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22 Nov 19th Part 1 Angkor Wat

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 We both got caught up on our sleep.  It’s an early morning rise and we’re both ready at 5:15 to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  Our guide arranged for a take out breakfast that we can pick up at the front desk.  When we get into the car, we discover they are croissants.  Yum.  Colonization is never a good thing, but I appreciate the legacy of a good croissant.   When we arrive at Angkor Wat we are seated outside the moat that surrounds the complex.  It looks as if we’re a couple of kilometres outside the inner temple.  In the distance, we can see the outline of the spires and now we wait patiently for dawn. Dawn at Angkor Wat.  The water feature in the foreground is the moat surrounding the temple grounds.  It’s built in a square with each side about 5 km long.  The inner wall of the moat is about 3.6 km in length.   There’s fish in the moat, but it’s off limits for any fishing.  Much of it is choked with plants, but the portion at the front of Angkor Wat has been cleared.   After
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21. Nov 18th Koh Ker, Beng Mealea Siem Reap

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After the disaster of the night before, we start our drive talking about what happened last night to our guide Dalign.  He said he would talk to the Cambodia Selective Asia office.  He felt badly, but we assured him that there wasn’t anything that he could have done to fix the situation.  The hotel was clearly not suitable and there is no way that hotel should be used by the travel company.  Then I dozed the rest of the way (about 45 min) to our next destination.   Koh Ker (Khmer language or Lingapura in Sanskrit).is an ancient capital built during the 10th century.  The capital area was quite large and records show it contained over 200 temples although just less than 100 have been found.  It’s part of the Khmer empire who also built Wat Phou that we saw in Laos.  We start with one of the temples Prasat Pram.  There has been very little restoration work at this site.  There are 5 towers or prasats on the site in a U shaped formation. Pram means 5.  The centre tower is a bit taller tha
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