Cambodia-Angkorean Temples

Some of us arrived by boat from Battambang. Here is the welcoming party –Tim – at the boat ramp just outside Siem Reap. He was obviously delighted to meet up with the group again.

Needless to say, visiting the Angkor Wat was just another one of those childhood dreams come true. I think there is enough written about the Angkorean temples elsewhere that what I say here is not going to add any value.

We all got up early, very early, and went to the park at 4:30am, to see sunrise over the Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, it was another rainy morning. So, we didn't see the sunrise and we could not get a decent photo of the Wat at that time of the morning either. We went back to the hotel for breakfast and return a bit later in better day light.

For the one-day tour, we could only visit three of the temples. Each of the temple or Wat we visited has its own characteristics. Here are some photos taken in Angkor Wat:

Here are some photos taken in and around Bayon Temple: It was a huge Hindu style temple. The restoration work was not as advanced as the Angkor Wat, but massive.

The last one we visited, by no means the least, was the Ta Prohm temple. This one is famous for the huge trees taken roots on the buildings themselves: The picture of a monk entering one of the entrances of the temple was taken during a David Attenborough's filming. The root of one of the massive tree growing on the wall: what does that look like to you? Here is a figurine embedded in amongst the roots:

The archaeological park covers a very large area and includes some very lushly forest country. Here we capture a lone cyclist going in amongst some mature trees on the wet morning:

One day we cycled up to the Western Lake. There was a Wat by the lake side. It was such a warm day that even the monk needed a siesta.

From Siem Reap, we travelled across the border into Thailand....