Angkor Wat
Greetings all! Nicole and I are back from Siem Reap after a fantastic couple days. It was a little tiring seeing so much in such a short time, but it was invigorating as well to be surrounded by the remains of such an incredible culture. Visiting Angkor has been a dream of mine since I was about 10 0r 11 years old and saw pictures in a book, so the visit was particularly special for me.
Tonle Sap Lake
On the afternoon we arrived, we visited the Tonle Sap lake, which during the wet season covers over 10,000 kilometers and floods all of the nearby forest. We took a relaxing cruise on the lake and estuary before heading back for an early night.
Angkor Wat @ Sunrise
The next day we woke up around 4:30AM in order to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. While we didn’t get the rich colors that sometimes accompany an Angkor sunrise, the whole experience was pretty magical. Our driver dropped us off in the dark, with only moonlight to guide us. We could barely see anything and stumbled with the other folks accross the first causeway and through the outer gate, eventually finding a spot right by the reflecting pools. It was incredible to watch the temple slowly revealed as the sun rose.
View of Angkor Wat from a balloon
Entrance to Angkor Thom
After Angkor Wat we headed to Angkor Thom, which was the capital of the Khmer Empire and stretches 3km on a side.
The Bayon
Inside of Angkor Thom we first stopped at the Bayon temple, which features over 200 carvings of the face of the King that commissioned it. We also visited the Terrace of the Elephants and several other monuments within Angkor Thom.
Terrace of the Elephants
Preah Khan
Next we went to the Preah Khan temple, which has the only round columns of any Angkor-era building.
Ta Prom
After Preah Khan the next stop was Ta Prom, the temple that has been completely overgrown by the jungle (though the jungle has been mostly cleared back now).
Ta Prom
From Ta Prom we drove about 45 minutes outside of Siem Reap to visit a temple called Banteay Srei, which was built out of pinkish-red stone and is one of the most intracately carved monuments in the greater Angkor area.
Banteay Srei
Sunset from Pre Rup
We finished our day with sunset from another temple called Pre Rup.
The next day we visited a few more temples and generally relaxed, returning to Angkor Wat to see it in different light. Then it was time to head back to Hong Kong (with a long lay-over in Vietnam). It was a great trip.
After getting back all focus has been finishing up packing and shipping boxes while getting ready for the trip back to the USA. We leave on Friday early morning for London on the way to visiting Greece and Egypt. Hope to see many of you back in the USA after we arrive!
-Ted