You have to be nuts to come to Cambodia in May. It’s hot. Sadly it did not stop the hordes of tourists from descending en masse onto the ancient temples regardless. At 100 degrees and 100% humidity you’re best off pretending you’re at a beautiful spa sitting in the sauna. Although, maybe Jason wouldn’t have had a “heat temper tantrum” if we were in one.

We opted for a private tour, which was probably the way to go. For $30 you get not just a car and driver but a separate English speaking guide. Add that to the $40/pp for the 3-day pass and you’re in temple nirvana for a mere $70. Unfortunately our guide Tea was a bit overly knowledgeable, ranting on and on about ever little “Bas Relief” depiction in the place. I kept waiting to hear “Bueller…. Bueller…” while I was dozing off.

Things got much better when Tea released us on our own to climb to the top of the central Angkor tower. I understand why he let us go solo on this part, since it was a straight up vertical climb of stairs. Getting up was no problem – the hard part was getting down. The “easy” way down using a railing had a line of about 200 people, and Jason and I had no patience for that. We decided we’d face our fears and eventually built up enough courage do descend the North West side as you can see in the video clip.

We thought a sunset over one of the temple complexes would be a great way to end the day. However, we got more of a hike up a mountain, and then had to jockey for room on the temple to watch the sunset go over the horizon. So, basically we were just sitting on the temple watching a sunset – cool in some ways, but not what we were looking for. The best part was Jason making friends with a monk – hmm, maybe that’s his real calling in life.