Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom (Angkor Part 3)

We started at 5 a.m. today because we wanted to witness the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We followed the flow of people and positioned ourselves in front of one of the water basins with a view of the five towers.

After successfully defending our spot in the front row against the Chinese invasion, we unfortunately couldn't directly see the sun rise above the temple as it was slightly cloudy. But the sky was still shining in violet and red light.

Then we entered the interior of the 12th-century Hindu temple, which is the largest sacred building in the world. It took 30 years to build under King Suryavarman II.

We walked through the long galleries, whose walls were decorated with flat reliefs on an area of 1200 square meters. They tell the tale of the king's victorious deeds.

It is believed that he built Angkor Wat quite arrogantly as his mausoleum.

Later, the temple was converted into a Buddhist sanctuary. Since monks continued to live here even after the plundering by the Siamese in 1431, Angkor Wat fell into disrepair less than other temples in Angkor.

After breakfast and a lunch break, we continued in the afternoon. First, we went to Ta Prohm temple, also known as the "Jungle Temple," which gained fame through the movie Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie.

When it was rediscovered and restored by the French in the 19th century, they decided not to remove all the plants that had grown on and around the stones.

Banyan trees with huge roots and strangler figs grow between the stones and have caused some parts of the temple to collapse.

Then we continued to Angkor Thom. In the former royal city, over a million people lived in the 12th century. In the center of this city stands the Bayon temple.

It has 49 towers, each with four faces smiling down at the visitors.

There are flat reliefs on the walls depicting mythological scenes and everyday life in the Khmer Empire. We found the turtle biting a man's buttocks particularly funny.

Next to Angkor Thom, there was a Buddhist altar where a monk sat and performed blessings. After our tour guide gave him a gift (which we had to hold together with the monk for a photo, which made us somewhat uncomfortable), he sang a song and sprinkled us with water.

For the sunset, we took a wooden boat on the moat around Angkor Thom. We also got to taste palm wine, but it didn't quite suit our taste.