How could I go to Cambodia and not write a blog post about Angkor Wat?! I can’t, so I’m writing one.
For those of you who don't know what Angkor Wat is (who are you?) It's a famous temple which can be found in Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom was once a great Khmer city and includes a whole host of temples & sites of historical interest. Angkor Wat is in fact so important to Cambodia, it appears on their flag.
We booked a sunrise tour so that meant getting up at 4am. Our guide was called Vesa Rouen, he first took us to get our tickets, it cost $37 for the day (super expensive, but you just gotta pay it). They take your picture, I look extremely tiered, but to be fair it was 4:30am!
Then we made our way to Angkor Wat for sunrise. Even though it was dark, it was hot! We walked to a lake just in front of Angkor Wat, so we could see the reflection of it during sunrise. Unfortunately, sunrise didn’t really happen, but it was super impressive to see even if there wasn’t a pretty sky in the background. We spent the first part of the morning walking round the temple. It was built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. The architecture was just amazing, incredible to think that people built this! I also got blessed by a monk who gave me a bracelet and prayed good things over my life whilst spraying water on my face. After Angkor Wat we stopped to have breakfast before heading to three more temples. There are 72ish temples in Angkor Thom, we visited 4; Angkor wat, Ta Phrom (where tomb raider was filmed), the secret temple and The Bayon. My favourite was the Bayon because its made with 37 faces. It was so beautiful. Ta Phrom was amazing as well because tree roots were part of the temple, intertwining with the bricks and stone. The secret temple was beautifully quiet, like a deafening silence, no one was there so we had it all to ourselves.
I also interviewed our guide about his fathers experience during the Khmer rouge regime. It was amazing to hear, almost first hand what it was like. He explained that every time his father tells his story he cries because the memories are awful.
Angkor Wat was one of the main reasons why I chose to volunteer in south east Asia, so I am super grateful to have been able to see one of the man-made wonders of the world.
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