Angkor Wat at Sunrise

We left our hotel at 5am on Wednesday to get to Angkor Wat in time for dawn. It was tough to get up after the long day (and bike ride) the day before, but the drive there was by Tuk tuk, and it was pleasant to relax in the dark with a nice breeze on the way.

The early start was totally worth it.

A happy woman at Angkor Wat just after dawn

It was really amazing to see the various colors of day break, first from across the water with the main temple in the distance, and later from closer to the center as the sun actually rose over the horizon.

The main temple complex is the largest religious monument in the world and was built in the early 1100s, which if I have my history right, was the tail end of the dark ages in Europe. Originally, it was a Hindu Temple and mausoleum for the Khmer emperor who built it, but was gradually converted to Buddhist over the next 2-300 years. The temple is massive - look at the people for perspective- and this is just one corner of the place!

The architecture is beautiful, with 5 towers and many internal courtyards.

And there are ornate carvings throughout.

Plus some monkeys!

In addition to spending the morning at the main temple, we also visited Angkor Thom, which contains Bayon, a temple characterized by many faces. The approach road was lined with figures that looked like warriors, one of which I went nose to nose with!

The city and temple itself lived up to its reputation for enigmatic faces. Each tower had 4 big Buddha faces built in.

And our final stop in the Angkor Wat area was Ta Phrom, which is a temple complex being consumed by the jungle. The trees are growing in and through and around the temples, and cannot be removed because they are so intertwined with the temples that killing them would cause the temples to crumble. Really majestic and beautiful.

Next up: into the jungle for a 2-night stay at the Cardamom tented camp!