Angkor Wat, the pride and symbol of Cambodia

After the day racing in Phnom Penh, we rested during the evening and took our chosen mode of transport to Siem Reap, the touristic city next to Angkor Wat and probably by now Cambodia's main source of income. Our two teams chose the luxury public bus, the Mekong Express. The bus was nice and comfortable, it came with its own hostess wearing a Cambodian silk uniform, and they fed us Western-style pastry. We stopped in Skuon, a town famous for its crispy deep-fried spiders. Yup, the same ones that Rob crunched into very happily in Phnom Penh. Apparently the spiders aren't captured, they are bred somewhere close to town. Brr… I didn't try them this time either.
We made it to Siem Reap in one piece after 6 hours on the bus. One of the pictures required was a monk holding our mascot - we had to drive into the Wat in Siem Reap and caught young monks washing their tunics in the sun - this is the picture for the other team, the Turtle and the Hare

littlemunk, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

The next day was the race challenge around Angkor Wat. We started the day very early with the sunrise on the main Angkor Wat temple.

angkorsunrise, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

This leg wasn't timed, we just had to answer the clues and find the appropriate bas-reliefs on the temple, and shoot a few Tomb Raider style pictures. I thought of adding pomelos under my t-shirts to be more Angelina-Jolie like but we didn't come across any. Angkor Wat is indeed a HUGE site, with temples in all styles and sizes, and getting around isn't easy in the scorching heat. We had to climb all the way up the major temple of Angkor Wat:

pvclimbing, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

We took the time to appreciate the details of the bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat like all the pretty Apsara (dancing nymphs of the heavens)

apsara, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

My favourite temple, aside from the huge Angkor Wat complex, was Ta Prohm and its temple half-eaten by the forest.

taprohm, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

taprohm2, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

We shot a few Tomb Raider piccies:

angelina, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

We had to do some Khmer Classical dance at the Terrace of the Elephants:

terraceelephants, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

Looking for pictures of tourists in strange outfits (required for the race) we stumbled upon a few wedding parties shooting pictures at the entrance of Angkor Wat:

cambodianwedding, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

And this is our winner for the worse-dressed tourist!

worsetourist, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

Vini also found and played for his latest orchestra, the Landmine Survivor's band:

landminemusician, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

We finished the day by visiting the Landmine Museum, opened by a local Cambodian called Akira who was forced to work for the Khmer Rouge, then the Vietnamese army, then the Cambodian army, then the UN. He is now raising money to teach people how to de-mine the country as there are still 1 million landmines around Cambodia, and they claim lives and limbs on a daily basis. Some decommisionned mines:

landmines, originally uploaded by Galadryel.

Akira trains civilians to de-mine the country. It costs 30 USD to train 1 person to remove mines for 1 month, including food and board. This is his website for donations:
The Landmine Relief Fund

The next day, I wanted to return to Angkor Wat for more history but my gut started acting out. So instead, I am taking it easy, updating the blog, lounging by the pool, and reading a bit. We are leaving Cambodia by taxi tomorrow to cross into Thailand.