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| Angkor Wat |
Our latest trip to Asia kicked off with a 5-day stay in the western Cambodian city of Siem Reap, gateway to the famed World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat temple complex. We spent a couple of days wandering around these wonderful ninth-Century ruins, visiting not just Angkor Wat but other temples including Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and Neak Pean.
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| Angkor Wat |
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| Angkor Wat |
Not too many bird were about but the highlight was good numbers of Hainan Blue-Flycatcher, a species that had eluded me until now.
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| Hainan Blue-Flycatcher |
Blue Rock-thrush was plentiful but no sign of the coveted White-throated Rock-thrush.
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| Blue Rock-thrush |
Lineated Barbet was also common.
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| Lineated Barbet |
Another nice find was several Forest Wagtails along the forest paths at Angkor Wat. The huge numbers of tourists here and elsewhere around the ruins are nowhere to be seen on the quiet paths through the forest patches that surround the temples. This image was the best I could manage.
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| Forest Wagtail |
My favourite temple was Ta Prohm, where a scene was Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed. The way the huge figs and other forest trees are reclaiming this site is quite spectacular.
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| Ta Prohm |
The Angkor site is huge and ideally two visits should be allowed.
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| Little Grebe |
This Little Grebe was spotted near Neak Pean Temple, which is surrounded by wetlands. The rainy season ended recently in Cambodia so there is plenty of water about.
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| Bayon Temple |
No shortage of beautifully intricate carvings on temple walls.
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| Temple carvings |
We stayed in a nice boutique hotel in the heart of Siem Reap, with plenty of ambience and good food about.
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| Siem Reap Hotel |
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| Siem Reap market |
Our balcony overlooks a patch of wetland and forest with birds including Grey-eyed Bulbul, Plain-throated Sunbird, Taiga Flycatcher and Asian Brown Flycatcher.
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| Plain-throated Sunbird |
Nearby is a large colony of Lyle's Flying-Foxes in the city centre.
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| Lyle's Flying-Fox |
We visited the Landmine Museum outside Siem Reap. Ex-Khmer Rouge soldier Aki Ra set up this facility. He has personally removed 50,000 land mines, some of the 3-5 million left in a country ravaged by decades of war. Aki Ra explains in this missive about what it was like as a 10-year-old who was forced to join the murderous Khmer Rouge.
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| Land Mine Museum |
