All of the World Racers minus Team Zeo, Scott, Linnea, Rusty, and Josh have been in Siem Reap for the past two days. This is our next to last debrief, so we have been encouraged to focus on the race rather than going home and to finish strong. Today was an open day for us, so I got up at 4:45 to see the sunrise at famous Angkor Wat. The temples of Angkor were built by Cambodian kings that were revered as gods. The temples date from AD 802 to 1432. Originally the temples were believed to be Hindu, but were converted to Buddhist sites of worship. Angkor Wat is believed to be the largest religious structure in the world. Unfortunaely the sunrise was not too spectacular, but the temple is huge with multiple walls surrounding the center temple. The tiny details carved into the stones is amazing along with the precision of the fit of the stones.
Our next stop was my favorite temple, Ta Prohm, which has been taken over by jungle vegetation and huge trees. Ta Prohm served as the site for a scene from the movie Tomb Raider.
Our final stop was Bayon where 216 faces look out to Cambodia’s 54 provinces.
All day we were bombarded by children selling bracelets and postcards and women trying to sell cold drinks. Prices dropped amazingly fast starting at $1 for a bracelet and dropping to 10 for $1.
My favorite part of the day was when a little baby toddled over to me to check out my camera. She was so fascinated by the images on the LCD screen.
Tomorrow we are taking the very rough road back to Bangkok, Thailand.
