After enjoying a simple breakfast we needed to make the journey back to our cars. We had a very enjoyable tuk-tuk and motor cycle ride past simple farming villages, across the sand to the boat pontoon. It was interesting to see the fishing and  river side daily life just going on. Our “tourist” group was barely a distraction.

After crossing back across the Mekong we were reunited with our cars. All safe and sound we are pleased to report. We headed North along the Mekong River bank and after 45 minutes stopped for another boat ride. Here we were able to see the Mekong River Dolphins, although someone said the official species is Irrwaddy Dolphins so must have been a long swim from Burma. These fresh water dolphins were more round nosed than the ocean Dolphins we are more familiar with.

It was hot drive North to the Laos border. There was almost no commercial traffic despite huge customs/immigration buildings. The road had deteriorated to mostly dirt for last 20km. The immigration process was a relatively quick , less than 2 hours which having to handle cars and people at 2 countries is not bad.

Once in Laos the roads were better and traffic less so it was a relatively easy drive to our hotel on Pakse.  We have seen a couple of large “gold” Budda statues on hillsides.

Sunset was over the Mekong

Another morning with the dawn sun on temples. Today we drove “Vulcan” out to the Banyon Temple in the greater Angkor complex and took some pictures of the MG in front of the Temple. A beautiful start to the day 

After a quick breakfast at the hotel all 8 MGs headed East out of Siem Reap. It was slow getting out of town but the road was flat, well made and wide enough to accommodate both cars and the whole fleet of other vehicles …. Motor cycles, bikes, tuk-tuks, the strange farm vehicles with forward mounted diesel engine and handle bars, and even an ox drawn cart.  

After heading on this road for 3 hours we headed East off this “highway” to Phnom Phen onto a local road direct to the Mekong bridge crossing. The road was now narrow but traffic was lighter. We crossed the Mekong, which even at the end of the dry season is a 1000m wide river with a slow moving muddy colour.  

Heading North on the East side of the Mekong the road was both narrow and very busy so slow progress until we were able to turn off on the direct road to Krong Kracheh (Kratie) This was very much a local road …. Bumpy bitumen, occasional dirt detours, one lane bailey bridges.  

Arriving in Kratie at 5pm after 9 hours on the road we parked our cars we hope securely and headed down to the Mekong River “port” in tuk-tuks. Soon we were crossing the river to our “resort” on a mid-river island. Being the dry season it was a long walk across boards over the sand to the river’s edge. Not a problem …. A fleet of motor cycles was there to ferry us across to the river bank and on to our resort. Soon we were at the villas which were very nice traditional wooden buildings complete with opening shutters for flow through windows, bed net and ceiling fans. The pool was a welcome place for a relaxing dip at sunset. 

Vulcan has developed a reluctance to keep running at idle speeds so we are already having to “manage” our “first” car issue and we are only at Day 10.

Today we headed off before light to view Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was an amazing structure with the sun rising just behind it and reflected in the pond in front. The hotel had supplied us with tiffins…containers with breakfast so we took a break before exploring. Walking around the site meant many photos were taken and the stone carvings on the walls were very detailed. We queued to climb the stairs to walk around the upper story and visit the temple there. Again…wonderful views.

After several hours we decided not to return to the hotel but with Loris and Ian we took a tuk tuk to several other temples. First was Prah Khan followed by Neak Pean, Eastern Mebon and Pr Prerup. The tuk tuk was a cool break from exploring these ruins. While Angkor Wat and Prah Khan and Neak Pean had limestone outer walls, the main buidings were constructed of sandstone. However with the latter two , limestone smaller brick like stones had been used for the main buildings. Less restoration had been carried out on these than on the temples of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm which had been visited yesterday. There were more trees growing through the ruins and we couldn’t help but be amazed at the extent of all these temples in particular Angkor Wat surrounded by a moat.

The afternoon was spent leisurely and after the group meeting to discuss tomorrows departure we enjoyed another dinner of local cuisine.