Andrea and I had a very brief day and a half at Angkor Wat three years ago (see previous post here) and never thought we would be able to return so soon but we had the opportunity to return with Brian and Bobbi as they wanted to see and experience this amazing world heritage site. Obviously there is so much that can be said (and has been) about the many thousand year old ruins surrounding Siem Reap (the town closest to Angkor Wat - which is actually only one of many ancient temple ruin complexes), but having three days to explore the magnificent ruins truly was an experience to treasure.
We stayed at Pavillon Indochine which was a fantastic place. Read my review here.
Highlights included Bayon (the ruins with the famous faces) and all its hidden nooks and crannies, Banteay Kdey and its straight as an arrow length, Ankor Thom and the famous trees, and of course the huge Angkor Wat where we stayed and lingered until dark after all the tourists had left.
Nose to Nose at Bayon.
How many faces can you find?
The famous tree at Angkor Thom.
Roots...
When you approach Angkor Wat, you don't realize the true size and scope. This aerial picture above (which I did not take) also doesn't do it justice but you start to realize this is a big place...and then when you see the perfect symmetry and scope of the corridors (See photo below), it's impossible not to appreciate how this building was designed and built a thousand years ago. Truly impressive!
Banteay Srei
Lowlights – coming in the high season and having to experience everything with so many others (see photo above). When Andrea and I came before it was the low season and we literally had some whole complexes to ourselves. The other lowlight was that Brian picked up a stomach bug as we arrived in Cambodia that kept him home one day with a fever/stomach upset that severely limited his eating the entire remaining 4-5 days of their time with us. He was an amazing trooper and other than the one day in bed, kept going with us, determined to see as much as possible. Thankfully (thank you to those of you who prayed for him) he made a quick recovery when back in the US. Duncan
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