At our first temple we were slightly taken aback by the amount of people and children who run up to you and try to sell you everything from postcards to bracelets to t-shirts to pineapples. We strolled around the first temple, Preah Khan, munching on pineapple pieces and making new friends:
Built in 1191, the immense Preah Khan was formerly a Buddhist university and city, much of it in ruins but amazing to behold nonetheless. We weaved in and out of the various rooms and corridors, some blocked off as they had caved in, walked around the ponds, relaxed on the ruins
contemplated the fearsome guardians of the temple
wandered through the hall of dancers (apsaras) to which Al formed a strange kind of attachment to, requesting photographs everytime he saw one.
and photographed the amazing trees which have made the temples their home (and in the process have contributed to their ruin).
Our next stop was the beautiful Preah Neak Pean, set in the middle of a lake:
and we found a small chapel where Alex nearly lost his hand to a hungry dragon
There were quite a few tourists in each temple and as we were there during the Chinese New Year period many of them were Chinese. There were always rows of tuktuks lined up outside each temple (which made it quite hard to recognise our tuktuk driver at times!).
On the road again, this time to Tasom, a small but stunning temple with great faces, partly hidden by the the huge tree roots that have taken hold:
We stopped for lunch in a slightly touristy, but very tasty, restaurant before moving on to the fantastic East Mebon, a huge temple built in 953BC, which you can climb to see panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
Huge stone elephants stood at the corners of the temple
as well as lions guarding the entrance.
Next we headed to Pre Rup
...a temple with a very steep climb! We crawled up on our hands and knees, Al feeling a little dizzy from the height
After catching our breath we walked around the towers, admiring the views and stone carvings:
I took the opportunity to cover up from the hot Cambodian sun: 
We ran the gauntlet of underaged souvenir sellers and restauranteurs, jumped into our tuktuk and sped on to Preah Ko, part of the 'Roulous Group' of temples, some of the oldest temples, built in the late 9th century. These temples are based about 7 kms south of Siem Reap and not as frequently visited as those that are nearer to Angkor Wat.
As we entered we gave some money to a group of children collecting for a local orphanage and spent time watching the ancient temples beautifully reflecting the golden afternoon sun.
Our last stop for the day was the amazing Bakong temple, also part of the Roulous Group, it is still used as a Buddhist monastry. We climbed up the neverending flight of steps and walked around taking in the beautiful views as the sun descended in the sky.
We watched Buddhist monks playing football and climbing palm trees to pick coconuts
As we left the temple we decided to buy two coconuts - a simple thing to do you might think. But no, we were beseiged by screaming women and girls all trying to persuade us to buy their coconuts. In the end it was a toss up between an older girl who was shouting the loudest and a machete-wielding woman to ran towards us - machete in one hand, coconut in the other, screaming like a banshee - we didn't dare to refuse!
We were exhausted as we headed home - so much culture in such a short day! As the sun set we entered Siem Reap, watching the truck loads of workers making their way back into town.
We paid our tuktuk driver and arranged to meet with him the next morning. We then had a shower as we were covered in dust from the journey and headed into town for a market meal with a few cold beers.
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