Temples at sunrise, temples at sunset! Left the hotel at 545am to watch the sun rise over Srah Srang, a baray (reservoir) in the Angkor Temple Complex. Like everything else here, it was vast, majestic and perfectly oriented to the sun. We sat along the edge, listening to Ta's tales of his life while watching the water and sky begin to turn pink. It was so quiet and still, even the young children who came by to sell us postcards, stood quietly and listened to his story.

We moved on to Ta Prohm, or the 'Angelina Jolie Temple' where much of Tomb Raider was filmed. She's become a bit of the patron saint of the country, and there has actually been a push to rename the structure! Celebrity aside, it was phenomenal. I feel like each temple and the experience Ta choreographs (another morning where we had the ruins to ourselves, hiking through a back trail to the little-used north gate) gets even better. The ruins emerge from the jungle, strangled by vines and huge silver tree roots that resemble pythons. This complex has intentionally been left as a partial ruin to show what it must have been like when they were first discovered. Built in the 1100s, it's rather elongated with towers, corridors and courtyards. Amazingly this one and the others we have visited before are still active with spirituality, the Buddha shrines located in the nooks and crannies are often visited by monks and adorned with flowers and incense.

We were back to the hotel by 830 for breakfast and had the whole day open for explorations or Siem Reap or lazy time at the pool and spa. I managed both, haha.

We met the sunset at Pre Rup and Eastern Mebon. Both pyramid shaped with five lotus towers. Lots of steep steps to climb! They were constructed by brick and covered in sandstone, perfect for catching the colors of the late afternoon sun. Peeking up the towers allows a glimpse into the structure below. Both are located on the East Baray, an enormous dry reservoir that still floods in the monsoon, but it's pretty dry now. The steps start rather high up, at one point they must have been only reached by boat. Eastern Mebom was built a few decades earlier and is a smaller model of Pre Rup. As we settled on the steps to watch the sun drop down, we joked about how nice a cold beer would be... A quick cellphone call brought us each a can of Angkor beer, delivered by our driver. What a way to close the day!