Exploring the Temples of Angkor

So.. the last time I wrote I was in Sihanoukville, Southern Cambodia. We ended up renting bikes there and riding to a beach much farther away than the more ''popular'' ones. It was well worth it - we were by ourselves most of the day relaxing on the beach.

We spent one more night in the capital before heading up to Siem Reap, where I now sit!

We bought 3 day passes for the Temples of Angkor - as we heard purchasing one day passes ''was a crime''. We hired Chea, a tuk tuk driver, to take us around the temples for 2 days. He is super nice and a great driver, especially considering how bumpy the roads are.

On our first day we left our guest house at 5 am to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Before coming here, I didn't really know what to expect from these temples.. but after arriving, I know that they far surpassed any idea that I had in my head.

Here's my brief history lesson on the temples of Angkor:

Basically back in the day, by this I mean between the 9th and 13th centuries, a bunch of ''god kings'' ruled the land. Using all of their wealth and labour force they built these temples to glorify not only themselves, but also their ancestors. I look at it as a kind of competition!

In my opinion, Suryavarman II won! He's the guy who built Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the most massive building I have ever seen and I have NO IDEA how this place was built so long ago. It is still considered the largest religious building in the world. WOW. I was more than impressed.

In this same day we visited quite a few more temples, including the one that tomb raider was filmed in. It was really neat. We also went to the Bayon, which is known for the many faces in the stone. There are a number of theories on what the faces on the stone are or mean, but no one really knows... Hmmmmmm.

On our second day, we checked out another group of temples known as the Roluos Group. They were much older than the first temples we visited.. but amazing all the same! In the evening we wanted to see sunset at Angkor but it was raining (boo). We did, however, manage to visit the Landmine Museum - it was well worth the REALLY bumpy road... and it put some facts and figures on the problem here in Cambodia...this is amazing as well... but not in a good way.

We catch a plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tomorrow. I'm super excited to visit Malaysia - but at the same time, I am shocked at how fast our trip has gone by. WOW.

TL