What? I mean Wat!

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So today was the big day... we finally went to see Angkor Wat (and yes, it was just as beautiful as the pictures said it would be). We woke up at 4:15 am and headed by bus to the checkpoint, which was about 25 minutes away. From there, we went in a hot air balloon to watch the sun rise over the temple complex, which was really cool. We have some great pics which, if I can make this Cambodian computer recognize our camera, I'll try to upload shortly.

After the balloon ride, we went to the actual complex, where our guide told us about the history of the entire Angkor region. We spent about 2 hours at Angkor Wat and then headed over to Angkor Thom where we saw the Faces of Bayon (just like in the documentary we watched before we left!). Inside one of the buildings was a statue of Buddha and Amy and I took part in a little worship ceremony by lighting incense and placing it in front of the statue. Really cool.

After the temple, we came back to Siem Reap and had lunch at this little place (Blue Elephant I think it was called). Huge portions + fresh watermelon drinks and desert for $15 between the two of us. Not bad at all.

Now we're back at the hotel, where Amy's having a little nap. I'm just down the road at an Internet cafe (Pentium 75s!) and writing this blog. Tonight, we'll head back over to the Angkor complex to watch the sunset over the buildings and take a few more photos. Of course, we'll go shopping after that and then come back to the hotel.

Tomorrow morning we're going to see the floating village by boat, after which we'll head back to the hotel, get our stuff and then make our way by bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We'll check in again tomorrow night, so stay tuned!

Rudi & Amy

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Photos

Sunrise over Angkor
This was a great way to watch the sunrise! The hot air balloon took us up for about 15 minutes so that we could watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. We have other pics of the balloon that we can share later.

The Bridge to Angkor Wat
Amy and I standing in front of the bridge leading into Angkor Wat.

Angkor
The beautiful temple complex of Angkor Wat lies straight ahead.

Faces of Bayon
Here's a pic of Amy and I beside one of the large faces at the Temple of Bayon, inside Angkor Tom.

Giant Trees
Another image of Amy and I - in Angkor Thom again, but at a different temple that had been destroyed by these giant trees. Restoration efforts are underway, but these trees are absolutely everywhere. They take hundreds of years to get to this size, so the people running the show are being very careful not to destroy the trees by rebuilding the entire complex.