siem reap & amazing angkor

My time spent in Siem Reap was incredible. We visited the Angkor temples over one & a half days. There are heaps of temples in the Angkor complex, spread over 40 miles, so we only had time to see a few (the best few!). The local guide (Yous Sa) who showed us around was hilarious! He was really into photography, and took us to certain spots to take great pictures of us with the ruins. After every photo that he captured, he would say "oh, thats absolutely amazing/fantastic/beautiful/fabulous" so I ended up with some top shots thanks to him! On our first day we explored Angkor Thom, The Bayon and part of Angkor Wat, before being trapped in a massive downpour! At least the heat let up a little. The second day, we awoke at 4.30am to see the sunrise in time, however it was just a bit too cloudy to see a spectacular pink sky. It was great to beat the heat & the majority of the crowds though. We then saw the rest of Angkor Wat, which had such beautiful stone carvings & "amazing" views. We looked around the Ta Prohm, which was were part of Tomb Raider was filmed (see photo). This jungle temple was really cool, because the massive trees are growing right through the ruins. Angkor is a really incredible place & I loved it. The only shame is that the US$40 entry fee goes straight to the Vietnamese, who run it. In the afternoon we boated around Tonle Sap Lake, which swells up to 200m wide in the wet season. There is a floating village there, where the people live & do everything on the water- floating houses, church, schools, basketball court, pool table house, markets! They all have televisions which were donated by the UN, using car batteries for power. The people, especially the children, were so beautiful, waving at us as we went past. It was really incredible to see. We then spent some time relaxing in hammocks, looking out over the plains, before trying a Cambodian delicacy... water snake!! It was ok, except for the massive vertebrae in the middle. The snake egg was a little tough, but all in all not bad! The evening consisted of a buffet dinner whilst watching traditional Cambodian Apsara dancing.