Angkor Wat - Part 2

The second day touring the temples at Angkor was just as impressive as the first.  As per many peoples' suggestions, we decided to get to Angkor Wat for the "sunrise" which typically takes place between 5:30 and 6:00am.  I say "sunrise" because it was a bit of a bust for us, getting up at 4:45, leaving the hostel at 5:00 by tuk tuk, (we had an appointment with an awesome driver who had driven us around the day before) and patiently waiting at the lotus pond with a few hundred other anxious tourists.  Lo and behold, the sun did rise as we suspected it would, its just that it did so behind layers of impenetrable clouds.

Angkor Wat at "sunrise"

The other people there for photos

Angkor Wat complete with scaffolding

We got the jump early on seeing the rest of the temples though, getting up and leaving before the rest of the tourists seemed to catch on that there would be no spectacular sunrise.  Angkor Wat was truly impressive too, but our most favorite temples were yet to come.

Tuk tuk everlasting

Angkor Thom is another part of the enormous temple complex that has many insanely beautiful sites within extra long walls.  Although the main temple itself is not as large as Angkor Wat, Claire and I both found some of the structures within its walls even more awe inspiring.  The walls of the Anchor Tom measure nine full kilometers per side enclosing an ancient city of an estimated one million people at a time when London's population was a comparatively paltry 50,000.  The Bayon structure, our favorite part, was built near the end of the twelfth century and features 54 giant towers famously decorated with 216 enormous smiling faces.  The Bayon features 1.2 km of bas-reliefs incorporating more than 11,000 carved figures.  It is important to note that only religious structures were built of this stone at the time.  Personal dwellings were typically made of wood because stone could only be used to house the gods, a mixture between Hindu, and later Buddhism which took over the previously Hindu temples.

One of the four gates to Angkor Thom

One of the faces at Bayon (stone faces)

Each tower has four faces

Another favorite part of Anchor Thom was the "Terrace of the Elephants."  This was a 350m-long public ceremonial stand which was also used as a base for the king's grand audience hall.  The terrace is decorated with parading elephants at both ends and along its entire length.

Terrace of Elephants

You can see the elephants carved into the side here

We wrapped up our two day tour with another one of our favorite sites of our entire trip, Ta Prohm.  This is the temple at Angkor that typifies what foreigners imagine before they come here.  Set apart from Angkor Thom, we were awed by the stunning architecture of an ancient civilization, combined with the beauty and power of the jungle.  The photos do a better job that my words at explaining.