Angkor Wat & Angkor What?

---

Angkor Wat is the largest Khmer temple complex in the world, situated at Angkor, Cambodia, built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.

2:50am we awoke to a clunking sound coming from the air-conditioner.
3.15am we cracked it and turned the air-con off.
3:30am we woke again, this time to the sound of drunks returning home from a night out, presumably in Pub Street.
4:00am the phone alarm chimed for us to rise to meet our Tuk Tuk driver so we could catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.

At 4:45 in the morning the air was already steamy and the streets were almost at bustling point. We took the 15 minute Tuk Tuk ride out to the Angkor front entrance gate and managed to squeeze in front of a bus load of tourists. We each bought a $40 three day pass. Mr Chun Ley (our driver) pulled up his Tuk Tuk at the front of the entrance way to Angkor Wat across the road from the already packed car parking area.

We felt such a sense of exhilaration as we walked across the sandstone causeway through the main entrance of the temple. We picked up speed as we started to glimpse the first signs of light. We squeezed into position by the lily-pond in front of Angkor to get the famous reflection of Angkor Wat in the lily-pond as the sun rises behind it. After an endless supply of photos of the sunrise from every which angle we decided to proceed to explore the temple itself.

We explored what we could. Many areas were blocked off due to restoration work. The front entrance was covered in scaffolding and green mesh.

We reunited with Mr Chun Ley and he took us to the nearby restaurant for bacon, eggs & coffee.

On a full stomach we made our way to Bayon, the Temple of Faces. This was our favourite, along with Ta Prohm, otherwise known as the Tomb Raider temple. Overrun by trees & vines, it was captivating to see the temples in their natural state.

We had a break day the following day, and re-booked our Tuk Tuk driver for 1 day later, this time opting for the sunset version of Angkor Wat.

We only managed to see around 15 of the 300 temples that is said to have been built in the some 400km radius of Angkor.

---