We went for it in a big way on our first day, diving head first into the former Kingdom of Angkor an hour before sunrise. We thought we'd be amongst the first to get to the temple of Angkor Wat, and technically we were. Well equal first at least, with around a thousand other early morning thrill seekers. The prize is the picture perfect shot of the sun rising behind the towers of the temple, with a crystal clear reflection in the pond in the foreground. Unless its cloudy and hazy as it was on this occasion, and the sun doesn't come out to play for another hour or two. The result is that we may not have got that perfect photo, but we did see Angkor Wat reveal itself slowly inch by inch as daylight crept in, and it was a truly breathtaking experience.
Once sunrise was over, the crowd on the shore of the lake quickly dispersed and headed to explore the vast temple. Thankfully it was still only 7am and a few hours until the big tour bus tours arrived, so you can still have many parts of the temple all to yourselves. We began by exploring the outer third wall galleries in an anticlockwise direction, with four different detailed seventy metre long carvings on all four sides, all with intricate stories to tell. By 8am we were ready for a break for breakfast which we took outside of the complex itself, where the choice and price were better value. We then explored the interior of the second and first walls and all their glories, and finished on the first floor as the second floor was closed for cleaning .
I'm certainly not skilled enough with a pen to really get across just how amazing Angkor Wat is, even though it was built over a thousand years ago. But I will say this - we often throw the word 'amazing' around quite liberally and without much thought. Angkor Wat has changed that for me and I'll be using it differently from this day forth.
We had time and the energy to visit another temple called xxx afterwards. Though much smaller and a little worse for wear, it has a wonderful position in the middle of thick jungle, which feels like has decided to take it over for itself to enjoy. It's well worth an hour to stroll around, and we found a wonderful fresh fruit stall in amongst the ruins. Plus there is a pretty pond with good views across the main road.
Back in Siem Reap after a day bashing your feet around temples, you understand why there are so many massage parlours in town. Under the recommendation of our guest house owner we splashed out a little and had an hours session at Frangapini Spa. Wow. If I hadn't spent the day witnessing Angkor Wat for the first time, I may have used the A word. As it is, I'll just say it was the perfect way to end a very special day.
No comments:
Post a Comment