Siem Reap: Day 2

Spoiler alert: today entails a lot of temples.

We started the day early: about 4am. Boarding the bus and headed straight to the ticket office where we had our photo taken (everyone’s favourite thing to do at 4:30 in the morning) for our golden tickets to Angkor Wat.

We arrived at the main temple when it was still in darkness and were able to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, which is a spectacular sight as the light grows behind the dark silhouette, more and more of the wonderful details are revealed. Considering we were there for sunrise, a lot of other people seemed to have the same idea as us and it was already quite busy, with some industrious locals already up bright and early to sell their wares too.

We had found a quiet spot to watch the sunrise and the temple transform.

After sunrise we stopped for breakfast, and then headed into the temple itself. As we got closer, the detail only revealed itself more and more, every inch of the temple would have been intricately carved in its hay-day about 900years ago.

The temple is a large complex and the name Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom refers to an ancient city comprising of many temples, as well as (confusingly) the largest temple which is also named Angkor Wat.

Its easy to see why this is known as the “great temple” as it really is just that. There are also libraries and other buildings built within the grounds of the temple.

The main building itself comprises of 3 main levels which represented The Underworld, Earth, and Heaven. It’s true what they say, it ain’t easy to get into heaven: with the stairs at an angle of about 60 degrees I had to not look down!

Our next stop is a temple which is now colloquially known as the Tomb Raider Temple: although its actual name is Ta Prohm. It was famously used for the – you guessed it – Tomb Raider movie in 2001. It’s beauty and the films endorsement became a catalyst for tourists from all over the world to venture to Cambodia and the temple.

Continuing our Temple Run (TM) we left one beautiful temple to head to another. Baphuon, another ruin in Angkor Thom, also contained city walls and terraces surrounding the temple, which included the largest reclining buddha in Cambodia. Although slightly more abstract than when it may have initially been built, his face is still easily recognisable. This was the oldest we visited today, it being built in the mid 11th century.

This temple had stairs even steeper than Angkor Wat to get to the top level! The view was just as beautiful and so worth the ridiculous climb.

We had one more temple to visit and we finished strong with Prasat Bayon, the temple with the faces. It certainly lived up to its reputation with about 200 faces on almost every inch of the towers.

All templed out and breakfast a distant memory it was most definitely time for lunch! Not without a quick stop to take in the detail in one of the bridges

Lunch was in one of the local eateries within the temple city complex and as with all the food here, it was delicious!

We took a more relaxed approach to the afternoon, a quick snooze and a relaxed walk round Siem Reap and a quick dip in the pool.

Soon it was time for dinner, which was part of our GAdventures tour and was provided by New Hope. A wonderful foundation set up to aid some of the most impoverished people in the Siem Reap province. It provides free education, health care, food, crisis care, and even vocational training to those who need it. It’s an amazing project and the food at the restaurant was delicious! If you’re interested in finding out more please go to http://newhopecambodia.com/

After our recklessly early start we went straight back to the hotel avoiding the rain, tummys full and ready for bed after another brilliant day.

Hatti x