Angkor What???

I arrived at one of the highlights of this trip… Angkor Wat. The area of Angkor has hundreds of temples of which the main sight is Angkor Wat. To see the temples I rented a bike and took a 40 km roundtrip around the main temples. I started with the smaller temples first, which were already pretty impressive. The nice thing about the temples of angkor is that most of them are still covered with trees, creating a mystic athmosphere. Huge trees grow on top of buildings and throuout the temples. Early restorations already removed all vegetation but during the brutal civil war in Cambodia the temples were reclaimed by the jungle. Bad for the temples, but beautyful in a visitors eye. Most of the temples in Angkor were built about 900 years ago. Especially Ta Prohm has some crazy trees growing over it and was setting for the movie Tomb Raider.

The heart of Angkor Thom is the temple Bayon. This is one of the last temples build before the decline of the Angkor civilization.

And eventually there it was… Angkor Wat, the mother of all temples! You enter the the gate of the outer wall and all of a sudden you are lithified by this stunning peace of symetry. Deepest respect was sparked in me due to it’s shere size and beauty.

Angkor Wat is not only striking in size, but also there are detailed carvings everywhere on the walls of the temple as you approach it. More stunning views were revealed when climbing up to the top of the temple.

Angkor Wat is worth a trip on it’s own. It is unbelievable and I am already looking forward to return…