Angkor Tombs

The big draw at Angkor Wat is to wake up very early to see the sunrise over the main temple. As the sun rises you can see the temple and the colorful sky reflected in the waters below. We rented mountain bikes from a local merchant thinking that that would be a good way to get there and also trek around to the other temples in the area. Most other people hired tuk tuk drivers to escort them there and around to the other sites. Angkor Wat is about 5 miles from our hostel, so we planned on getting some exercise! What better way to burn off all the noodles we ate in Vietnam.

We left at 4:30 in the morning with our headlamps strapped to our heads. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that the ticket checkpoint and the ticket office where tickets are purchased are entirely separate places. We got to the check point but had to backtrack a mile or so to actually buy our tickets. This set us back so we didn’t quite make it to the ideal location but we were able to watch a beautiful sunrise from the outside of the exterior moat.

Although commonly known as Angkor Wat, the name of the main temple, the area around Siem Reap is filled with several other large ancient temples. After watching the sunrise we decided to make our way to Preah Khan, which did not open until 7:30. There was a large restaurant constructed out of tents across the street. We grabbed a coffee each and split an Amok, our new favorite food, a green-yellow curry with rice dish. We eyeballed the security guard from the restaurant as he slowly set up his chair where he would be checking passes. At about 7:25 he started letting other people in. We scarfed down our Amok and coffee and made our way to the ancient tomb.

We entered the tomb from the west entrance with only an handful of other people. Unlike Angkor Wat, this temple is not as heavily travelled. Preah Khan is a temple dedicated to Buddha, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. Which is sort of strange because it mixes Buddhist and Hindu ideologies.

The immense corridors are like an unending hall of mirrors. We loved this temple and spent a lot of time here taking pictures. We especially liked a large tree on the east side. The tree’s base is at the top of one one the walls with its roots descending to the ground splitting over 4 large windows. It was still cool and the morning light illuminated the east side.

We then started to make our way to the next temple on our route. Preah Neak Poan. We walked all the way through expecting to see a pool with a small temple in the middle. It was not what I was expecting though, much larger and very similar to first temple we visited. After passing completely through to the other side and walking around the exterior, we realized we had just walked through the north entrance of the Preah Khan, the same temple we were just at. Each temple is setup in a large rectangular shape usually with a moat and wall on the outer most structure. I didn’t realize that this structure would be so large!

After acknowledging our mistake and laughing about it, we again headed to Preah Neak Poan. After a short ride I saw the distinct pond on our right and we started down the trail to the temple, then surprisingly the path took a sharp right angle. We walked closer we noticed the distinct tree growing over four windows and realized we had entered Preah Khan for a third time. From now on I google map everything. I truly underestimated the immensity of this place!

Preah Neak Poan is more like a moat that has a temple. The space can only be reached by crossing a recently constructed long narrow bridge. The large moat, maybe a mile long and a half mile wide, surrounds a small island that contains a small prayer temple with healing pools. You aren’t able to visit the island itself.

We then made our way around the north and east sides of Preah Neak Poan to East Baray. We grabbed lunch around mid-day to escape the heat. As we were sharing some french fires and Angkor branded beer, a young lady came over and was trying to sell Jaimie various items. Most of the merchants Cambodia are pushy, but this women was especially so. Would you like this dress? Shirt? Pants? Shorts? Magnate? Etc. Each time Jaimie would politely decline. But unlike most vendors we could not walk away, we were seated, at a restaurant. She then turned to me and started with her same routine. I frustratingly said “no, please go.” And gesture away. That did not make her very happy. She said “I go when I want to go”, then she left and sat a the next table retelling the story to her friends. I was happy we already had our food but it did make the rest of the lunch a little less comfortable.

East Baray was not even on my top ten list of temples to visit, but but it was still a behemoth. Full size elephants constructed out of stone were at each corner of the rectangular (of course) temple. We walked up what seemed like 6 flights of stairs to the top. At this point it’s the middle of the day and there is very little shade, the heat, I’d estimate is close to 90 degrees.

We bike another mile or so to Ta prohm. This temple was featured in an Indiana Jones movie and Tomb Raider. But we are pretty tired of looking at temples and biking, at this point it’s been almost 10 hours. We decide to head back home to our hostel (Another 5 miles). All in all we ride about 27 miles. And walk probably another 5. Carbs are definitely on the mind as we rest for the next day.

The next day we leave the bikes at home. Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, the two largest sites, will be enjoyed by tuk-tuk. A tuk-tuk is essentially a carriage pulled by a motor bike. Not super comfortable, but a welcome respite from the seat of a mountain bike.

Angkor Wat is beautiful. We make it there before sunrise. Planning to get the classic picture of the temple with the sunrise behind it and the reflection in the pool in front. It’s a a huge complex, much bigger than the others we’ve seen, but their are disproportionately more tourists. Even at 6 am it is difficult to get a picture that does not have someone in the background also taking a picture. I wonder how many vacation pictures we are unknowingly in around the world.

After an hour or so of enjoying the temple we hire another tuk tuk for the short jaunt you Angkor Thom. The outer gates of this are make a square about a mile and a half in each direction. Angkor Thom itself is very beautiful and we almost left after seeing it, if we hadn’t had trouble finding a tuk tuk we might have. Instead, we noticed a large stone structure just to the north. It was the grand palace. My favorite structure we visited that day. The front has a very long raised pathway that lead to several flights of stairs. I can imagine a king giving a speech to the people from the high vantage point a thousand years ago. The signs say this area once held a million people at a time when London was only a small town of 50,000 people. Pretty neat.