When one travels through Cambodia, seeing Angkor Wat is not merely a suggestion, it is often the purpose of that travel. It is the South East Asia number one "must do" in many guide books. This "city of temples" has seen centuries of prosperity and peace, as well as civil war and the atrocious reign of the Khmer Rougue. While Cambodia continues to emerge strong and resilient from the terrible events that happened in the 1970's and 80's, Angkor Wat stands as a beacon of hope and pride for its poeple.
We found ourselves in Siem Reap, the city in which one stays to do the exploration of this 8th wonder of the world. After spending weeks paying 1 - 2 dollars for a full meal and 5 - 10 dollars for a decent hostel room, the price of admission into Angkor Wat can seem staggering. $20 for a day pass, $40 for a three day pass, or $60 for a seven day pass. But, rest assured, it is well worth it.
After traveling through Thailand and Laos, we were what many travelers refer to as "wat-ed out." You can only see so many temples before they begin to lose their grandeur. Because of this, we were happy for the option of the one day pass - regardless of our guide book yelling at us to do the three day pass or more.
The nice thing about the day pass is that you can purchase it the day before at 5pm or later, still go to the temple for the sunset, then return the next day. Colin and I rented a couple of bikes, rode the 4ish kilometers to the ticketing area, purchased our tickets, then rode the rest of the way (around another 4 km) to Angkor Wat.
The first thing we saw was hordes of other tourists doing the same thing we were, but that didn't detract from the beauty and awe that this temple holds. It is the largest religious structure ever built.
The evening we arranged for an early tuk tuk to pick us up the next morning from our hostel and take us to Angkor Wat for the sunrise. We left around 5am and arrived to see the other 1000 people with the same idea clamoring to get the best spot to set up their tripods for the perfect sunrise picture.
We stuck around long enough to see the dawn arrive, then left the crowds and journeyed into the temple itself. It was a wonderful way of seeing it as we felt that we had the whole place to ourselves. Indeed, there were only a handful of other tourists around.
After spending about an hour in the temple and its courtyards, we returned to the front entrance to see the huge crowds that continued to gather, waiting for the sun to peak over the monument.
The best part: we were still able to get the sunrise shot after exploring the almost empty temple.
After seeing Angkor Wat, we got back in the Tuk tuk and did a tour of about 9 more temples. We saw Bayon, which is a temple with hundreds of smiling Buddha heads facing in each direction. Ta Prohm, the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed showed us the power that nature has over man made structures.
The amount of work and artistry that went into the construction of these ancient building is truly remarkable. Whether you enjoy ancient architecture, intricate and vast stone artwork, cultural history, or seeing the battle between man and nature, Angkor Wat is a destination that is worth the journey and lives up to its magnificent reputation.
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