Our final day of temple touring stated early - earlier than bright and early, because we were going to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.
Temple #12 (again) - Angkor Wat
We had a lot of cloud cover, but it was still beautiful.
One more reflection on the water.
Since we arrived before sunrise, we thought we would have the place to ourselves, but there were probably at least another thousand people who showed up thinking the same. We did manage to find a large nook with no one around.
We then queued for about 30 minutes waiting for the steps to the top to open. Here are a few shots from the top.
This is a view from the back of the temple as we were leaving.
Temple #18 - Bantaey Samre
We left Angkor Wat around 7am. Our next stop was about 20 minutes away. We had the entire temple to ourselves with the exception of a cat.
The tomb within the temple is speculated to have been for an infant or small child, but it has yet to be fully confirmed. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's quite small.
Temple #19 - Bantaey Srei
We started moving north from Siem Reap.
Temple #20 - Lolei
Next we travelled about 40 minutes south. The last three temples we saw were the oldest, dating to ~the late 9th century.
Temple #21 - Preah Ko
Temple #22 - Bakong Temple
Last climb.
We went back to the hotel around noon for a very late breakfast/brunch. After a quick bite, we took a tuk tuk to a workshop of local artists.
This location both an artists workshop / guild and a training center.
After we got back to the hotel, Patrick headed to the spa and Gwen to the pool.
Later, we began to reflect on everything we saw and realized we took almost 1,000 still photos on 3 different devices. I took some time to organize what we did. I made a list of every temple and the times we were there. It worked great until I realized the time on one camera was incorrect - 1st world problems.
As we were leaving - we noticed some sculptures at the airport made by the artists we visited.
We learned a lot about Cambodia's history from the 9th century to recent events. We read before going not to ask about Khmer Rouge, but we were fortunate that our guide was a trained historian willing to share his perspective.
Cambodia has an intriguing history, and they're only recently discovering (or rediscovering) some of it. We saw large-scale restorations almost everywhere we went, and were encouraged to learn that some of the artifacts stolen during various wars were being recovered. There is also a large effort to partner with Thailand and other countries to continue learning and translating the ancient language.
If you ever need a tour guide and driver in Siem Reap - we can't say enough good things about our guide Em and driver Kriss from http://www.aangkorwattour.com/ They made our trip comfortable, educational, and memorable. Which reminds me, I need to write the TripAdvisor review.
Temple #12 (again) - Angkor Wat
We had a lot of cloud cover, but it was still beautiful.
One more reflection on the water.
Since we arrived before sunrise, we thought we would have the place to ourselves, but there were probably at least another thousand people who showed up thinking the same. We did manage to find a large nook with no one around.
We then queued for about 30 minutes waiting for the steps to the top to open. Here are a few shots from the top.
This is a view from the back of the temple as we were leaving.
Temple #18 - Bantaey Samre
We left Angkor Wat around 7am. Our next stop was about 20 minutes away. We had the entire temple to ourselves with the exception of a cat.
The tomb within the temple is speculated to have been for an infant or small child, but it has yet to be fully confirmed. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's quite small.
Temple #19 - Bantaey Srei
We started moving north from Siem Reap.
Temple #20 - Lolei
Next we travelled about 40 minutes south. The last three temples we saw were the oldest, dating to ~the late 9th century.
Temple #21 - Preah Ko
Temple #22 - Bakong Temple
We went back to the hotel around noon for a very late breakfast/brunch. After a quick bite, we took a tuk tuk to a workshop of local artists.
This location both an artists workshop / guild and a training center.
After we got back to the hotel, Patrick headed to the spa and Gwen to the pool.
Later, we began to reflect on everything we saw and realized we took almost 1,000 still photos on 3 different devices. I took some time to organize what we did. I made a list of every temple and the times we were there. It worked great until I realized the time on one camera was incorrect - 1st world problems.
As we were leaving - we noticed some sculptures at the airport made by the artists we visited.
Cambodia has an intriguing history, and they're only recently discovering (or rediscovering) some of it. We saw large-scale restorations almost everywhere we went, and were encouraged to learn that some of the artifacts stolen during various wars were being recovered. There is also a large effort to partner with Thailand and other countries to continue learning and translating the ancient language.
If you ever need a tour guide and driver in Siem Reap - we can't say enough good things about our guide Em and driver Kriss from http://www.aangkorwattour.com/ They made our trip comfortable, educational, and memorable. Which reminds me, I need to write the TripAdvisor review.
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