A Day & Sunrise at Angkor Thom

The Temples of Angkor Thom...the largest religious structure in the world and the pride of Cambodia! This 10 square kilometer temple complex is definitely not to be missed when traveling in Cambodia and is the sole purpose for many travelers to even make their way to the country. You could spend weeks exploring the expansive grounds and hundreds of temples...Alysha and I had a day! With such a small amount of time, we thought it would be best to hire a tour guide and set out early in the morning to see only the three most popular temples. 

First stop: Bayon Temple

Front Gate

This temple is most known for the 4 enormous faces of Buddha that can be seen sprinkled throughout the grounds, standing guard facing in all four directions: North, South, East, and West. Each one representing Compassion, Sympathy, Charity, and Equality.

The four faces of Buddha

This was also the site where we ran into this group of people dressed in Traditional Cambodian Apsara costumes...

Beginning my new obsession of becoming an official Apsara Dancer...It only takes a year of training and extremely bendable fingers. If the American Job system fails me upon my return, I might just jump a flight back to Cambodia and sign up! Not too bad of an option I think! I've already started practicing...

2nd Stop of the Day: The Temple of Ta Prohm or "Forest Temple"

This temple was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. It is known for the enormous ancient trees that have spread their roots right over, on, under, and through the buildings of the temple. Some of you might recognize it from some scenes in the Angelina Jolie movie "Tomb Raider". I'll just let the pictures do the talking for this one. 

Last Stop: Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat or "Big Temple" is the largest and most well known of all the temples in Angkor Thom. You see images of this temple everywhere you go: on the National Flag, currency, buildings, shirts, stamps, etc. It is easily the most recognizable image of Cambodia. And its not hard to see why. It is a massive three level temple with five huge towers on top. It was originally built for the king Suryayarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city of the Khmer empire. 

Angkor Wat Temple

Main Tower of Angkor Wat

Depiction of Apsara Dancers at Angkor Wat

Alysha and I jumped in a Tuk Tuk a few days later at 4:00 in the morning to catch the sunrise of the main temple at Angkor Wat. We got there in plenty of time to join the throngs of Asian tourist prepared with their plethora of cameras, tripods, and all the accessories, along the bank of the pond just in front of the temple. It was a slow sunrise, but a very beautiful sight to see!