Angkor Wat

Angkor is everywhere in Cambodia: the name of the national beer, the image on the Cambodian flag...you name it, if it's Cambodian, it more than likely has a reference to Angkor. The Khmer people are very proud of their history, and so they should be, the temples are amazing. There was no way that I was going to miss out on one of SE Asia's main attractions, so I headed to Siem Reap, the town that is all about Angkor.

Phil, Dave and I rented bikes, bought 3-day Angkor passes and set out to explore the ruins. It's difficult to put the experience to words, but the temples were incredible. We spent our first day checking out Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, and we spent the second day wandering around the smaller temple structures. By the 3rd day, it was pouring rain and we were all suffering from temple overload, so we spent the day relaxing in Siem Reap.

Siem Reap gave me an opportunity to cash in on some of my hotel points and stay in a plush place for several days. I've become quite accustomed to SE Asia's cheap backpacker digs, but every once in a while, it's great enjoy some of those long forgotten comforts of home (like air conditioning, a comfy bed and fluffy towels...I don't know what it is about fluffy towels, but I love them!). It was pretty amusing to watch the reactions on the hotel staff's faces when I rolled up to their establishment fresh off the $4 local bus, fairly scruffy and smelling like a seafood market. I wish I had had a hidden camera to capture an image of their faces when I walked through the door. I made use of the hotel bathtub to give my backpack a thorough washing; the nasty seafood smell was officially eliminated.

I'd been having a fantastic time traveling with Phil and Dave, but Dave had to leave us in Siem Reap to catch his flight back to Australia. We had a great evening of farewell festivities (which probably made Dave's 12-hour bus ride back to Bangkok somewhat miserable) and sent him on his way back to the real world. Dave will definitely be missed!

-Julia


Angkor Wat


Exterior wall at Angkor Wat


Some of the intricate bas-relief carvings that cover the walls of Angkor Wat


Corridor within the Angkor Wat complex


Central temple of Angkor Wat


Outside the central temple complex of Angkor Wat (that's Dave at the top of the stairs)


Statues along the entrance to Angkor Thom


Inside the Bayon temple of Angkor Thom


Faces of the Bayon temple


Restoration of the Baphuon temple, within Angkor Thom


Wall and gate within Angkor Thom


On day-two, we cheated and hired a tuk-tuk to shuttle us out to the more remote temples


Early Angkor-era structure


Bas-reliefs


Chilling in the temples


Ta Prohm, the temple used for filming Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones


Some small tree roots


More bas-reliefs


Phil, at the top of the temple steps


Temple corridor


Slightly more comfortable than the $5 guest house accommodations


Dave enjoys a "bucket" of something called "Mekong whiskey" and Coke during his last night in Cambodia

I have approximately a zillion photos of Angkor Wat, so if you would like to see more images of the temples, check out my online photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jandbworldtravel/JuliaSTravels

The photos are more or less in chronological order, so all of the Angkor images are grouped together.