Cambodia Day 3: Temple Touring

Early morning in Siem Reap

This morning we had a 4:45am pick-up for sunrise at Angkor Wat.  Sunrise or mid-morning Angkor Wat Central Complex is a magnificent site.

Sunrise is best watched at the end of the 475m sandstone causeway from in front of the pools.  As the sun rose, Angkor village was coming to life, horses were grazing the fields and monks were leaving the monastery for the day.

Sunrise selfie

When the temple opened, we made our way in starting along the south side.  The walls show intricately carved with bas-relief scenes as far as you can see.

One of the long galleries

Example of the intricate carvings

From there we made our way to explore the 3^rd level and were in the first group to ascend 11m into Bakan, the principle sanctuary of Angkor Wat and the uppermost point of the world’s largest religious temple.

Cats of Angkor

1 of the 4 shrines

On descent, we explored the 2^nd level and received blessings by a monk (perfect start for my first day in my 37^th year!)

There is no escaping the heat.  At 6:15AM, it was already 28c so before the sun reached its peak, , we returned to the hotel for a swim and Khmer massage (included). 

Swim in the moat?  Or the hotel pool?

Our patio to the pool

The massage was a dry massage and not as painful as a traditional Thai one.  Thank goodness!  Last time I had a Thai massage, I was in pain for a week.

After our massages, we had our Khmer set lunch which was surprisingly good.  The problem was the heat (open restaurant).  It’s too hot to eat.

We spent our afternoon exploring more temples.  The streets of Siem Reap were much more lively.

Looks safe

Hi kids!

Ta Prohm or Tomb Raider Temple (late 12^th c)

I have a confession: I only saw Tomb Raider about 2 weeks ago!)   Ta Prohm was chosen by Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient to be left in its “natural state” of discovery in the 19^th century.  We were excited to take some fun Tomb Raider photos but funny story, I got lost.  And I mean seriously lost.  As in an hour visit became 2 hours until I found my way out.  Our driver was close to panic stations and coming in after me. 

To be fair, the guide books all warn of the complexity of the temple.  I didn’t read the guidebook though.  I wandered in and was lost in the beauty of the intertwined trees when I looked up and found myself alone.  I re-entered the galleries and found myself in a different enclosure.  On top of that, Ta Prohm the East side of the temple has now been cleared for visitor entry.  So yes, I found myself at the West side entry before I realised my mistake.  As Sue was waiting for me, another family had separated and lost their way too!  Once they reunited, she took it as a sign that I would find my way out too.  After that, Vanna made us have an SOS plan.

Baphoun (11^th c)

Baphoun is known as the world’s largest puzzle.  It was the centre of EFEO restoration when civil war erupted and efforts were paused for a quarter of a century.  When conservation work was restarted in 1995, they had to put 300,000 stones back in place.  This was completed in 2011.

The elevated causeway leads to the 3^rd tiered temple mountain, now standing at 34m tall. 

Channeling my inner Lara Croft

We wanted to try the tuk-tuk hamock too

Pretty comfortable

Bayon (12^th c)

This temple and our experience here was my highlight of our trip.  The temple itself is breathtaking.  As you work your way through the inner galleries, we found a religious ceremony taking place in the pitch dark. 

Young monks are also present, giving tourist chase.  One was happy to play a game of hide & seek with my camera.  He would peek around corridors and small doorways so I could catch him in a smile.

This is truly what travel is about – experiences like this.  It’s worth every penny.

I had to do one of these!
(Please excuse the hot sweaty mess I am!)

Today’s Observations:

•          I don’t think I have ever been hotter.  We obeyed dressing guidelines for a sacred site so were in tee-shirts and long skirts/ pants.  Most of the time, the Rangers were quite strict with these guidelines.  We only found a few slide through but they did not escape locals’ harsh comments.  We stopped getting in front of the camera because we looked like hot messes.  Literally.      
•          Due to the heat and the walking our patience was wearing thin for a certain demographic of fellow sightseers (I am sure you can guess!)  They were obnoxious and loud. And smoked even though this was forbidden!  The rangers seem to have given up trying to get them to follow rules too.
•          The temples are surprising complex.  I am a bit of an ant (as in put a leaf down and I get thrown off) but man, an hour of tunneling and tunneling!
•          While I am not afraid of height, I AM unsteady of my feet on even ground so I had to take extra precautions when navigating the steep steps.  Vanna did not like watching us ascending.

Back in Siem Reap, we passed a local market

Moving our luggage by tuk-tuk

Tonight, we moved to a guesthouse found through AirBnB.  It was my first time using AirBnB; it wasn’t a true experience but that’s okay.  The guesthouse was nice with a few quirks.  It was in a great location with a fantastic patisserie (Le Pain de Coeur) a few doors down and was walking distance to Angkor Night Markets.  It rained quite heavily so we opted for an early night.

Steps count: 25,474 (19.92km)