Angkor Wat was a much anticipated stop on our itinerary, and it did not disappoint! What I didn't expect was the sheer size of the place--it's huge! I didn't know much (or anything, really) about Angkor Wat before visiting it. On the chance that anyone reading this is in a similar boat, Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century as a Hindu temple, then later became a Buddhist temple. Today, the main temple is featured on the Cambodian flag.
Our first sight of Angkor Wat:
A huge man-made moat surrounds the complex.
We obviously didn't take this picture (thanks, Wikipedia!), but it gives you a sense of the size of the complex.
Our tour guide liked taking pictures with our camera, so we finally have a few of us together! In front of the main entrance:
Amazing carvings decorate the complex--all carved by hand, obviously!
Walking from the outer wall to the main complex.
Library located between outer wall and main complex:
The below picture was shot from just in front of the reflecting pond, which is the most popular vantage point for photographing Angkor Wat. As you can see from the green tenting, restoration efforts are currently underway.
Walking around the outside of the main complex...
Can you spot the monkeys below?
The monkeys scavange food from tourists, and this guy got a little too close for comfort! (My freaked-out reaction successfully deterred him from jumping on me!)
As you can see, the steps up to the higher levels of the temple are quite steep--meant to be crawled up on hands and knees as a form of reverence!
More beautiful carvings...
A couple of visiting monks...
View from the one of the upper terraces (luckily some regular steps have been built over the steeper steps to assist tourists in climbing up!)
This level of the complex contains what used to be several pools...
This girl was having her fortune told. The fortune teller gave her the little book that she's holding. She used a stick to pick a page at random, and the fortune teller read her fortune based on her selection. It appeared to be a best two out of three (or maybe even five out of seven if the cards weren't falling in your favor!)
Sanscrit inscription ...
Outside another library...
View from the front of the main complex back towards the reflecting pond and outer wall:
We also went the next morning to watch the sun rise at Angkor Wat -- apparently the only way to really experience the place. It was beautiful, but so crowded that it was difficult to get a picture of the temple without hundreds of tourists' heads in the picture!
2,000 of our new friends ...
Our next stop was Angkor Thom, which we'll save for the next post!
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