What's in Angkor Wat???

After previously blogging about the candidates for the next 7 wonders (click me), here I am exploring one of the 21 candidates before the announcement on 07.07.07, Angkor Wat, located in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia. Angkor Wat is one of the most important monument of South East Asian Khmer Empire and the world's largest sacred temples built during the 8th to 12th century. A visit to the place would make you wonder how they were able to come up with structures like this in the 12th century...

Upon arriving in Siem Reap (damage for bus fare is $20-round trip), we contracted a Tuktuk driver to take us around (damage is $22 for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning)... The driver was real friendly and gave us a great tour and advises on how to save money on the tour... Anyway, after booking at the hotel ($40 a night... there are also cheaper low end hotel) and a trip to Cambodian Cultural Village... off we went to Angkor Wat (Travel Tip: If you get your ticket at $20 for the next day at past 4;30 pm, they would allow you to tour Angkor Wat free for the rest of the day instead of buying a two pass day of $40)...

1st Stop was Angkor Wat temple at 4:45 pm which lasted until 6:00 pm... I love the lake fronting Angkor Wat since it's quite big and provides a nice reflection of the clouds and the Angkor Wat Temple. Going inside the temple is a breathtaking experience as it gets better as you get deeper in the temple... (Travel Tip: It's best that you have a comfortable shoes as the walking part occupies the bulk of the tour but as I always says, it's well worth it)... After going around the various climbs, twist and turns of the temple, we went back to try to catch the sunset at the mountain nearby...

Too bad for us was that the clouds was too thick and that the sunset would not be visible anyway so we decided to freshen up a bit for dinner which was at a local buffet restaurant (damage:$12) which also had a show of Cambodian dances and play... It's a unique experience and also nourishing (all you can eat) as well... The show was nice and there were so many foreigners who also came to watch... Just had a walk at the bars near our hotel afterwards... By the way, another travel tip is to buy souvenirs in the market as its much cheaper there...

The next day, we went to Bayon temple where we took an elephant ride (damage: $10) towards the temple... I love the experience of being there riding an elephant (that doesn't really happen often)... Bayon temple features the four faced Buddha and the temple is really big and is quite overwhelming in terms of its picturesque state and the challenge of going up and down through the temple... There are also adjoining temple which you could also visit... The temple is also rich in history and if you have the resources you could hire various locals to tell you the story or buy books regarding this topic...

Ta Phrom temple was next in line, which is situated in a forest and you can see a mix of an old temple and forest with trees growing over some of the temples walls and borders... It gives you an ancient feel as if finding a lost temple in the woods... Incidentally, according to one of the locals, the film Tomb Raider was shot in this temple... The temple is quite deep and may seem endless but it's somehow gives you a satisfying feeling at seeing the beauty of the temple and at the same time see how a forest can grow over such structure...

Still had time so we drop by the Royal Swimming pool, which was actually as big as a lake and really look like a very big lake, maybe they're quite good swimmers just to finish one lap at the Royal swimming Pool... Last was another temple Bantaey temple, which was like a smaller version of the Bayon Temple but still exudes its unique charm among the other temples... There are still a lot of temples within Angkor Wat but I guess visiting the bigger more famous temple has made this trip priceless and memorable... Took the 6 hour trip back to Phnom Penh at 1230 noon onward to our flight back to Philippines the next day...

Before I voted for Angkor Wat, as one of the next 7 wonders (my other vote went to Eiffel Tower, which I was able to visit in 2003), because we have a facility there but after this trip I know that it deserved to stand beside among the world's best... So What's in Angkor Wat? A taste of ancient infrastructure that has managed to stand out over the more modern infrastructures today...

Photos at: http://franckxethee.multiply.com