We had arranged for a tuk tuk to take us around the many temples of Angkor Wat. Our alarms went off at 4:30 and we were headed to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise shortly after. Angkor Wat is an enormous temple complex that covers over 400 acres and has been converted from a Hindu temple to a Buddhist temple when the controlling religion of the area changed. The temple of Angkor Wat is one of the most visited religious historical sites in the world. The popularity meant that there were at least 1000 visitors already on site to watch the sunrise, and the crowds would continue to flow in throughout the day. We planned our day accordingly and shortly after sunrise quickly left the main temple to start the loop in the opposite direction of the standard tourist path.
The second temple we visited was made famous by the 90's movie Tombraider. Ta Prohm is a Bayon style temple built in the late 12th century and is beautiful because of the enormous trees that have grown over the ruins of the temple. The temple has been abandoned since the 15th century and some of the Spung trees are estimated to be the matching 600 years old. We wandered amongst the trees and ruins of this wonderful place in the early morning light and were very happy to have beaten the majority of crowds to this famous site.
The next stop on our tour was at Pre Rup. Pre Rup is another temple built in the 10th century for worship of the Hindu god Shiva. We climbed the steps and took in the views of the forests surrounding this temple. The sun was out and the day was starting to warm up. Completely exposed we did not spend much time at Pre Rup and were soon headed to the following location.
We drove past East Mebon as it is very similar to Pre Rup, though historically it was surrounded by water, and arrived at Ta Som soon after. Ta Som is a small temple that was built late in the 12th century. The most famous part of this temple is a a gate that has been overgrown by a large strangler fig tree. It was nice to be in a bit of shade as we explored the ruins of this temple.
Our next stop was at smaller temple that is set on an island on an artificial pond. Neak Pean was built in the second half of the 12th century and is believed to be one of many healing ponds built in the area. It was a pretty little temple but the walk to the pond was as beautiful or more beautiful than the temple area itself.
The next temple was a favorite of our tuk tuk driver and was quite expansive containing many corridors and collapsed areas. For the most part the temple has been left unrestored and has trees and vegetation growing in parts. We welcomed the shade and cool stone rooms as we explored this large ruin.
Realizing we had not eaten since a small breakfast 7 hours previous we stopped and had some lunch at one of the many restaurants that make their living off of the thousands of tourists that pass through every day. Our next stop would be alot of walking - we both totaled over 30000 steps each for the day - as we visited several sites in the former city of Angkor Thom.
Our first temple in the town of Angkor Thom was also featured in the 90's movie Tombraider. The temple of Bayon was built in the late 12th century and prominently features many large smiling stone faces. This is one of the most fascinating temples on the site and we spent more time here than all but Angkor Wat.
Following Bayon we made our way over to Baphoun, the 3 tiered temple mountain and spent a good amount of energy climbing to its summit. Baphoun is a huge place but lacked the character of many of the other temples and unfortunately even from the top tier did not offer great views of the surrounding region. We continued our visit of Angkor Thom with a stop at the Terrace of Elephants before returning to the tuk tuk.
Our final temple of the day was the famous Angkor Wat. We had watched the sun rise over it in the morning but in an effort to avoid the crowds saved visiting the inside to the latter part of the day. Even at 3 pm there were still many people inside. The interior of the temple is not as iconic as the outside but offered many corridors and a few levels to explore. This was our final stop of a very long and hot day. We returned back to town, showered and passed out for a couple hours before going off to find dinner. Smarter folks have taken multiple days to see these sites.
The second temple we visited was made famous by the 90's movie Tombraider. Ta Prohm is a Bayon style temple built in the late 12th century and is beautiful because of the enormous trees that have grown over the ruins of the temple. The temple has been abandoned since the 15th century and some of the Spung trees are estimated to be the matching 600 years old. We wandered amongst the trees and ruins of this wonderful place in the early morning light and were very happy to have beaten the majority of crowds to this famous site.
The next stop on our tour was at Pre Rup. Pre Rup is another temple built in the 10th century for worship of the Hindu god Shiva. We climbed the steps and took in the views of the forests surrounding this temple. The sun was out and the day was starting to warm up. Completely exposed we did not spend much time at Pre Rup and were soon headed to the following location.
We drove past East Mebon as it is very similar to Pre Rup, though historically it was surrounded by water, and arrived at Ta Som soon after. Ta Som is a small temple that was built late in the 12th century. The most famous part of this temple is a a gate that has been overgrown by a large strangler fig tree. It was nice to be in a bit of shade as we explored the ruins of this temple.
Our next stop was at smaller temple that is set on an island on an artificial pond. Neak Pean was built in the second half of the 12th century and is believed to be one of many healing ponds built in the area. It was a pretty little temple but the walk to the pond was as beautiful or more beautiful than the temple area itself.
The next temple was a favorite of our tuk tuk driver and was quite expansive containing many corridors and collapsed areas. For the most part the temple has been left unrestored and has trees and vegetation growing in parts. We welcomed the shade and cool stone rooms as we explored this large ruin.
Realizing we had not eaten since a small breakfast 7 hours previous we stopped and had some lunch at one of the many restaurants that make their living off of the thousands of tourists that pass through every day. Our next stop would be alot of walking - we both totaled over 30000 steps each for the day - as we visited several sites in the former city of Angkor Thom.
Our first temple in the town of Angkor Thom was also featured in the 90's movie Tombraider. The temple of Bayon was built in the late 12th century and prominently features many large smiling stone faces. This is one of the most fascinating temples on the site and we spent more time here than all but Angkor Wat.
Following Bayon we made our way over to Baphoun, the 3 tiered temple mountain and spent a good amount of energy climbing to its summit. Baphoun is a huge place but lacked the character of many of the other temples and unfortunately even from the top tier did not offer great views of the surrounding region. We continued our visit of Angkor Thom with a stop at the Terrace of Elephants before returning to the tuk tuk.
Our final temple of the day was the famous Angkor Wat. We had watched the sun rise over it in the morning but in an effort to avoid the crowds saved visiting the inside to the latter part of the day. Even at 3 pm there were still many people inside. The interior of the temple is not as iconic as the outside but offered many corridors and a few levels to explore. This was our final stop of a very long and hot day. We returned back to town, showered and passed out for a couple hours before going off to find dinner. Smarter folks have taken multiple days to see these sites.
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