Siem Reap, Cambodia, Part 3: Saving The Best For Last

Last day in Siem Reap (and the last day of my solo SE Asia adventure) - and we had saved the best for last.  Which was Angkor Wat (and Angkor Thom, but no one else seems to know what that one is)!  Angkor Wat is likely the most famous temple complex of all the Angkor temples because it is huge, and it is the best-maintained given it's been in continuous use since it was built (aka it's still an active temple today).  

Such pretty sunrise colors

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Woke up at 4AM to go see the sunrise over Angkor Wat - our tuk-tuk driver shuttled us out there in the pitch black morning.  There were so many tourists because it's a really popular thing to do (though it's still super low season so I imagine there are usually more), and it's funny how enterprising locals have risen to the occasion, as there are coffee and breakfast stands galore.  I was a little nervous about missing the sunrise: since it's rainy season, you never know if there will even be a sunrise.  I'd heard multiple stories already of people who'd woken up and hauled themselves out there, just to not be able to see a sunrise at all due to all the cloud cover.

5:30AM; and it's looking promising

Here it comes! 

And here's the sunrise!  A little cloudy, but seriously one of the prettiest things ever 

Sunrise, check. Elephant shirts, check.

• We then headed into Angkor Wat itself for some exploring.  Most tour groups head to breakfast after sunrise, so it's surprisingly pretty empty in the mornings right after the sunrise. My favorite.  Angkor Wat really is in incredible condition given its age - even after seeing 203981203918203 temples, I was pleasantly surprised.

Huge.

And so well-preserved. It was so amazing getting a small glimpse into what all these other temples must have looked like back in the day

Trolling the perimeter of the grounds

This is the main middle tallest tower (there are four smaller ones on each corner of Angkor Wat), which used to be off-limits but now allows tourists in at select times and in limited quantities.

• We had to wait an hour to be allowed into the main middle tallest tower (there is a better name for it, I swear - I just can't remember it) - and then they gave us a badge and let us climb on up.

Climbing the stairs into the main tower

• The tower was huuuuge - it's crazy thinking about the number of these, and all the detail involved!  There was so, so much detail everywhere you looked.  People are kind of amazing. 

Look at all these carvings! The temple was originally Hindu, but later converted to Buddhist

Carvings that covered all the inner walls of the doorways. Can you see all the mini-Gods hidden in the flowers and swirls?

This is me, standing on the second floor of Angkor Wat (i.e. there's a whole other level below me), in front of the main tower. The size of this temple defies belief. 

And just in case that wasn't enough work, around the huge perimeter walls of the entire temple are carvings depicting historical events and battles. And these walls extend forever. Who has this kind of commitment.

• Next, we found our tuk-tuk driver, and he shuttled us over to arguably the second most-famous Angkor temple, Angkor Thom. This was basically a Khmer capital city (the last one) that is enclosed inside walls - inside are a series of incredible buildings, temples, and ruins. 

But first we stopped by the side of the road and watched this monkey eat this coconut. There were monkeys everywhere 

• The most incredible temple inside Angkor Thom is called Bayon - this temple is known for having giant faces all over (216 of them, to be exact!).  There is something kind of menacing yet peaceful in the faces - according to my LP, the look in these faces is supposed to be firm yet gentle enough to keep all the subjects in line. In addition, apparently the faces all kind of look like the face of the king who had the temple built in the first place.

Big temple face!

Towers and faces (and tourists! Guess they all finished eating breakfast) everywhere

Seriously, the number of faces. Crazy.

216 faces. This man was seriously into himself.

Also, many of the carvings were changed slightly over time as the temple was originally Hindu, then turned Buddhist, then turned back Hindu again

I like this temple. I like faces. But not kidding when I tell you it was completely overrun with tourists

And since apparently old-school Khmer people were gluttons for punishment, this temple also had scenes carved around the entire perimeter... 

.....which I tried to pano

• We did try to tour some of the other temples in the Angkor Thom complex other than Bayon, but the heat was oppressive at this point.

This is another gigantor temple in Angkor Thom - but I can't remember any of the facts I read about it 

The only thing I do remember is that the entire Western Wall of this temple is constructed in the shape of a Buddha lying down. A lot of him is missing, but you can vaguely see his giant face lying down pointing left here 

• And there are a couple walls with elephants and lepers and such carved on them that are famous and where the people used to have processionals and parades, but I was beyond caring about photos at this point.  Luckily, we had only saved the two most famous temples for this day, and we were done!  And all before noon. Mainly because we had been at it since 5AM, and also because I had a flight to catch at 2, but it's amazing how much you can get done when you get up freakishly early.

One last parting shot of Bayon

• Back at the hostel, Connie and I said our good-byes - she was planning on staying in Siem Reap for another day, while I had a flight to Taiwan to catch to meet up with my family for my grandma's 90th birthday.  I hate saying good-bye to traveling buddies.

Not that you can totally see my hand and phone in the reflection or anything, but flying over the clouds! 

Getting on the plane, I was beyond excited to go see my family and get a chance to hang with them and visit Taiwan again.  Familiar things are so rare when you backpack, so getting to have them once in awhile is seriously the best.

And at the same time, it marked the end of my solo SE leg - which has truly been one of the most incredible, life-changing experiences ever.  I love Southeast Asia!  There's something about its inherent grittiness, and the fact that things are kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants and touches of complete lawlessness, that excite me and make me totally love it.  You don't feel as safe or coddled, and you feel like you are completely at the mercy of your surroundings. Not to mention the breathtaking scenery, wilderness, sweet people, and unparalleled experiences it offers.  It's so constantly developing that you feel like if you visit in another 5 years, or another 10 years, things will likely be completely different.  It's exciting. I don't know how else to put it.

SE Asia, I will absolutely be back because I adore you.

Until then, Taiwan family time!

Fun Facts of the Day:

• I have a million mosquito bites. I seriously got like 100 on the last day - it's like SE Asia knew I was leaving it.
• Angkor temple tickets are sold in 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day increments. 
• You have to go. Really.

Siem Reap, Cambodia, Part 2: The Ultimate Tomb Raider Temple

Temple exploration, Day 2 commence.  

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Connie and I decided to take a day trip out of Siem Reap to visit a lesser-known, much-less touristy temple called Beng Mealea that she'd heard was amazing.  We hired a tuk-tuk driver to take us there; it was about a 2-hour drive.  I have to admit, one of my favorite parts was the drive itself - it took us through gorgeous Cambodian countryside, tiny little villages, rice fields, and felt like a totally different world from Siem Reap. It was like true local, rural Cambodia.

Tuk-tuk time! 

Rice paddies; honestly the most beautiful crops ever 

There were lots of cows on the drive out 

And local children. A bunch of them waved as we passed by, which = adorable

A man and his field.

• We finally made it to Beng Mealea - it was truly out in the middle of nowhere.  It's another one of those temples where nature has completely overtaken everything, and nothing has been restored.  The difference is this one is super grand, a lot more off-the-beaten-path (therefore not being overrun with other tourists), and generally one of the coolest places I've ever been.  The temple has the same floorplan as Angkor Wat (the largest and most famous of all the temples), but parts of it had completely fallen to ruin. There was a wooden footpath that had been constructed throughout the temple so that you could explore all the parts.

Even with all the ruins, the temple was ridiculously, awe-inspiringly big. It was truly the most amazing place

Connies for scale

Trees everywhere 

And how insane is this pano shot

I didn't know how to stop taking photos of how amazing this place was

Some facade carvings

Root-covered windows 

I can't begin to tell you how huge this place was and how many rambling parts of it you could explore. This temple was like Tomb Raider on crack. Add to that the very few tourists we saw, and it was like exploring it all alone. You really get a small sense of what it must have been like to discover somewhere like this 

Small wooden footpaths you follow

• Then, as we were randomly wandering, we ran into a lady - she was an employee of the temple (was wearing an official shirt and all), and she motioned for us to climb over the fence and leave the footpath/trail entirely. So we did. It was insane. She literally led us down these crazy rock piles, then proceeded to take us on a ridiculous temple adventure. We were basically climbing over huge piles of ruins, tunneling us in and out of broken windows, following small dark passageways inside the actual temple, and scaling moss-covered rocks. It was like a video game. And it definitely felt completely unauthorized - we were not anywhere on or near the constructed path you were supposed to stay on (but the lady was a park official, so we didn't know what was happening).  

Following our lady up a pile of rocks. There was seriously not a single word exchanged. She just kept motioning us to follow her

Um are we allowed to be here

Here is where our lady scurried over a tree trunk and disappeared into a pitch-black doorway

And you could swing on some of the droopy roots

Oh, just climbing over giant cement blocks

• After a sweaty personal version of Tomb Raider, the lady eventually led us back to the set footpath. And demanded $5. Ahhh, now it all made sense.  $5 is actually a lot of money in Cambodia, but Connie and I both agreed it was completely worth it.  It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever done - and I don't think this is something park officials will be able to get by with in 10, 15 years.  It just felt completely unexplored and wild.

And that is where we learned that rules don't really matter and you don't have to stay on the path

Where's Waldo

One last incredible departing shot of the temple

It's so crazy because right near these awe-inspiring, amazing temples and pieces of history are people just living everyday life. Like 20 feet outside, there were a bunch of farm kids and cows running around. 

And then we ran into the most adorable gang of village children, all of whom pulled out completely baller poses

• Back in the hostel, we realized that we had initially booked the hostel because of its pool - and hadn't even used it!  So we had a ridic fun pool sesh 

Best part was they had these floating donkey/reindeers that we rode atop of and raced across the pool

Then we braved a monsoon to go to the night market and purchase these matching shirts. They are the CUTEST - it's an elephant with a backpack taking a selfie with his trunk with the words "Lonely Traveller" on it. 

• Last night of my SE Asian extravaganza - so, so sad!  We went to bed early, however, in order to get up in the super super early morning to go watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  

Fun Facts of the Day:

• Cambodia is pretty corrupt. All of SE Asia is fairly corrupt. On the drive home from Beng Mealea, our tuk-tuk driver had to stop for gas. So he pulled over at a roadside home, where we saw this:

Is that Johnny Walker Black Label on the bottom row?

• He explained that Cambodia is super corrupt and gas prices are controlled by the government and are really high - therefore, tons of people smuggle gas from other countries themselves. And then sell it out of their homes in random displays like this, using very random bottles.  This person had an inordinate amount of empty Johnny Walker bottles.  But you do see these everywhere.