Skip to main content

Angkor temples pt.1

Today was the first day we went to see the famous, UNESCO world heritage site, Angkor. Note, Ankgor Wat refers to one of the temples specifically (which we are seeing at sunrise tomorrow!)

Day started with a nice breakfast of eggs benedict, the delicious fruit  was extra!


Our tuk-tuk driver took us around 6 temples today. Roads often do not have any markings, but people drive sensibly, so the ride is quite enjoyable. Essentially a carriage attached to a motorcycle.



It is technically incorrect to refer to every site in Angkor as a temple, since some of them were also universities (but admittedly the term is convenient, hence we will also use it).

We saw 6 temples today, of different historical background and style. Most of them were from late 12th century, and, in many cases, started out as Hindu temples but later converted to Buddhist shrines.

The intricacy of detail (eg carvings) is amazing, especially when considered against the sheer scale and size of the buildings. The work required to build these in the jungle must have been staggering!

We’ll let photos speak for themselves.















One of the security guards was kind enough to take photos of us and suggested lots of great spots. His mastery of iPhone panorama feature was quite impressive! I wish we took his name. Actually, people have been really friendly and welcoming. Amazing experience so far.




Comments

Unknown said…
Amazing photos and a good write up. What is the temperature like?
Keen to see photos of the Angkor Wat temple you will be seeing tomorrow at sunrise.
A sunrise /sunset photo of any place is awesome.
Thanks for this update, M & R:-)
Dad
Roman said…
Temperatures are high! Low of about 27C at night and up to 38C during the day!

Popular posts from this blog

Kobe and Koyasan

After travelling via the super-fast Shinkansen train, we arrived at Shin-Kobe station (‘Shin’ prefix meaning something like ‘new’) and enjoyed spending two days here. Felt good to use the same hotel as a base for consecutive days! We had a nice time exploring the city, which also had a Chinatown district! It had felt perhaps more business-like than Fukuoka, and obviously we were keen to try the famous Kobe beef. A tip we had read that we would be happy to pass on - many restaurants (at least those offering the specialty Wagyu beef in Kobe) offer the same menu at lunch, but at half-price. Accordingly, we tempered our carnivorous desires until lunch the following day, when we had an amazing meal, and at a very reasonable price! Our lunch was at a small (6 people capacity!) Teppanyaki style restaurant. The was really friendly, and kept making jokes throughout. And it was seriously the best beef we have ever had! After the amazing lunch, we went to explore the unusual Carpentry Tools M...

Kyoto: Cherry blossoms, temples and samurai class

Writing this update from the amazing Japanese bullet-train (Shinkansen), on the way to Hiroshima. We spent 4 action-packed days in Kyoto. Luckily, our arrival still coincided with prime cherry blossom-viewing time, and it was really amazing to see the trees covered in this delicate, precious layer of white/pink. This magical ‘mist’ greatly added to whatever we were seeing - temples or nature! We did 2 separate hikes,  that were connected to Chion-in temples and Fushimi Inari Shrine (best known for the orange arches). Some good views, extending as far as the skyscrapers of Osaka! Japan is clearly laid-out, so long walks were very pleasant. We explored the Imperial park gardens, and also the Nijo castle. Both were significant locations from a historical perspective, with Kyoto being the seat of power for nearly 500 years - before eventually the Edo Period ended, and the capital was moved to Tokyo in 1868. That’s an all-too-brief, hopefully not too inaccurate summary... any corr...