Battambang and Siem Reap

After a few days in the countryside (and slightly in the bar) around Kampot, we headed at the crack of dawn to Battambang. Apparently this is Cambodias 2nd largest city, but it is a far cry from Phnom Phen, and we felt like we could navigate it within a day of staying there. The main attraction was a day trip into the surrounding area to see a collection of temples on top of a hill (complete with children trying to fan us all the way!) and the 'killing caves' - another legacy of the Khymer Rouge. This was where my ability to cope left me, and I elected not to go into the cave into which children and babies were thrown, alive.
The other main event of our trip to Batttambang was a Cambodian cookery course, which was great. We were the only two to have booked that day so we got a very hands on lesson and were able to choose our own dishes to cook. We started with a trip to the local market, where were able to see what we SHOULD be paying for things rather than what we would have been charged.. We then prepared and cooked 3 dishes - Fish amok (a coconut based dish), spicy sour chicken soup, and beef with basil and lemongrass. I have to say, we did very well and it all tasted magnificent. Asian themed dinner parties when we get back!
After Battambang it was time for Siem Reap and the temples of Ankhor. We managed to find ourselves a very nice hotel with a beautiful swimming pool, which had expensive rooms, but also a couple of non air-con, no hot water, slightly shabby rooms at a price we could afford - well worth it for the swimming pool! We obviously couldn't waste this opportunity, so spent the first day lazing in the sun and in the pool, with a trip to the town to see the numerous markets and sample the delights of 'Pub Street'.
We decided after much deliberation to spend just one full day at the temples, as we have realised in the past 7 months that our temple enjoyment level doesn't allow more than this before we get 'templed out'. So, up at 4am to catch sunrise at Ankhor Wat. Sadly, we managed to choose the one day (actually, I have no idea if this is true, not having been up at sunrise since Varanasi in India) that the sunrise was a total anticlimax, as the whole sky was covered in cloud! Still, it was a strange and special feeling walking into such a world famous sight in the pitch dark , almost feeing like we were the only people there. Although we didn't see a spectacular sunrise, it turned out to be a good time to be there as, we could see Ankhor Wat with far fewer people arounf than at other times of the day. It really is spectacular, the strangest thing being the way that, froma distance, it looks almost 2 dimensional, and it is only as you come closer that you can see it stretches to 1km square. We then spent the day seeing a selection of the other temples, my favourite of which had huge faces built into the outside (reminded me of 'Return to Oz!). The effect of this in a dark, cloudy thunderstorm was quite impressive and just a little scary.
We then had another day free to enjoy the pool, although we spent much of this doing useful bits and pieces around the town, and deciding, on a whim, to go to Bangkok the following day and travel to the north of Thailand before heading to Laos.
So, now we are in Bangkok on the famous Khao San Road, ready for some slight seeing (more temples!) tomorrow.