"Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman 2nd in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors."
So we headed to Siem Reap on the bus. It was just 6 hours. I know that might sound alot to you, but after doing 15 hour journeys here and there, 6 sounds like such a dream. We get there, try and book in to the hotel that Mia reserved a room for the week before, but then they said it was full. It's really frustrating because all she did was laugh and say it's full so we can't have a room. But it's just their way. You can't get angry at it. They're such nice people. So anyway we (or should I say Mia) kicked up a small fuss and then the woman helped us check in somewhere round the corner but then said we could use all the same facilities at the hotel. It was such a nice place so we were a bit gutted. It was so busy everywhere due to a water festival going on. Anyway we got checked in to our new room, which seemed to be still in the midst of being built, and headed back to the nicer place for a complimentary massage. Mia wasn't too keen as her woman fancied her. Haha. She did get a bit touchy feely though. And they were feeding us something which we didn't have a choice about eating...
Anyway, to the good bit. Angkor Wat. I can't really explain it to be honest. You can't explain just how cool it is there. I didn't really know what to expect and didn't realise i'd be THAT fascinated with it. But jeez. Even as we were rocking up there on the first day in our tuk tuk. I just got tingles up my spine. There's just something so brilliant about being there. We got a 3 day pass and went every day. Mia did really well as she got her bug back again. So we did a few hours here and there. You could spend a week there exploring. And the bit with the huge tree. It just stunned me. Loved every minute of it. Especially Mia nearly being sick behind the tree named 'nux-vomica'. Classic.
The bit with the huge tree was so good. It was all so good but this was my favourite. I won't go in to the names of all the sites, partly because I've left my SE asia book elsewhere and can't remember all the names. But you just got to know it was brilliant. This tree had grown over the building. I think this is where tombraider was filmed but that's not why it was my favourite. The eery settings, with the really loud noise coming from the wildlife around us. It was all just great. Look. Just look how big that tree is. Completely engulfing the temple. Is that the right word? I don't know. You get the picture.
So one morning we got up at 4am and went to watch the sunrise. It didn't actually rise behind Angkor Wat like most people expected i think. The mood was cool. Everyone waitng there. There were hundreds with their torches. We didn't bother with that. But on our way back we caught where the sun was hiding and saw a gorgeous sunrise with no1 else about.
And then later that day we returned and caught sunset in a hot air balloon. Well it wasn't hot air, it was some electrical device but you get the picture. Was pretty excited by it all as you can see by the pics haha.
Anyone who goes to Asia can't miss this out. It's simply fantastic.
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