On Temple Tour in Siem Reap

The past 2.5 days were entirely focused on visiting the temple sites around Siem Reap, with the most famous surely being Angkor Wat, but each of the temple sites is incredibly impressive in its own right. I decided to go for a 3-day pass, which I booked early in the morning from my bed. At 60 EUR, it wasn't exactly cheap, but it was definitely worth every cent overall. With this pass, one can visit 50 temples. I didn't manage to see them all, but given the temperatures were again over 30 degrees, it would have turned into a stress-filled experience. I wasn't interested in a guided tour and wanted to explore everything calmly and alone. The plan was to rent a bike. I looked for a shop that offered rentals, spotted a vehicle that seemed suitable for this big tour, and started to close the deal. The vendor wanted my passport for security, which I wasn't really comfortable with. After some back and forth, we got my international driving license from my hotel together, and I handed it over as a deposit for the 2 days. Then I was off on the road with my new red ride. I had prepared a suitable route on Komoot. Now I was cycling through the individual temples according to my route. By the end of the first day, I had walked a total of 36 km. In some temples, I was almost alone, while in others, it was crowded with people. At the Babylon Temple, I had a brief encounter with the local authorities when I got too close to a temple statue in prohibited ways. I had to delete the photos I had taken under the eager gaze of the law enforcement officer; however, not permanently, as they could be resurrected with just a few clicks... Initially, I had planned to be at Angkor Wat for sunrise on day 2. However, during dinner, I met a Saxon from Bad Lausitz, and we ended up enjoying beers with some locals longer than intended, so I scrapped the idea of waking up early and started my tour later instead. The entire temple complex is truly gigantic and I constantly discover new interesting details that fascinate; also how nature has reclaimed parts of the sites, intertwining plants and temples... I have just checked out of my hotel. Now I have almost 9 hours to kill until 11:30 PM when I leave for my next destination on the luxury night sleeper bus, so I'll be wandering around the city a bit more ...

(Unfortunately, the photos got a bit mixed up.)