Angkor Wat Part I

We made it through the Thailand-Cambodia border crossing yesterday and arrived in Siem Reap (the town outside of Angkor Wat).  We had a bit of culture shock walking around the town because it felt like Rosarito Beach in Mexico (think lots of cheap beer and restaurants that all look the same and are charging exorbitant prices for Western food).  We definitely do not love the town, although it is easy to navigate. We also found out that Cambodia is one of the most expensive countries in this area because they use the US dollar.

Enough of the negative.  This morning we headed to the Temples of Angkor in a tuk tuk and bought a 3 day pass for $40 each.  We toured half of the area in about 5 hours.  Angkor was a former religious city of the Khmer from about the 12th century.  The most iconic structure is Angkor Wat, which is the largest religious structure in the world.  We will see Angkor Wat tomorrow.

Today we saw many other temples in the area with beautiful stone work and impressive structures.  Many of the walls and ceilings are collapsing with some restoration work being done. It was super hot today (about 95 degrees) and we were thankful to have a tuk tuk driving us from temple to temple. 

Some of the statues lining a bridge

Entrance to Preah Khan

Some of the carvings into the walls.

Jeff at Preah Khan

One tuk tuk driver had a hammock in his cab

A temple in a pool surrounded by four smaller pools (that were empty)

The wood is holding up the wall

This reminded me of Olmec from "Legends of the Hidden Temple" (Nickelodeon show from the mid-1990s). I know Ashley will get the connection!

Jeff descending some very steep steps

We finished the trip with a nice cold Angkor beer at our hostel

Tomorrow we will get up early to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  Consider today a teaser for the big reveal tomorrow! That's how we see it!