We had an amusing time checking in. Once we arrived and the staff had a look at us, they told us that the room we had been assigned to was not appropriate because we were old and it was too high up. You can imagine my response to being accused of being elderly. But we let them show us to another room which was across the alley (there are at least four buildings). As we walked toward it we could hear hammering, and when we mentioned it the young man said," oh that's not here, that's a building behind us".
No thank you we said, which was a good thing since all the time we've been here they have been knocking down that building, one sledge hammer blow at a time, 8 hours a day. And it can only be one person; it really is one hammer blow at a time. Only one wall remains now of the second story.
We requested they show us the other room and yes it's high. We are on the fourth floor which means climbing 38 steps every time we arrive. And those steps are more like ladders than stairs. Each riser is more than a foot high - of course standard risers are about 8 inches. I'd like to say its gotten easier since this is our sixth day, but no. But we do like our room. It has two balconies, one quite large which has a table, two chairs and a fan in the ceiling. I have spent time every afternoon out there doing a little knitting, although one day I got an emergency visit from the owner who had looked up and noticed that the fan was actually separating from its support column - whoops. I still have my head. We also have a choice of swimming pools which is great after a hot day of exploration.
Ok. On to those explorations. We booked a tuk tuk driver and arranged for three days of touring - two days in a row, exploring some of the minor temples on day one and the major temples on day two, and then a two day break followed by a third day at some other minor temples. It mostly worked out.
I am not going to attempt to fill you in on the history of Angkor. Suffice it to say that the ruins are Hindu and Buddhist religious structures built from the 10th century on to the 16th. I am only highlighting a few (well, probably a lot) of the pictures I took. For the serious history buff check out this site:
Here are the two of us with Dara, our patient and wise tuk tuk driver His first statement to us was to remind us of the cost of our visit, which prompted us to go back and get more money - we actually had forgotten we needed $80.00 for the two three-day passes and didn't have enough cash!
Our first trip was a long one. We drove for an hour to arrive at Bantaey Srey. Yeah, it's a little crooked - the photographer's fault, I'm afraid. 
There are many buxom lasses carved on the many temples.
Doorways upon doorways.
Monkey gods.
Warriors.
Towers
I'm going to confess here that we ripped out the pages from our guidebook to understand the ruins, but then threw them away. I'm actually not sure that all the places i mention are named correctly. I'm a terrible tourist.
This is the second site we visited East Mebon.
These elephants grace the corners of one level.
Geordie was concerned about the cracks.
And perhaps shouldn't have been sitting on the monuments.
There are kids around, many of them trying to sell books, or bananas or hats. But some are just having fun. 
From East Mebon we made our way to one of my favourite sites, Preah Khan. We began by walking along a causeway out to a man made island and then went exploring the sprawling complex. It was huge. We had no idea until we got to the centre of the structure and realized that the huge distance we had walked was only one quarter of the building.
This is one of the many sculptures lining the causeway. They are actually a series - a long line of carved figures doing a tug of war although I think it's called Churning the Sea of Milk (a process creating the elixir of immortality).
Of course we had to have a little fun.
Here is the entrance to the complex.
Headless statuary abounds.
Just a look at some of the rubble.
And a multi-armed warrior on his chariot.
I just realized that the next few photos were taken on our second day early in the morning when we visited Ta Prohm. It's a very atmospheric ruin which has been left in a semi-preserved state.
The trees attract lots of photographic attention. I decided to experiment with my camera so some of these pictures are black and white.
The massive roots of these trees are perhaps holding the building together.
Imagine the process of attempting to recreate some of the temples.
A serene maiden.
There were before and after pictures of the reconstruction of this building. The building above is in excellent condition in comparison to the before picture of the building below.
I leave you with another of the urchins who hang out on site - no doubt their mothers, fathers or siblings are nearby.
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