Today was Sunday, Oct 13 and we decided that we needed a day to recover from our ride from hell. We got up late, ate and began to talk with other travellers. We bumped into a Canadian guy named Ryan who was living in Siem Reap and teaching English. He turned out to be extremely helpful and a great source of Cambodian information. That afternoon we went for a massage at the institute for the blind which helped to relax our aching backs. At about 3:30pm we got a lift by motorbike (which are the taxis in Siem Reap) and went to see the land mine museum, which Ryan had suggested was worth seeing. We met the man in charge, who used to be in the Khmer Rouge army and now spends his life disarming land mines and helping victims of land mine accidents. Cambodia is still filled with land mines (estimated at 4-6 million). Tourists are always advised to never leave the main roads- ever. Afterwards we went to see the sunset at the Ankgor temples at the top of Phnom Bakhong. The climb was steep but well worth it. The view was spectacular.

That night we arranged to go for dinner with 5 other guests at the guest house, to a small alley restaurant that Ryan had recommended. While the place was not that impressive (as measured by the size of the cockroaches on the wall) the food was excellent traditional Khmer food. Afterwards we went back to the guest house and glued ourselves to CNN to watch the live coverage of the Bali blast. As you would imagine, most travellers were pretty shaken up.

The next day we went back to Angkor Wat and organized a guided tour with 7 people from the guest house. Our guide, Tony, was really nice and knowledgeable. He had studied in school the history of Angkor Wat for a year and English for 2 years. Sadly, he said, because of the corruption in Cambodia it was now possible to do the same course in 3 months provided you paid enough money. We were driven from temple to temple by a driver on a motorcyle. We looked like some weird motorcycle gang. Words probably would not do justice to how the temples looked. There are 100 in all in the Angkor area and they were all built at different times by different kings. Each temple has a rich history and you could easily spend a full day at each one. Throughout the day we saw beggars and kids trying to sell postcards and scarves. We also saw a number of former soldiers who had lost a limb and were playing music on the side of the paths to make money for their families. The government does not give them anything. We ended the day at the famous Angkor Wat temple, which were in excellent condition and an impressive structure. That night we went for dinner with a few backpackers (Rich, Chris and Asako) and then did some e-mail.

The next day we went back to the temples, but this time we went at 5am in order to see the sunrise above the Angkor Wat temple. While it was a little cloudy, it was nevertheless an impressive site and one that we were glad to have experienced. We met up with another Canadian (Lawrence) and made plans to meet him for dinner. We then toured the temples for the rest of the morning with Tony as our guide. We went back to the guest house in the afternoon to hide from the intense sunshine and to get some lunch. After a brief nap we went back to the temples for the late afternoon. That night we went for pizza with Lawrence and agreed to meet up with him again in Phnom Penh in 2 days.

The next day we decided to visit the Women's temple, which was 35km from town. We decided that we would do this one on our own. We rented a motorcyle, bought some food for a picnic lunch and headed out. The trip to the temple was another highlight of the trip. The locals that were not affected by tourism were some of the most gentle people we had ever met. They would wave at us as we drove by with a warm smile on their faces. The countryside was lush, flat and you could see rice patties everywhere. The women's temple was really interesting and the detailed carvings were in excellent shape. We drove back to the main temples and had a picnic lunch overlooking Angkor Wat. Later that day we met up with Ryan and agreed to help teach an English class to some of the students. A unique experience. The teachers, except for Ryan, were Cambodian and could barely speak english themselves. Jen and I were thrown into classes without and guidance and asked to talk to the students for 1 hour. Jen was a little taken aback by her "teacher" who was quick to preach his communist views to the students. The next day we were leaving to Phnom Penh. While the journey to get to Angkor was painful, being at Angkor was once of the highlights of the trip. A remarkable, historical beauty not to be missed.