Thai Times: Big Temples (Angkor Wat)

walking into Cambodia

first glance of Angkor Wat

5:30 AM: arrive at Angor Wat. In our groggy state we exit our tuk tuk that we had rented for the day, not entirely coherent, not entirely sure what our driver looks like. We make our way up the hundreds of years old steps behind tourists that were so smart as to think to bring flashlights. Though it’s dark, it’s apparent that the structure we’re heading for is massive. We pass through the outer wall (which we later find out is 1 square km), and head down another stretch of stones that seems endless until we follow the crowd off and in front of the small pond that millions of people have taken the same picture. Though it is dark, we are able to make out the 5 spires of the massive structure in front of us. With each passing moment people point their cameras at the dark sky, hoping that their cameras can capture what only their minds will ever be able to remember.
As the sun begins to come up, the jungle around us becomes alive and bugs start making a high-pitched sound, announcing the rise of the sun and our first glimpse of Angkor Wat.

Corey, Kate, and me in front of Angkor Wat

It has been a bit cloudy in Cambodia the past two days so we were unable to see a spectacular sunrise, but rather and gradual purple glow that brought to light what we had woken up hours before dawn to see: Angkor Wat. It is something that needs to be seen first-hand to understand how truly massive it is. My pictures, and I don't think any others, truly do it justice.
We had extensively read guidebooks and talked to friends who had been to Angkor Wat, who all advised to see sunrise and then book it for some other temples that people save for later in the day. We were truly spoiled the first few hours of the day, as we were able to explore ruined temples with almost no one in sight, and no one in our pictures.

For those of you who are not familiar with Angkor Wat, it is a huge complex with hundreds of temples. The largest, and the most in–tact, is called Angkor Wat. The area is enormous, and there were some temples we wanted to go to but they were too far away (one was 50 km away). Our tuk tuk driver would stop and let us off at random temples we had no idea about, but each one had its own personality and something different to offer. Many of the temples are actually Hindu, including Angkor Wat. We quickly learned that temples with images of women were Hindu, and that Buddhist temples are much simpler and only have images of Buddha. My favorite temples ended up being flat Hindu temples. We also saw some “mountain temples,” which have several tiers and you can climb up. The flat ones amazed me the most because they just went on and on. The size and detail of all these temples is absolutely incredible, especially when you see temple after temple of the same caliber. Angkor Wat though is truly the most amazing.

steep stairs on a mountain temple

Cambodia has it all: tuk tuks, Lexus, and cows

Ansara (female images found in Hindu temples)
dancer in a temple being overtaken by a tree.

The first day was tiring, but it was so worth it to get up early and see the sunrise and experience the temples with no one around. We didn’t go to the other two famous temples until mid-day, when we were absolutely exhausted, but their grandeur kept us going. My favorite temple was Banyon, which has 54 spires which represented the 54 provinces of Cambodia (the country has since downsized), and has over 200 faces, which are supposed to be of a god, but had an uncanny resemblance to the king who commissioned it (but the kings at that time were gods—king gods if you will—so to me, it only makes sense). The visual is amazing, and its detail and many faces is something only the naked eye can pick up. My SLR camera can’t even do it justice. Upon first looking at it, we all agreed that the temple looks either like a) a mud sandcastle that you make on the beach when you’re a kid or b) something out of this world. It’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

nun praying

a face from the Banyan, my favorite temple

The Banyan

The next day we got off to a bit of a later start, as we decided we were going to see sunset that night. We had our driver take the reins (we rented our tuk tuk driver for $20 each day. You’re supposed to get them for $15, but he charged us extra since he had to wake up extremely early the first day, and stay later the second, but between 3 people that isn’t too bad). We went to some random temples, ending with two big ones: a fusion Buddhist temple, and Angkor Wat.

schoolgirl riding a bike a little too big for her

I love these tuk tuks!

There is a long pathway—esplanade, if you will—that leads to the outer wall. This is not just a wall, it has an enclosure, and of course, detailed carvings. After passing through the outer wall, there’s another long esplanade that leads you to the main attraction, with small temples scattered along the lawn. Inside the first level of the actual temple are incredibly detailed carvings all along the walls. They are meant to be viewed counter-clockwise and tell myths, stories of the king that the temple was built for, and stories of the 37 heavens and the 34 hells. The second floor isn’t quite as ornate, yet still has wall-length carvings. The main attraction of the second level is that you are closer to the 5 pagodas that adorn the top. I fortunately wore pants and had a long sleeve shirt so I was able to go to the third level of the temple and see the 5 pagodas. Being that close makes you realize how massive they really are. My pictures don’t do them justice. In fact, no one’s do. It is something you need to be next to to understand how truly massive they are, and make you wonder how people 600 years ago had the technology and manpower to create something like this.

water buffalo

Though Angkor Wat is the main attraction of the area, and Cambodia in general, Siem Reap is quite a nice city as well. We didn’t get to spend too much time in it, though, since the vast majority of our time was spent visiting the temples. I found the city very charming with baguettes in the windows (a product of French colonialism) and the carriage-like covered tuk tuks attached to the backs of motorbikes.

I am now continuing my Cambodian adventure in Phnom Penh. So far, so good! Absolutely loving Cambodia and the incredibly nice people who all speak a decent amount of English! It's been great getting to know them and this beautiful, yet unfortunately extremely poor country.