Thailand & Cambodia - Day Five - Angkor Wat
Today was about the sunrise - a 5am start to settle into position and observe the hues evolve during the course of the dawn. Pictures never do it justice and again, the site was busy with tourists for this spectacular light show.
Angkor Wat is the largest of the temples within the complex with impressive views of Khmer architecture at every turn.
Driving away from Angkor Wat is the South Gate to the former capital Angkor Thom lined on both sides of the bridge by 54 stone figures that depict a Hindu myth that I couldn't really work out. Some of the busts had been replaced as the originals had been desecrated during ongoing battles between the Buddhists and Hindus.
The road leads onto the Victory Gate en route to the Bayon Temple.
This is Bayon Temple, what I considered as the most impressive of the Temples I visited within Angkor Thom. Once again, hoards of tourists took a slight edge off the experience. The stone face carvings have been looking out across the complex for around 800 years.
These stone wall carvings or bas-reliefs portrayed scenes from battles fought through the height of the Khmer dynasty. They were utterly fascinating.
This is Ta Prohm, the setting for Angelina Jolie's Tomb raider. I've not seen Tomb raider. So this was of no consequence to me.
I walked round and once again admired the wonderful Khmer architecture with passing tourists intent on getting 'that' picture.
The final temple was Thommanon, again impressive and much less touristy allowing a walk round in relative peace.
The celestial show had reached its zenith and the assembled crowd began to disperse heading for a wander round Angkor Wat.
There were a few primates knocking around the Temple grounds.
Angkor Wat is the largest of the temples within the complex with impressive views of Khmer architecture at every turn.
The road leads onto the Victory Gate en route to the Bayon Temple.
This is Bayon Temple, what I considered as the most impressive of the Temples I visited within Angkor Thom. Once again, hoards of tourists took a slight edge off the experience. The stone face carvings have been looking out across the complex for around 800 years.
These stone wall carvings or bas-reliefs portrayed scenes from battles fought through the height of the Khmer dynasty. They were utterly fascinating.
This is Ta Prohm, the setting for Angelina Jolie's Tomb raider. I've not seen Tomb raider. So this was of no consequence to me.
I walked round and once again admired the wonderful Khmer architecture with passing tourists intent on getting 'that' picture.
The final temple was Thommanon, again impressive and much less touristy allowing a walk round in relative peace.
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