Siem Reap, Cambodia & The Angor Wat

Words can't even begin to describe the awe-inspiring temples at Angkor Wat.  The enormity of the buildings combined with the detail found on all of the walls, doors and facades are indescribable.  So, I won't even try.  The pictures speak for themselves, if we can ever download them.  What I will add is how we attempted to explore all of the major sites.  Not to be forgotten is the town that we based our trek out of in Cambodia- Siem Reap.  Given the recent history of the Cambodian people who had endured the Pol Pot Regime in which nearly 20% of the population was killed (1.6 million) it is amazing how unbroken their spirits are.  The town is a great little town with cafes, restaurants and shops scattered around everywhere.  We found a nice little guesthouse called Golden Temple Villas which proved to be a great place to book our tuk-tuks and guide for the Angkor Wat tours. 


Day one was an introduction to the temples as we explored some outer ruins called the Rulos Group and Bantay Serei.  The tuk-tuk was ours for the day which was a good thing because it was about 90 degrees and humid, so there was no way we would have been able to walk from temple to temple.  It was hard enough to climb up and down and around the huge structures. 

Day two we decided to hire a guide so that we could gain a better understanding of the history and details of the area.  We began early in the morning with the famous Sunrise at Angkor Wat followed by the Temples at Ta Prohm. 

Ta Prohm is straight out of Indiana Jones with trees growing right up through the temples.  Actually the cover of Tomb Raider the movie with Angelina Jolie was shot at this location.  All of the buildings have roots and limbs climbing in and around the stones.  Interestingly enough, this was left uncut on purpose by the people who restored the temples to show how it looked when they came across the area. 

The next day we were feeling adventurous, and our legs were not completely dead so we rented bikes and did a big loop around the perimeter to see the rest of the temples.  We must have biked about 30 kilometers, but got to see some really cool things at our own pace.  It was definitely worth the sore butts and tired legs.

Enjoy the pictures!!  https://picasaweb.google.com/rayann.torres/Cambodia?authkey=Gv1sRgCKWhsqTsrcn03AE#