After my earlier grumbling about lack of monkeys, we’re so over it that when Virle saw a young Aussie getting excited about something in a tree, only to discover it was a monkey, she made a ‘whatever’ gesture and turned away in disdain. I wonder if I’ll feel the same way tomorrow, after day three at Angkor Wat. Because I have to say right now I’m feeling a bit roots deprived. There’ve been traces, as witness the pic above. But I want to see whole trees engulfing vast expanses of wall. Like in the brochure innit.
Not that there hasn’t been much else to admire. The temples remain stunning, and each has its special charms. Lions at one, artistic deterioration at another…
Another had majestic elephants, another again, endless passageways extending out from a central point – doorway after doorway after doorway receding into the distance. Again, a superb day – five hours and change flew by. Not least because a) I wasn’t sick as a dog today, and b) we’d taken the precaution of setting off at 6.30, which meant that we were done and dusted and back to the hotel before the real heat of the day kicked in.
Speaking of which, we’re now lounging around by the pool on the roof of our hotel. Sounds posher than it is – the pool being more of a pond – but it is nice to have somewhere to cool down on days like these.
I’m still hoping that tomorrow, on our third and last day at Angkor Wat, we’ll see the roots – you know, the ones in all the pictures, the ones you’ve seen in the movies. They, after all, are what makes Angkor Wat unique, and special. And I really would love to see them: I’ve been captivated by that weird melding of vegetable and mineral since I first saw it in pictures, but we haven’t really come across it yet. Fingers crossed…