and had a Khmer massage. Heiko and I had a 4-hand massage, which lasted 1 hour and was done by two masseuses...luxury! It was the perfect way to relax after a tiring day, haggling with the cute little kids all trying to make a sale. Those kids all demonstrated their wealth of knowledge and skills in foreign language, which they pick up through practical experience because most of them can't afford to go to school everyday. It costs $1 a day for one child to go to school and the average family income in Cambodia is about $1 and the average family has several children not just one child.
