Cambodia: The majestic beauty of Angkot Wat and much more.



Sunrise over the Angkor Wat



By 5:00 a.m. our driver and guide Sarath were already waiting for us outside Golden Temple Villa. Since there were 4 of us we decided to rent a van instead. Our van had a small cooler inside with cold water provided for us by the guesthouse. Sarath spoke pretty good english and I think he was getting a bit stressed that we might miss the sunrise. The sun was already breaking out in the horizon when we reached the ticket counter to purchase our Angkor day pass for $20. I could no longer contain my excitement. Going to Angkor Wat has been a dream of mine for a long time. I never thought that I'd be able to see it within my first year of working. Small blessings I'm forever grateful for.

Crossing the moat surrounding Angkor Wat, we could already see how many tourists also wake up this early to witness the majestic sunrise. I read about how busload of tourists would arrive for the sunrise and immediately disappear after to go back to their hotels for breakfast. I didn't think that the articles actually meant hundreds of tourists! The peace and tranquility one would feel walking into the halls of the Angkor Wat immediately disappears at first sight of a huge group of camera-toting, noisy and perky tourists, but they still weren't enough to ruin my mood :-)



Moat surrounding Angkor Wat 



Everybody is here!



Sarath told us that the best spot for the sunrise pictures would be by the pond fronting the main temple. True enough, most of the tourists converged there, setting up their tripods and preparing their DSLRs for that perfect shot. There are locals who would sell you coffee for $1-2 that comes with a free rental of a monobloc chair. Perfect for waiting for that sunrise to come.

The sun was covered in clouds for the most part so it wasn't as beautiful as we expected BUT the amazing view of seeing the Angkor Wat being bathed in sunlight was nothing short of majestic. You can feel an aura of calmness surrounding everyone there for that few seconds after the sky changes from darkness to light.

True enough barely 20 minutes after the sun is already up in the sky when majority of the tourists started leaving. Only a few stayed behind to go past the pond.



Ah, peace at last.





Churning of the Sea of Milk



Sarath was explaining the carvings on the temple walls but unfortunately I was too preoccupied taking pictures so I don't think I'll be capable of giving anything more than tidbits of information and trivia about the temples :-)



Kid walking inside the temple



We had a quick breakfast at one of the restaurants outside Angkor Wat. Sarath was pleasantly surprised when we all ordered rice for breakfast. He's used to foreigners ordering noodles or toast in the morning. Cambodians and Filipinos "same same".  Next stop is Angkor Thom. . "Angkor" means city "Thom" means big. We entered through the South Entrance which is the most preserved and/or restored of all the entrances. First stop is Bayon Temple, with the over 200 faces of the Buddha which some think closely resembles the face of King Jayavarman VIII or J7 - the one who had this temple built.

 


Angkor Thom entrance - Left side shows smiling Buddhas



Angkor Thom Entrance - Right side shows Demons.
The head with the lighter shade is already a restored one through the help of the french. The original heads were stolen and sold in black markets.





Three smiling buddhas



After Bayon we went to a few other smaller temples including the Elephant Terrace which is like an amphitheater where the King and his court stay to watch performances below.  Across the terrace are 12 temples called 12 Lady Temples named after the 12 sisters that the king found in the forest and made his wives.



Elephant Terrace and across it you can make out 12 small temples called the 12 Lady temples



The king's personal temple inside the Royal Palace. Only the king can worship here.



Inside the Royal Palace we saw the king's swimming pool that was olympic size then beside it we saw another pool that made the king's pool look like a small wading pool for kids. The second pool was HUGE! Apparently, it was a pool for the king's wives. It had to be that big because the king had 2000 wives! (This is a different king from the one who built the 12 Lady Temples).  Talk about polygamy. This king can put Ramon Revilla to shame.

Next stop was Ta Phrom, famous for being a location for the film Tomb Raider.



Restoration works ongoing.



One of the more famous trees inside Ta Phrom, two trees merged into one.

An aspara engulfed by a tree

Ta Phrom was built by the king for his mother. In the middle of the temple is a chamber that looks like a chimney. That is where the ashes of the king's mom were placed. The inner wall of the chamber was studded with diamonds and other jewels. Now the wall is just full of holes, big holes. It got looted by the Thai when they invaded Angkor Thom.

After lunch we headed to Bantay Srei, arguably considered as the "crown jewel" of Khmer art. It was located a bit farther out so we were able to take a nap inside the van on the way there. Bantay Srei is the only temple not built by a king. It was built by the Brahmas to honor the Hindu god, Shiva. It is built mostly of red sandstone that gives the temple a pinkish-reddish color and it is best visited early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Bantay Srei is beautiful because of the very intricate and detailed bas-relief found all over the temple walls. It became my instant favorite.



Bantay Srei





Bas Relief



We ended the day at Phnom Bakheng to catch the sunset there. Phnom Bakheng is a mountain temple. Apparently the king who built that wanted to show off - building a mountain temple on top of a mountain. Why this fact is interesting, I cannot explain because I can't for the life of me recall now what a mountain temple means exactly if not built in top of a mountain.  The climb up the mountain to reach Phnom Bakheng took us about 15-20 minutes. You can choose to ride an elephant to go up if you prefer the bumpy ride. The steps going up Phnom Bakheng were very narrow. Either you grip the steps with only your toes or you step on it sideways to fit almost your entire shoe. We chose the latter. It was very surprising and a bit ego busting to see some Asians at the top wearing high heels and looking very fresh. We felt so out of shape.



Phnom Bakheng



At the top of Phnom Bakheng





Pre Rup TEmple



After getting back to the guesthouse, we freshened up and headed out to explore the streets of Siem Reap and to have dinner at Pub Street. We checked out the Angkor Noon and Night Market (Yes, that is the full name) and the Angkor Night Market before calling it a night. We leave for HCMC at 7am tomorrow.



Angkor Night Market was very clean and had a variety of goods. Not good when you're on the tail end of your trip.