Inner circle of Angkor

We woke up eager to explore the famous temples in the inner circle of Angkor. Simen and Olaf were not going to join us because we had decided to rent bikes and ride them to the temples instead of renting a tuk tuk again (they didn't seem too keen on exercise).
We began the day at Angkor Wat, which is by far the most famous temple in the area. It is so well known because it is huge and extremely well preserved. Angkor Wat was first a Hindu, then subsequently, a Buddhist temple complex and is the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaivism tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple in Angkor, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag and is definitely a huge draw for tourists.

After leaving Angkor Wat, we toured the rest of the temples within the inner circle. It was almost unbearably hot outside, so as we rode around we made sure to stay hydrated. Even still, there were a few times when I just wanted to take a break- I hate heat with humidity! One of my favorite temples was called "Bayon". It was covered in faces which I found really interesting although it creeped out Alyssa and Jessica.

Ta Prohm was the temple where they filmed the movie "Tomb Raider". That temple would have been really beautiful as it had strangler trees covering it which gave it a really old world feel, but there were so many tourists there it was hard to take it all in. I was always being side swiped by a Chinese tourist or pushed out of the way for a picture.

We had planned to return back to town before sunset, but we didn't quite plan accordingly and it got dark as we rode home. Jessica and I had lights on our bikes so we were able to get back to town no problem. Swerving through traffic was crazy as ever but I still found it kind of fun.
We ventured back down pub street once we got back in search of a good restaurant. We decided that've would take a break from local cuisine and get some Italian food. Jessica and I split a delicious caprese salad and chicken, walnut, gorgonzola pasta- yum!

After dinner, Jessica and I decided we had to try one of the "magic sticks". They basically injected soft serve ice cream into these these weird curved cones that tasted like cereal. It wasn't bad but I'm not sure id get it again.

We couldn't let Jessica go home with out getting a pedicure from "Dr. Fish"! These fish eat the dead skin off of your feet, leaving them smooth and clean. Thee was one tank with small fish and one tank with big fish, so Jessica and I opted for big fish while Alyssa took the little ones. I could not stop laughing/screaming! It was so hilarious feeling! You do get used to it after a while and after twenty minutes I had both feet fully submerged. They don't quite get your feet as smooth as a pumice stone but hey, they're fish!

We walked around a bit more, shopping for trinkets we had no use for before heading back to the hostel.

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