30th of April and the 1st of May

TEMPLES GALORE

Lila set her alarm for 4.00am but her iPod was still on Australian time so we ended up waking up at 2.00 in the morning. When it was time to go (5.00am) we got in the van and headed to the most well known temple (Angkor Wat).  We walked down to a flat area near one of the ponds and watched the sunrise over Angkor Wat, along with several hundred other tourists. Although it was early in the morning it was extremely hot, but interesting to see how well kept Angkor Wat temple is, as it is 900 hundred years old.  We walked inside Angkor Wat and our guide (Setha) told us the history, many stories and the religion of the temple.  After looking around we were all so hot, sweaty and very wet. Then we had breakfast, then we went up in a hot air balloon that was attached to the ground so you only go up and then down on a winch. it was a great view when you got to the top.  We did 7 other temples today with a two-hour break in between.  Nearly all the temples were build by King Jayavarman VII, he was well respected by his people. Lila and I were so happy when the day was over, everyone was exhausted.

Angkor Wat (Temple that is city)

·      The world largest religious monument, at 200 hectares all built and carved by hand

·      Dates back to the 12^th century

·      Surrounded by a moat, 5.6 km in length and 190 meters wide, this was all dug by hand

·      It was once believed the moat contained crocodiles

·      All carvings in this temple represented a story, or religious belief

·      This temple contained large library’s

·      Most of the artefacts have been stolen and destroyed (many Buddha’s were missing arms, heads and hands).  Some of the artefacts from this temple are now displayed in French Museums

Ta Prohm

·      This is a Buddhist temple built for the kings mother

·       This temple is only 450m north of the entrance of Angkor Wat

·      Ta Prohm is over grown with big trees, that are supporting the buildings

·       

Angkor Thom

·      One of the largest Khmer cities ever built, 9 squared kilometres in area

·      When the city was its most busiest it had a population of one million people

·      This city remained the capital until the 17^th Century

·      The east gate was used as a location in Tomb Raider the movie

·      The wall around this temple was 8m high and 12 kilometre in length and was surrounded by a 100m wide moat

Bayon

·      This temple is one of the most religious temples in the world

·      It is a very complex temple because it’s been through lots of different religions and how it is built. 

·      It has 54 gothic style towers decorated with 216 smiling faces

Terrace of Elephant

·      The 350 meter long terrace of elephants was used as viewing stands for the public.

·      It has a 3 meter high wall with carvings of elephants and their mahouts in a hunting scene

Banteay Srei

·      A small temple in size in compared to Angkor Wat

·      Discovered by the French in 1914

·      Also known as the pink temple because it is made from pink sandstone

·      All the carvings in this temple were very detailed

After the temples in the morning we went back to the hotel and relaxed, later on in the afternoon Nan and I went a saw some Cambodian Kick boxing (Pradal Serey).  This is very similar to Thai kick boxing, this sport is played every Wednesday from 4-6pm in Siem Reap.  You can go to the TV arena and watch the fight live, this is where I went.  Mum and dad saw Nan and I on telly that afternoon, my favourite fight of the night was the very last fight.  When we all thought the red guy was going to win because he was tank but the blue guy ended up winning.  I got my photo taken with the winner.

WINNER

23 ,24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 of April

Today we hired some pushbikes to go around town and have a look. The first place we went to was the local museum we saw where the king and queen lived and all their belongings. Then we got back on our bikes and cruised around the streets. On our way back to the hotel a thunderstorm hit and we got very wet and so did the bikes. When we got back to the hotel the rain had stopped, so we went for a swim and to got something to eat. We went back to our rooms and relaxed before dinner.

    

SORRY NO PHOTOS..............

THE WATER FALL

  Today we woke up, got ready and headed to the Waterfall (Kuang Xi) in a tuk tuk.  It took around 40 minutes to get there; before we arrived we stopped at a local village and bought some local goods.  When we arrived at the falls for about 10 minutes passing a save the bears enclosure, which had 4 bears in it.  Then we finally got to the falls, the first thing I saw was a rope swing, and so what did I do? The falls were all terraced and the water was clear aqua blue, it was the best-coloured water I have ever seen.  We spent the 2 hours here; wish we didn’t have to go.  When we got back to the tuk tuk we had lunch, which was yummy BBQ chook in stick. That afternoon was spent by the pool, that night we went to the night-market had dinner and did some shopping.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA

Today is my Nans 60^th Birthday; we surprised her in the morning with a cake and a bunch of flowers and sang Happy Birthday.  Everyone else went for a bike ride around town except for me; I stayed at the hotel resting.  Again another restful afternoon by the pool.  For dinner we went to the Tamarind Restaurant, I had stir-fried frogs, they tasted like chook.  Then it was back to the hotel for bed.

SORRY NO PHOTOS............

ELEPHANT CAMP

We got picked up from our hotel around 8.30 to go to the local elephant camp.  First we learnt how to control the elephants while riding them bare back, using Lao language.  For example how – was stop, Kwa- turn left, and Pie- to move. Then it was our turn to ride and control the elephant, it was much harder than it looked.  Then we went for an hour-long ride, with a saddle, Lila and I then sat on the elephant’s neck while Mum and the Mahout sat in the seat.  When we got back we feed the elephants bananas, I could place the bananas directly into his mouth and I touched its tongue.  After lunch it was time to bath the elephants in the river, so we each rode an elephant down to the water and washed them with scrubbing brushes. We got to jump off our elephants into the water, it was so much fun.   Back to the hotel for more swimming and relaxing, another great day in Luang Prabang

27 and 28th 

MORE BIKE RIDING & RELAXING

The last couple of days we have done lots of bike riding around town, swimming and drinking mocktails by the pool,  It has been hard work!

BUDDY THE BIRD.........

A NEW COUNTRY TODAY- CAMBODIA HERE WE COME.

We flew out of Luang Prabang this morning and headed for Siem Reap, with a short stop over at Pakse (in southern Laos).  When we arrived we got a bus to our hotel, called Shinta Mani (the hotels motto is open doors open hearts), it was very modern and I thought I was under dressed.  Lila and I went straight down to the pool for a swim, while the rest of our group relaxed with a drink.  For dinner we went to a local Khmer Restaurant called 'Sugar Cane', it was very cheap and great food.  We had a very early night because tomorrow morning we are off to do a day at the temples, we leave at 5.00am. 

GETTING ON THE PLANE TO GO TO CAMBODIA.

 THE TONLE SAP LAKE IS THE MOST RICH AND SPECTACULAR INLAND WATER ECOSYSTEMS IN ASIA

  

21st 22 of April

 DOWN THE MEKONG RIVER.

Today we got up really early and got in the car to go to the border of Thailand and Laos. It was an hour and a half drive to the border. When we got there we had to get our passports checked before we got on a long boat to get across the Mekong River to Laos. When we got across to Laos we had to sign some papers before we got on our boat to take us down the Mekong to Luang Prabang. On the way to Luang Prabang we stoped at a Hmong Village (local hill tribe) but I didn`t go up because I was asleep on the boat so I didn`t get to go. We got on the boat and headed to Luang Say Lodge to stay the night. We slept in bamboo huts, which leaked in the night because we got a lot of rain. In the morning we got up and had breakfast before getting back on the boat for another day. Along the way we stopped at another local village, which made there own rice whiskey, it blew your socks off. We got back on the boat to go further down river to the caves of a thousand buddas it was awesome. The next stop was Luang Prabang it was about time too. Our driver was there to pick us up and take us to our hotel; it was a five-minute drive not to fare from the river. Later on we went out for dinner I wasn`t really hungry. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed.