Visiting Angkor Wat & The Surrounding Temples
As I wrote in my previous post, I had the privilege of being able to experience Siem Reap in Cambodia. I wanted to share a little bit about what it was like to see this amazing site.
How I booked the tour
Through the hotel, I was able to secure a rate that would take me in a remorque (which I will picture below), a driver, and a guide all for 50 USD. The guide spoke completely fluent English and if you would like his contact details feel free to reach out! In my opinion, this is an outrageously good deal to spend the day exploring such a historic site.
The Tour
Departure was south of 5 am in order to see the sunrise. Breakfast was not open (phenomenal, more about that next post) so I thought I would get hungry later in the day, but I didn't! Waiting outside the lobby was my driver for the day and the guide who was extremely friendly the whole day.
We headed first to the ticket office where I purchased my day pass. We proceeded on the short 5-minute drive to Angkor Wat where we had to walk across the moat. No, I'm not Jesus walking across the water, there was a bridge. Once we went inside one of the five gates Angkor Wat came into sight!!!
One word, speechless. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but the sunrise lasted the good part of an hour (maybe 45 mins).
Once it was light the guide took me around back to go inside Angkor Wat. Before I let the pictures speak the attention to detail of every item that was used to build Angkor Wat is outrageous. To think it took north of 200,000 people to build this structure and years is absurd.
As much as I could sit here and try to describe to you what Angkor Wat is like there is no point. Before I went my therapist told me there was a special energy about Cambodia. You have to go and feel the energy to understand Angkor Wat. Pictures don't do it justice in the slightest.
We proceeded outside to meet up with the driver and head over to the next temple, Bayon.
Bayon Temple
Bayon temple is a lesser-known temple than Angkor Wat but debatably more beautiful to some. Bayon is approximately a 10-minute remorque from Angkor Wat, a very peaceful ride at that. The guide showed me around and I was able to walk inside! First, these are the view from inside the gate.
We then proceeded inside to look at the actual temple itself.
The history and attention to detail are outrageous!
Tomb Raider Temple
Tomb Raider Temple was the last temple I would visit and if you have seen the movie then you might recognize some of the pictures beneath. I found Tomb Raider to be beautiful but by the time I got there, it was filled with tourists sadly. Out of all the temples, this one felt the most commercialized.
After Tomb Raider Temple we headed back to the remorque, stopped at Browns Coffee, and headed back to the Lotus Blanc Resort (more on that soon).
Final Thoughts
Seeing these temples sent an energy through my body like no other I had ever experienced. I had a terrific guide that I would love to see again when I came back that taught me a lot about the rich history of Cambodia and the war that occurred previously. One day I would love to return and see this place again but if you are reading this I cannot recommend enough to go and visit. Trust me, it's worth it!
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