Angkor Wat

Riverfest begins this week. This is the annual celebration of the reversal of the Tonlé Sap river. During the rainy season it flows down from the lake at Siem Reap into the Mekong; during the dry season it reverses its flow slowly losing a battle to keep the lake of any substantial size. There are several floating towns on the Tonlé Sap Lake that relocate as the lake shrinks from 13,000 sq km to 2500 sq km. We walked down to the river this morning and watched preparations for the festivities. Judged by its current rate of flow the Tonlé Sap is not going to reverse its course during the festival.

But Riverfest is also reportedly a celebration of boat races, alcohol and the pickable pocket. As the studio is closed for the week this seems a great time to flee to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. At its height in the 11^th to 14^th centuries, Angkor Wat was a city of one million (compare that with the population of London at the time: 50,000).

We will spend four days centred in Siem Reap and then travel by fast boat upriver out of Tonlé Sap Lake to the city of Battambang for two days. The boat ride is reported to be spectacular. So if ancient temple ruins in the jungle aren’t enough…