The alarm clock rings at 4 o'clock. Do you have school or work? No, we're going to see the sunrise!
Still half asleep, we were loaded into a van with fifteen others and headed to buy tickets and then to the temple complex. We reached the main temple and the symbol of Cambodia, Angkor Wat, in time for the sunrise. With its three towers, the rising sun in between, and the reflecting lake in front, one might quickly dismiss the structure as 'kitschy', but it has something venerable and sublime that sets it apart, and you can only watch in fascination as the sun rises between the towers.
Angkor Wat at sunriseAs it slowly became brighter, we visited the temple from the inside. Being over a thousand years old, one inevitably wonders how the people back then managed to transport the stone to this location, stack it, and create a work of art out of it. Sandstone was used as the material, so the temple appears very dark, as time has darkened the building material and the entire temple would have to be sanded to make it bright again. An ancient libraryAfter this first temple, we were taken to the Bayon Temple. It is very different from Angkor Wat, it is a kind of pyramid made up of several towers. The special thing here were the huge faces that were carved into the towers, but every other stone was also different from the others due to slight decorations. Unfortunately, this temple was also very deteriorated and has already left large hills of large stones.At this temple, I was also lucky to see elephants (not wild) and monkeys for the first time. However, the elephants were mainly there for the entertainment of tourists who could ride them for a few moments.One of the towers with a face After Bayon, we went to the last temple for now, Ta Prohm, also known as the 'Lara Croft Temple' because some scenes from the movies were filmed here. And why, you could quickly see, because the temple was surrounded by a huge jungle, everything was covered in moss, and impressive tree roots protruded from the ruins everywhere. If that's not the dream of every set designer, I don't know what is. One of the incredible rootsTa Prohm from the frontAfter seven hours had passed since this temple visit, and with the sun making it difficult for us with its 32 degrees, we returned to the hostel where we could cool off a bit by the pool. But soon after, we headed back out to watch the sunset, which we did from a temple on a hill. Since this platform is regularly overrun by tourists, you had to arrive early as the number of people allowed was limited. Fortunately, we got seats and had a fantastic view of the area around Siem Reap and the sunset. Once again, a very impressive day for me, and the best part was that we could drive to Siem Reap Airport after the sunset and my backpack was waiting for me there! Finally, new clothes and my own toiletries, what more could I want. We covered many distances with a tuk-tuk. Always a little adventure, as the traffic here is incredibly chaotic and usually the law of the brave applies. As a European, you probably wouldn't have much chance of survival here, but the population apparently sees order in the chaos.
Tomorrow afternoon, we will take a tour of the largest lake in South Asia, Tonlé Sap, which is said to host floating markets and villages.
