Our final day at the temples, and we'd saved arguably the most famous of them all until last. Ta Prohm isn't famous for its stunning construction, imposing towers or magnificent carvings. Quite the opposite in fact, it's famous for its tree roots. Which is all down to Lara Croft, her of Tomb Raider fame and the one screen shot of Angelina Jolie jumping through a doorway covered by enormous Banyan tree roots. This tree root has even been afforded the luxury of its own name, and is now known as The Waterfall.
To give this some context, by the time the French colonists uncovered Ta Prohm, it was completely overgrown and hidden in the midst of the jungle. Giant trees had grown throughout the temple, often in between walls and through thick stone beams. It's quite incredible just how the roots crawl and spiral down from the top of the temple roof in search of the earth beneath. The French did the right thing, pretty much leaving it all as they found it, and for us to wander through and marvel at it all.
After Ta Prohm, we headed 35km north of Siem Reap to Banteay Srei, one of the few temples never consecrated by a king. It may well be the smallest of the temples, but it is also quite possibly the most ornate, with finely preserved carvings and engravings. Unfortunately it is incredibly popular and we found it a little overwhelming. If you weren't being pushed along by bus loads of Koreans, you were being chased by local children begging you for 'one dollar, please.' The authorities have done their best to host the hoards and created an excellent visitor centre (the best throughout all of Angkor's temples in fact) but it simply isn't big enough to cope. The best place to catch some peace and quiet is by the ponds with the water buffalo.
We stopped off at a roadside market on the way back, thanks to our new friend and trusty tuk tuk companion, Piseth. It was quite a nice way to be shown how palm sugar was made, with dozens of stalls boiling it up in huge pans by the road.
After lunch opposite Srah Srang, the Royal Swimming Pools, we moved on to visit the Pre Rup temple, a formidable temple mountain rising from the roadside with its six massive brick towers - well, five to be precise as the sixth never seemed to get built. Pre Rup is hugely impressive and it was difficult for us to appreciate why until we later learned it was due to its brick and laterite construction, rather than traditional sandstone. Just one more stop off in our temple kingdom to complete our journey and this in fact wasn't even a temple, but the Neak Pean serpent monument.
Unfortunately it was time to start packing when we arrived back at the guesthouse, and to say goodbye to Piseth. He was part of our little temple-exploring family for three days and it will be hard not to think of him when we relive our Cambodian memories long into the future. We had time for one last visit into Siem Reap for dinner, and we had our best meal to date at the delightful For Life restaurant.
Next stop, Phnom Penh.
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