Angkor Wat

Ahh the great Angkor Wat.  Everyone that I have talked to about this place has talked about all the hype and that all the hype is well deserved.  So on getting to Siem Reap in Cambodia we figured we'd stay a week or so to mainly check out the place.  We opted for the 3 day pass across a week, instead of the 7 day.

Thar she is

It's impressive.  It's really neat.  And amazing to think of how much work and effort went into creating these temples more or less 1000 years ago.  Even today, it remains the largest temple complex in the world.

Now that being said... I think that we've been hanging out in SE Asia too long.  Seeing ruins is just not something you see in the US, and the first time we saw some back in Indonesia it was really AMAZING.  But apparently in this corner of the world it is just what the Hindu's and the Buddhists did 500-1500 years ago.  So all over the place we have seen temples and ruins, and unfortunately they all begin to kinda look the same.

Angkor Wat certainly is bigger and grander than any we've seen so far.  We even got up at 4:30am on day 1 to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise.  This was actually pretty sweet.  Then after we wandered into the temple and around the complex which all is quite impressive.  Then it was the next temple that we went to and just climbed to the top and sat there thinking... "just another temple..."  Part of the appeal of Angkor, is that it is a whole archeological park with at least 50 different temple sites of all different shapes and sizes.  Angkor Wat is just the most well known of all the temples.

Ta Prohm

We spent the rest of the day biking around and seeing some of the other temples that you have probably never heard of.  There was really only one that stuck out.  This one was Ta Prohm. Here you can really see how nature is reclaiming the area with huge trees growing on the ruins and their roots going through the stone. This one also has had very little restoration, with passageways blocked off by blocks that have long fallen.  It is the kind of place that you can really wander throughout for quite a while and get lost.  But of course it was the nature that really drew me to this one.

Go Nature

Day 2 was more of the same... We went back to Angkor later in the day to get some picts with better lighting.  We also went up this one hill (only one in the park) and got some great views of the area.  Late afternoon, but at least an hour before sunset was definitely the time to be there.  The lighting was great, and as we were headed back down, literally thousands of package tourists were heading up there for the sunset.  The 10 foot wide trail was completely packed with people that we had a hard time pushing our way back against the grain.  Sunset probably would have been nice up there, but it certainly is not something I've never seen before.

Phnom Bakheng, at the top of the hill

We took a day off in between days 1 and 2 in the park to take a break in the temple.  Yesterday we went back for a third day mainly cause we could and it was the last day we could use the pass.  We just biked around and went back to Ta Prohm, my favorite of the temples.

A couple recommendations for anyone who is thinking of coming to Angkor Wat:

1. rent bicycles - it is $1 a day.  About a 30 min ride to the park, and you have total flexibility of where and when to stop.  The alternative is a package tour (ugh) or hiring a tuk-tuk for the day for $10-15.  Plus it is really difficult to get exercise while on the road, so this is a perfect opportunity.

2. Go to Ta Prohm

3. Do some research beforehand.  I think that I might have appreciated the temples a bit more if I knew more about them.  You can hire a guide to tell you about each of the temples, but lets be real, I'm not going to remember anything about them in a month anyway.  Maybe it would have been worthwhile though.

4. Remain lighthearted when dealing with the hawkers (which is absolutely unavoidable).  I have written already about other areas in SE Asia where people are really aggressive and intrusive about trying to sell you stuff.  This was by far the worst.  They yell at you constantly, and wont let you say no or leave you alone.  As soon as we ride up to a temple (there are always food stalls and such outside all the main temples) you hear, "Sir! Lady! You buy water here!" As they walk up to the bike.  "No thank you" "You buy cold water! $1" "I already have some, no thanks" "NO! You buy water now!"  lock up bike and walk away... "Ok, you buy water when you come back."  And of course when you come back, you go through that again.  Every single time you come up to a temple... This can really start to wear on your patience, but at least eventually I stopped feeling bad about not giving them business.  It is unfortunate how it makes you dislike everyone who lives inside Angkor Park.... and once or twice I even ignored the guy who checks your tickets, until he got up to follow me and I realized what he wanted.  Whoops.  But eventually I got much more lighthearted about it, and would ignore or maybe even stick my tongue out at them as I ride past.  Existing there was a lot less stressful once I changed my outlook on the hawkers.

Biking is totally the way to go

Anyway, I do think it was worth it to come here, although I wouldn't go too far out of my way to go again.  It was cool to see all the temples and Siem Reap is a good town, like I wrote about in the last post.  Now moving forward, 3 days until I leave the heat and temples of SE Asia for the mountains of Nepal!