Singapore and Sign Off

My final stop was staying with good friends in Singapore. This tiny country is a great hub for exploring South East Asia and is an interesting mix of old and new Asia.

The Marina Bay Sands hotel/complex is like a ship stranded on top of three columns.

The Gardens at the Bay is an interesting mix of horticulture and futuristic structures (I had a drink at the top of one of the towers/tree things).

China town is still an interesting place to visit.

During my visit I had a great time catching up with friends and even was treated to the best Peking duck in Singapore.

So this will be my last post for my trip, which has been truly incredible. Thank you for reading, it has been nice to think that my friends and family have been following my progress. I'll sign off with a selection of my favourite photos from each location (no easy task!). I'm off again to Yokohama and Darwin now, for work this time, but I won't be updating the blog as I'm sure nobody is interested in photos of my laptop screen and hotels/offices. 

Monkeys in Ubud, Bali

The water palace, Bali

Balinese dancing

Sunrise on the volcano, Amed, Bali

Surfer at sunset, Seminyak, Bali

Rice terraces throughout Bali

Lots of crocs in The Northern Territory, Australia

Rock Art in Arnhem Land

Sunset at the Mindil Beach markets, Darwin

Spectacular sunrise in Darwin

Fremantle prison, Perth

Surfers and seabirds at Manly Beach, Sydney

The bridge and opera house. Sunset in Sydney

Best lunch, in Sydney

Chaos to the untrained eye in the Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam

Crossing the road in Vietnam

Magical Halong Bay, Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City

The post office in Saigon

Cao Dai temple, Vietnam

The tunnels at Cu Chi

Laughing giant Buddha in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Horse and cart ride in the Mekong Delta

Angkor Wat, sunrise, Cambodia

Bayon Temple, Cambodia

Carvings in the temples

Ta Prohm

Banteay Srei, the pink temple.

Such an incredible trip - I want to do it all again!

Temples of Roluos and Banteay Srei

For my last day with the temples of Angkor I visited some of the places which are outside the main area.

The temples of Roluos are some of the earliest temples found in the area, built from 880AD.

Preah Ko was a beautiful temple dedicated to Shiva:

These ancient Sanskrit inscriptions on the inside of the door frames were stunning.

Bakong is a representation of Mt Meru and it was a tough climb to the top, but worth it.

Each corner of the temple levels was guarded by big elephants (this one had lost his trunk somewhere in the last 1,000 years or so):

Finally Lolei was the smallest and the towers were covered in grass.

There was some more beautiful Sanskrit on the inside of the door frames:

Apparently this temples was dedicated to the King's mother, father and grandparents on the 12 July 893. King Yasovarman I was the founder of the first city of Angkor.

Banteay Srei was another journey through the beautiful Cambodian countryside in the back of a tuc tuc but it was worth it to see this gorgeous temple. The name means Citadel of the Women and the temple has some of the finest stone carvings in the world (apparently). The intricacy and beauty of this place, with its pink sandstone, has led people to say that this temple must have been built by a woman (which is obviously very unusual).  This temple was built in 967AD, although it was probably altered and added to later than this date.

The most intricate and beautiful doorway.

There were carvings on almost every surface.

I also revisited Angkor Wat, although the sunrise was hidden by thunderous clouds I managed to spend some more time looking at the vast reliefs that run inside the building.

The reliefs tell many stories, this one involved Rama's army of monkeys.

This is the most famous and beautiful carving - the churning of the ocean of milk. There are 88 demons and 92 gods (shown above) churning the sea to extract the elixir of immortality.

This one shows the 37 heavens (top half) and 32 hells (below).

There were many gruesome battle scenes.

I think I could come back to Angkor Wat another ten times and still see something different each time, it's a very special place.