Angkor Wat

Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow.

Meg and Sam have this dreadfully banal Charlie and Lola tape, which they have fortunately now lost interest in but which used to be a firm favourite. (For those without kids, Charlie and Lola are a really annoying brother and sister about whom there are endless boring stories, and who need some top tips on how to speak properly). Anyway in one of the stories Lola discovers the tooth fairy and says, in her irritating voice, 'I can't believe that there is a tooth fairy, WHY didn't someone tell me this before?!'.
For some reason, this refrain keeps going round in my head as we look around Angkor Wat. The ruins are STUNNING. Not just impressive, or beautiful or any of the usual adjectives. They are absolutely breath-taking and I am incredulous that I've never realised quite what I've missed out on by not coming here before.

Angkor Wat itself is a single (but huge temple) which is amazing, but what I had failed to realise was the sheer number of temples that form part of the group, and the variety contained within.

Our first stop was the Bayon (see photo below) which is a huge temple with faces carved out of the rocks staring out in all directions. Again, I had seen pictures before but I hadn't realised quite how big it was, or quite how many faces there were staring out at you. But this was just for starters. We have been exploring solidly for four days and have continued to discover new favourites every day; we have still only really touched the tip of the iceberg. It is just staggering. Some temples are immaculately maintained, others have been left slightly more 'naturally', with the jungle still all around and tree roots working their way through ancient stone work. Some are huge pyramids with steep staircases you can climb, others have cloister after cloister after cloister, each brilliantly carved.

There are hundreds of them and only the most impressive merit a mention in the guidebooks and on the standard tour itinerary.

On the third and fourth day, Mum and Dad hired bikes and we rode out to some of the temples a little further away. We all felt very virtuous as the buses and tuk tuks roared past us.

They left this morning and the children are bereft. There were tears all round and even the promise of ice-cream did not do the trick....Meg continued to sob for the best part of twenty minutes!