Nowadays when we travel, we order drivers through our hotels and this was the case with three days we stayed at Siem Reap as well. We lodged at Model Residence, the name doesn't evoke anything, but in reality it was a pretty place in the quiet part of town, about two kilometres from its wild city centre. Given the hotel surcharge for arrangement, our driver was not the cheapest, but he had many years of driving tourists around Cambodian sites under his belt so he always knew where he was going and was very accomodating. 

First day we started with Beng Mealea, sixty-something kilometres from Siem Reap. It does not belong to the core zone of the Angkor Wat WHS, being on the Tentative list at present, however it's managed by the same ticketing company, so you can not only use your multi-day Angkor Pass to visit, but also buy it at a ticket booth couple of kilometres before the actual site. It was about eight in the morning when we got there and because our driver parked by the more secluded entrance (there's a different one with parking for buses), we managed to get in before a large group of tourists did.

Maybe because it was my first visit of a proper Angkor-period temple, or due to lack of tourists in combination with general state of disrepair, I really enjoyed it. Despite there being a proper Tomb Raider temple by Angkor - Ta Prohm, which served as a filming location for the movie, this one felt much more authentic. I really enjoyed the fact there were wooden bridges and staircases built around the whole temple, so we could climb around and explore to our heart's delight. There are also many places with rock blocks thrown around on a large heap leading to a door, or trees growing inside and around the walls. Morning light did us many favours and we made some lovely shots. 

From Beng Mealea we traveled on to Koh Kher and Preah Vihear.