The Crown Jewel - Angkor Wat

To finish off our first day at Angkor, we visited the world famous Angkor Wat (I know... you're thinking, "That was only one day?"). Keep in mind, it is not within the central Angkor temples, although it is the central focus of the Angkor area, both now and in the ancient past. It is surrounded by an enormous moat, and is as impressive in person as it is in the pictures.

Unlike most other temples, the main (and really the only) entrance is from the west. It was built by Suryavarman II, who unified Cambodia under Khmer rule over 1000 years ago. It is widely acknowledged to be one of the most magnificent buildings constructed in human history. It, along several others was built by Buddhists as a shrine to Vishnu (a Hindu god), a royal mausoleum, and a physical representation of the Hindu cosmos.

Despite its grand and dominating size, as well as its breathtaking detail, it is, without question, one of the biggest disappointments in a person's life. Allow me to paint a picture for you...

You spend thousands of dollars to make a journey to one of the greatest creations in human history. You spend all day, visiting the surrounding (yet still individually impressive) temples, building up the anticipations. As temple after temple goes by, you find it becomes a bit of an effort to enjoy each temple for its own particular beauty and awe-inspiring nature. You get more and more excited as you get closer to seeing the single attraction you most want to see. You arrive at the temple. You start to walk walk across the large causeway leading to the outer wall. You (with a little difficulty) find the way past the outer wall - not the door you expected, but rather a smaller one to the left or the right. The opportunity to get the greatest photograph of your life is just moments away. You pass through the threshold and lay your eyes upon....

Two giant green tarpaulines covering a large section of each of the two front towers. Also, you couldn't go up to the towers.

At least my new camera lets me take "classic" style pictures, so I could disguise the tarps a little bit.

Driving by Angkor Wat

Ta Prohm

This is one of the best, and while most people don't know it, the most famous of the Angkor temples. Most people know this temple from the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, when Angelina Jolie plucks a flower from the roots of a tree at a "remote" Cambodian temple before falling into... some film studio. This temple is still (mostly) overgrown by the surrounding jungle. Although it has still been cut back, it gives you the feeling of discovering it for yourself.

It is one of the most recent temples, having been built in the 12th Century. Both the centre of the royal city of Rajavihara and a Buddhist temple and monastery, it was one of the largest monuments of the Khmer civilization. The temple is absolutely enormous. Most people approach from the west, although the traditional entrance is from the east (like pretty much every other temple). It is an absolute maze of ruins and is easy to become lost within its walls.

One can do nothing but be awestruck by its beauty and enormity. The overgrowing trees give it the sense that centuries have, in fact, passed by and the Khmer dynasty is a thing of the distant past. I, personally, have never felt so in touch with a piece of ancient history the way I did at Ta Prohm,