Siam Reap, Cambodia: The temples of ancient Angkor.

We're now in Cambodia. Or Cambodge as the French call it. First stop Siam Reap where the many, many temples of Angkor are housed in a large region on the outskirts of Siam Reap. For those that don't know - this is the location of Angkor Wat, a Hindu/Buddhist temple that was the crowning glory of the ancient Khmer empire and remains the largest religious building in the world.

The Khmer empire's pomp ran from the 9th to the 15th century, with successive kings each trying to outdo each other with increasingly spectacular religious monuments. The culmination of this was Angkor Wat, a stunningly intricate and beautiful place. We timed our arrival for sunrise - yes, we can get up early once in a while - and it was ridiculously worth it. Shots of the temple silhouetted with rays of sunshine breaking through in the background were well worth the effort of hauling ourselves out of bed pre-5am. Walking through the temple's maze-like corridors and passageways was a surreal and calming experience, not to mention providing respite from the sun which was already hot enough to burn my pathetically melanin-light skin by about 8.30am. Still smarting from getting cooked in Phuket, I whacked on the sunblock sharpish.

I had expected Angkor Wat to be the highlight of a visit to Angkor, and given that we went there first thing on our first day, I was worried it might be all downhill from there. What I hadn't expected was for the very next temple to be my favourite that I have ever visited.

Bayon is simply brilliant. Built in the 12th-13th century, it was the official state temple of King Jayavarman III, and stands at the centre of his ancient walled-in capital Angkor Thom. The huge stones that comprise Bayon's towers have enormous faces carved into them. The rather contented-looking faces depict Lokesvara, the enlightened embodiment of all Buddhas - though some historians reckon the faces look suspiciously like Jayavarman himself. You probably need to see the faces in the flesh to do them justice, but here's a few photos that hopefully give an impression (1, 2, 3, 4). The dozens of young kids peddling their parents' wares outside the temples - generally guide books, cold drinks, scarves, tacky bamboo flutes - are sad to see, though some of them are quite witty. Often they'll state the price as 'one million dollars' once they can see you're not going to buy anything, or try to impress with their knowledge of capital cities around the world.

We visited a total of 12 temples in two days (with Jacqui visiting a further one, Banteay Srei, as well as the Landmine Museum on our third day while I was recovering from a tummy bug). I won't go into detail about all of them, for fear of giving you temple burnout. But one more that is well worth mentioning is Ta Prohm. This temple, built in a Bayon style in roughly the same era, has been well and truly reclaimed by Mother Nature. Unlike many restored Angkor temples, this one has been left much as it was found. Huge bricks that once formed walls and ceilings lie strewn as if toppled by a mighty earthquake, while, excitingly for photography lovers - if you only click one photo link on this entire blog make sure it's this one - huge 'spung' trees and strangler figs have actually used the walls of the temple for strengthening support and have climbed to great heights while their giant roots swallow the stones at ground level. You can see why they filmed some of the Tomb Raider movie here.

One final thing to mention about Angkor. As a birthday treat for me, Jacqui paid for us to go up 100m in a hot-air balloon, which was tied to the ground with ropes, for an aerial view of Angkor Wat and the surrounding area. It was a little heat hazy, but we still had a cracking view of Angkor and I really enjoyed the surreal whistling of the wind as the ground got smaller below us. The views of surrounding rice paddies were very picturesque too.

As for the town of Siam Reap itself, its inevitably touristy given the presence of so many amazing temples, but there's still plenty to enjoy here. The food is superb for a start. We ate amazing Mexican and Indian food here (no relation to aforementioned tummy trouble) as well as amok, a Khmer speciality of fish curry in a mildly spicy coconut sauce. Spring rolls here are the best you'll find in SE Asia too. It's so hot in Siam Reap during the dry season now that many restaurants even have ceiling fans in their al fresco dining areas. Much needed they are too.

As the minibus arrived on Tuesday morning to take us to the bus station, from where we'd head to the capital Phnom Penh - I was slightly disturbed that our rather gruff looking driver was listening to Love FM. My favourite jingle: "Love FM. With DJs that will always be by your side." They are a soppy lot when it comes to pop music, these Cambodians. Mind you, you could say that about most of this part of the world. The karaoke videos that tend to accompany long bus journeys bear testament to the fact that a schmaltzy, muzak-ish ballad is the format of choice. Those of you who know my music taste will understand why this pains me particularly. I am finding myself increasingly listening to The Fall and Joy Division on my iPod by way of antidote.