Angkor Wat Adventures

After nearly 11 months in this country, I finely made it to the only thing most people ever visit in this country.  The world renowned  ANGKOR WAT!  Aka, that really big stone temple in Cambodia a neighbor to that other really big temple featured in Tomb Raider back before brangelina was a word.

My buddy Carly (college friend, currently teacher English in Thailand) came to visit so we made the trek up north.   See some photos of our adventures below!

Can you find me?  ...  That is right, I am not in this picture.  This amusing tour was spotted just as we were leaving Phnom Penh.  I laughed so hard.  There were about fifty of these.

Look at the mirror in the bathroom.  It was striking because it was outside, not your normal reflection.

Made it to Angkor Wat!  This was on the causeway with our million closest friends :)  I may have done a little dance when we arrived out of excitement to not be in a bus... I mean to see the temples.

Inside Angkor Wat.  Impressive to think it was built by human hands.

Wishing we had a selfie-stick... Not...  Inside the wat!

Very steep stairs up to the top, ish, of Angkor Wat.  We did not climb these because they are now limited to just a few people per day and I had no helmet to protect my head when I fell backwards from the narrow steps :)

Sunset!  This was about the only impressive view from the highly acclaimed 'sunset at Angkor Wat'

The colors there were striking.  With the light and dark of the stone, bright green, and many blues of the sky visually, this place just popped.

Many of the bas-reliefs have these blocks missing.  Supposedly they were taken by invaders because they contained information about treasure of some kind (or so the book said).

This is how all the grass around the place was cut.  Of course, as usual, I was almost more fascinated with the 'unseen' people that keep up the place then with the actual world heritage site.  Could you imagine cutting all your grass with the scythe?  My knees hurt just looking at it.

Carly in the hallway!  In between history lessons from our guide book, I also learned about tall culture and the inner-workings of NCAA basketball.  It was a very educational trip.

Karen in the hallway!  Why not jump for joy?

Another temple selfie!  I think this was at Bayon, or the temple with all the faces.  When it was the center of power, the faces were meant to intimidate when people came to visit the ruler.

One of the many faces.  We look alike, no?

This temple was call Bophuan (or something like that)  It reminded us of  Teotihuacan in Mexico because it was a large pyramid type shape.  It is known for that large elevated causeway you see over my left shoulder.  What a view! 

Carly's plug for the Lonely Planet book!  It was a great tour guide for us, thanks Albert and Sarah!

I call this, tourist model.

This was a very un-visited temple which made it much more fun to poke around...

Carly made a friend!

This is Ta Phrom, or the Tomb Raider Temple.  The jungle and the temple are one :)

Did I do that!!?!?!?!

This was one of the most colorful temples given all the various things growing on the stones.

And, again, couldn't help but photograph the guy responsible for removing some of the stuff growing on the stones.

 This was just one day of temple visiting (well 1.5 days)!  More coming soon!  As you can see, it is a very expansive complex spanning many years of history and different rulers.  Definitely, worth the trip!