2016 - Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City by Bicycle: Day 9: Thu 24 Nov - Siem Reap to the Roluos Group of Temples, return

Forgot to get weather details!

Listed: 50km; actual: 45km; total: 437km

Walk: 5km; total: 15km

We got away at 8:30am after bike cleaning and maintenance. Again, we were on a variety of roads, sealed and unsealed. 16km later we were at the first temple. Instead of talking about the temple, the guide decided to tell us a long story about the spirits who operate when people get sick or have an accident because we had passed a large crowd on the road, one person was carrying a banana tree which is supposed to represent life. Another long story followed about the three stages of marriage. We finally got to see the temple after a very brief spiel about it. This temple was called the Bakong Temple and is the first temple mountain of sandstone constructed by rulers of the Khmer empire at Angkor. The structure looks like a stepped pyramid.

We then visited a site where miniatures of each of the most prominent temples had been constructed.

The Second temple was the Preah Ko (Sacred bull) Temple which was crumbling and not much to write home about. The temple derives its name from the three statues of sandstone located in the front of and facing the temple's central towers. These statues represent Nandi, the white bull who serves as the mount of Shiva.

The third temple, Lolei Temple was under reconstruction and was where the Khmer Rouge killed and buried many thousands of people. We had a short lesson about the Khmer Rouge and then the Cambodian education system. We did go inside the Pagoda which was very ornate and beautiful.

It was then back onto the bikes for the ride to lunch. The restaurant was quite rustic in that the floor boards were VERY uneven and very wonky, but the food was quite delicious. The return journey was rather brisk and after 12km we stopped for a refreshment as it was kinda warm! It turned out to be only another 6km and we were soon back at the hotel.

After a leisurely shower and washing of the clothes we joined Brian and Sue, Bill, and Mark for a wander through the streets. We stopped at Blue Pumpkin for a very yummy ice cream (our first for this trip) and then continued with the wander. Got back to the hotel about 5:30pm, did some pers admin and then met some of the others for a pre-dinner drink before being transported to the Full Moon Night Market and Restaurant. We had another delicious meal with Angkor beer and then it was time to leave and go to bed.

An early start in the morning to catch the 7:30am boat to Phnom Penh.