Day 258: Angkor Wat
Hope you’re ready for a monster post, because day was a LONG day. We set our alarm for a 4:45AM wake-up call – one of the most popular to-dos in Siem Reap is to visit the main Angkor Wat temple at sunrise, so we had to be out of the hotel by 5AM to go buy our tickets and try to snag a good viewing spot.
Buying our tickets to Angkor Wat at 5:15AM
Angkor Wat – the “Temple City” – is the heart & soul of Cambodia (a silhouette of the monument is on their national flag). Built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II during Cambodia’s Golden Age, Angkor Wat is still to this day the largest religious complex on earth. When it was built, the Khmer Empire was the most powerful kingdom on earth – while London was still a small port city of 50,000 people, Angkor was a thriving metropolis of over a million residents. The main temple was designed as a representation of the Hindu heaven, Mount Meru, and was dedicated to Vishnu (although nowadays it is used as a place for Buddhist worship).
As the sky slowly starts to brighten, we see the outline of Angkor Wat emerge from the darkness
There are two ponds in front of the temple, behind which the crowds of tourists gather to try and capture Angkor Wat’s reflection as the sun rises. While it’s tough jockeying for a good spot, and the atmosphere in person is anything but tranquil, the water landscaping helps to keep everyone’s shots relatively clear from photobombers, giving us several Instagram-worthy pics
Once sun is up, Lindsay and Igor walk forward to enter the Angkor Wat temple
The galleries within the temple have stone carvings illustrating stories from Hindu mythology – the walls are in incredibly good condition
Unlike many of the other temples surrounding the area, Angkor Wat has been in continuous use since it was built over 800 years ago, so it is in great condition. Some sections – like the giant naga heads at the entrance – have been restored over the years
Angkor Wat – the pride of Cambodia
Once the sun came up, a troop of mischievous macaques woke up and started digging through the trash cans. Many tourists had brought a packed breakfast to snack on during the sunrise, so the monkeys have a fresh delivery of scraps to eat
After a quick stop at the hotel for breakfast, our temple-tour continued. There are over 50 temples that make up the ancient city of Angkor, but there are three that stand out as particularly famous must-sees. After Angkor Wat, our second (and favorite!) temple was Ta Prohm – AKA the “Indiana Jones Temple.” Unlike Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm was abandoned for centuries after the fall of the Khmer Empire and has since become overgrown by the surrounding jungle. Huge, gnarly, twisting trees grow out of the moss-covered ruins – it’s a majestic example of Mother Nature destroying manmade civilization.
Feeling like Indiana Jones as we explore Ta Prohm – the “Tree Temple” (actual filming location for both “Tomb Raider” movies: Indiana Jones and Laura Croft)
The roots of this enormous tree spill over the crumbling temple ruins
Throughout the Ta Prohm temple, Nature is reclaiming the grounds
Piles of rubble lay all over the place – conservation efforts at Ta Prohm are a careful balancing act of maintaining the “look of neglect” while making sure the jungle doesn’t encroach on the temple further
The moss-covered outer walls and inner sanctuary of Ta Prohm
While Angkor Wat was originally a Hindu temple, Ta Prohm was built as a Buddhist monastery by King Jayavarman VII
The mighty, towering trees of Ta Prohm
The ancient ruins of the Ta Prohm Temple
The final of the Big 3 Angkor temples was the “great city” of Angkor Thom, also commissioned by Jayavarman VII as the new capital of the Khmer Empire in the 12th century. While there were are several buildings within the complex, the most stunning temple was the iconic Bayon temple – an emormous structure with over 50 four-sided towers, each bearing giant stone faces that smile serenely down at us as we explore.
The giant, smiling faces of Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom
Bayon has 216 giant stone faces, watching over the temples’s visitors
Unlike all the other Khmer kings, Jayavarman VII was the only one to convert to Buddhism, although many of the stone carvings still show a lot of Hindu influences
We pass a small troop of macaques as we leave Bayon – we watch as one clever monkey figures out how to unscrew the cap of a water bottle (no doubt stolen from an unsuspecting tourist)
We walk over to Baphuon – another Aztec-like temple within Angkor Thom. As we leave the temple, we can see that the retaining wall in the rear was altered to look like a reclining Buddha
Walking down the Terrace of the Elephants – a long walkway where the king would hold public parades
The Terrace of the Leper King (legend has it that as least one of the Khmer kings had leprosy) decorated with beautifully carved apsaras (Buddhist angels)
Since we had such an early start to the day, we were finished with the major Angkor temples by noon. We wanted to make the most out of our all-inclusive package & all-day driver, so we needed more places to visit! Unfortunately for us, the resort’s chauffer deal did not include locations that were more than 20KM outside the city, meaning we would have to pay DOUBLE if we wanted to visit Banteay Srei (the pretty pink-stone temple) and Beng Mealea (another overgrown, Indiana Jones-esque location).
Our driver could tell we were disappointed when we discovered the extra cost, so when we started suggesting other alternatives, he suggested, “If you stay silent, I’ll stay silent,” and only asked us to pitch in USD $5 for the extra gas so his boss wouldn’t know we bent the rules! We were able to squeeze in visits to the Cambodia Landmine Museum and the Angkor Butterfly Center, before wrapping up the afternoon at two smaller temples. We would have stayed out for sunset, but the sky was so overcast and dull, we decided the photos wouldn’t be worth the wait.
The Cambodia Landmine Museum – founded by former child soldier Aki Ra, who has spent his entire adult life locating and deactivating live landmines throughout Cambodia. The museum started as his personal collection of landmines that he had found – over the years, tourists kept coming by his house to see the huge collection, prompting him to put the weapons on display
None of these bombs were replicas, but they were supposedly certified as “safe”. Sadly, the USA was responsible for a huge percentage of the landmines dropped on Cambodia (part of Kissinger’s mass carpet-bombing of the Ho Chi Min Trail during the Vietnam War…seriously, how was this not a war crime? He indiscriminatly dropped bombs on civilians in a country we were NOT at war with!), although we learned that Russia, China, Vietnam and Thailand had also contributed significantly to the bloodshed. As a result of foreign interference, Cambodia’s countryside was litered with hundreds of thousands of landmines – every year (even to this day!!!) hundreds of farmers and children are killed or maimed by stepping on anti-personal mines, although thanks to the efforts of Aki Ra and many other organizations, the number of victims is dropping every year
Igor listening to the audio guide as we tour the museum
After a sobering visiting to the war museum, we head over to the Butterfly Center for a more lighthearted activity
So many pretty butterflies!
Dozens of cacoons are organized and hung up in a protected cabinet – everyday they have to open the doors so newly hatched butterflies can fly out
Bright and fuzzy caterpillars munch away at leaves, next door to some GINORMOUS stick bugs!
Our driver takes us to two smaller, less visited temples before returning to the hotel. When we arrive at Banteay Samre, we have the complex all to ourselves!
Exploring the stone carvings, shrines, and empty galleries of Banteay Samre
Our final temple, Pre Rup, is supposed to be a great location for sunset – on a clear day, the sandstone towers will glow orange as the sun goes down
Since the sky is overcast by now, we decide not to stay for sunset (another 3-hour wait) – we just climb to the top to check out the view…where Lindsay can see some dogs running around on the ground! She hurries down the steep stone steps to play with a sweet little puppy
Since our all-inclusive package included unlimited Happy Hour appetizers and drinks, we decided to stay in for dinner tonight. We asked our driver if he could stop at a grocery store on the way back. We are shocked at the AMAZING selection of food at the store: cheese, baguettes, avocados, and a HUGE wine selection! (Not that we needed to buy any wine for tonight, but still, Lindsay likes to know her options…) Bon appetite!
We pick up some groceries and have a delicious picnic dinner in our hotel room after filling up on endless canapes