Day 6 Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom

Yesterday and today, Trish and I have been busy with temple visiting. We got a one week pass to the Angkor Temples for $60 USD.

We rented bicycles ($1/day each) yesterday and made a 6-7km bike ride to the Angkor Wat temple from our guesthouse, Jasmine Lodge, in Siem Reap.

It was actually a very nice ride going there (going back was another story) and we stayed the early afternoon there. Angkor Wat is a beautiful temple, but to be honest, it wasn't as awe-inspiring as my imagination had conceived. A part of this is due to the fact that the central towers were closed off for restoration, so we weren't able to climb up and check out the view.




To catch the sunset, we rode our bikes to Phnom Bakheng, a temple situated ontop of a hill. There were so many people there, but we tried not to let that get in the way of enjoying the view.

We rode back in the dark, and I had this very cheap handheld flashlight to lead the way (luckily the street lamps were turned on halfway down the road). On the way back, there was a faraway thunderstorm that gave a beautiful lightshow as it lit up the sky behind Angkor Wat. Video to be posted.

Today was a bit crazy. Trish and I headed out to the temples today at 5:15 am to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Today we decided to take a tuk-tuk (a motorcycle-drawn hooded carriage) to the temples given that we were very tired.

The sunrise and the clean it-just-rained air gave a whole new appeal to Angkor Wat and this time around I found myself more in awe of the world's largest religious structure. I also felt inspired to do some Bagua martial art forms among the ruins, videos to be posted.

The highlight of today was probably the Bayon, a huge structure with many many enigmatic smiling faces, four to each tower. It lies in the direct center of the ancient city of Angkor Thom (Great City).




Afterwards we visited the ancient temple, of Tomb Raider fame, Ta Prohm, a temple that has merged with it's jungle surroundings, creating a very unique atmosphere. After visiting some other smaller temples, we headed home. We got back to our guesthouse around 4pm, a long 11 hour day of temple exploring.




I know, I write a lot, but where are the pics? I'm in search of an SD USB converter here in Siem Reap, but they only sell those universal converters for 15USD and up. All I need is a SD to USB converter (3USD and up in Taipei), and I haven't found one yet. If I don't find one, I'll probably just get when in Thailand, and if worst comes to worse, or when I get back to Taipei.

Tomorrow we'll be sleeping in.