ANGKOR WAT!! Hermazing!

A small section of the central part of Angkor Wat

I had the best time at Angkor Wat spending three days exploring the huge, grand ruins, two of these days were, of course, on bicycle which was by far the best way to view Angkor and the surrounding temples. An absolute highlight of my trip in Asia! On the first day we went and saw the big two, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, and I was so incredibly in awe of the place. So old! So grand! Angkor Wat seemed even more spectacular and incredible and awesome on the last day when I popped by to have a second peek and to sadly say goodbye to Angkor. I would love to go again! I was very sad to say goodbye to Angkor.

Big faces at Bayon

One of the many examples of sculpture, and especially of the female form. In so many cases each figure was different to the next and where there were hundreds in a row it was immensely impressive! As I found everything at Angkor!

Hugging a huge tree in my possibly fave, Ta Prohm. The jungles reclaimed the temples here and it was great to explore and clamber over ruins and gaze in awe at the monstrous trees!

Dolphin Spotting

I headed over to dusty, quiet Kratie in the east of Cambodia for a little cycle and some dolphin watching. Kratie is found in the Mekong Delta and is just one of the homes for this funny looking dolphin (I tried to look for it from the 4,000 Islands in Laos but had no luck). I had a pleasant and flat cycle along the river towards the dolphins. After about 7km from Kratie I reached the spot where you can take a boat out over the delta and get close to the dolphins. Within seconds we were surrounded...by maybe four of the creatures frolicking around who stuck with us for the hour that we were out in the boat. It was quite exciting to be so close and for them to be cavort around with such great abandon!

Irrawaddy dolphin cruising along the Mekong delta!

I then cycled a little more to a very small village and decided to head back in the midday sun. Error!! It was much too hot to be out cycling! I also forgot to put suncream on my hands and they burnt! Even that is a first for me! The sun is lethal but my nice big rimmed sunhat is a lifesaver and I am never without it!

My cycle route around Kratie...wooden stilt houses running alongside tropical trees with hot skies overhead.

Hampi Christmas

Such a beautiful, serene, tranquil, overwhelmingly striking place. I planned to move on after a few days, even booked a bus to Gokarna, but ended up staying over two weeks...I think it's the same for most who wind up there. Especially those who make it over the river to The Other Side. Hampi is mesmerising. I totally fell for the place. Did a spot of yoga some mornings. Had a go at bouldering amongst the immense and awesome rock formations. Hired a bicycle, "Miss India" no less, and pottered around, although this was slightly harder than anticipated as we had to push our bikes along pathways made of huge, ancient, uneven slabs of granite and then load them onto little boats to cross the rivers at two points. Smiling whilst cycling of course. And mid-trip we stopped for a delish thali served on typical banana leaf plate and eaten with hands. The waitress-come-chef-come-owner-homemaker showed us the Indian trick to this: get your hands messy, cover them in curd and curry and rice, position hands in a small little shovel and then flick it all in your mouth with your thumb.

And then there was my Indian Christmas and my first away from the shire. We celebrated on 24th December as is the German way with good intentions to recreate Christmas on the standard 25th December but after Manju's strong punch the night before we were a little worse for wear. The day started with yoga and bouldering, obvs. Lizzie, resident at Manju's for over a month, took on the role as events organiser and set us the task of decorating the Christmas tree (of sorts) with an array of gaudy Indian Christmas decorations and crafty and creative homemade bits n bobs. We even had presents under the tree with the additions of bows and ribbons getting more and more elaborate as we crafted away. We had a super tasty barbeque with veggie kebabs, pitta, hummus, chips...maybe not typical Christmas dinner nor typical Indian cuisine but it was tasty delicious. Yum. Then after dinner entertainment of jamming around a small bonfire. It possibly didn't resemble too much of a Christmas as I know it but the festive, Manju family spirit was there.