Sunday, August 30 we rose at 4:30AM to watch the possible legendary sunrise over the Angkor Wat temple, the most famous temple in Cambodia and the largest in the world -so they claim-. A long convoy of Tuk Tuks rode around the moat of the temple in the dark: quite the sight. We walked through the outer wall of the complex to watch the sunrise directly over the main temple complex with its five towers. The temple complex is unusual, because it faces west, making sunrise better than sunset, which is better for the other, all east-facing- temples in the area. The sunrise was a disappointment as it was cloudy, so I did not see the sun until it was well above the clouds. Thereafter I was surrounded by vendors hawking their wares and I ended up buying a couple shawls and a table cloth...
The boys and I went in for a couple of hours. The bas-reliefs, stories carved in the stone that go all around the first level of the temple, are the most interesting to the archaeologists, but not the public. I followed some around but the kids went in. They show lots of soldiers and elephants. The king is recognizable by fifteen parasols on his elephant. No one else is allowed to have that many. Hindu gods like Siva and Visnu are present of course. Inside the temple there are Buddhist symbols, which were added after the complex was built.
The complex consists of concentric squares like most of temples. An inner square is a level higher than its next outer square. I was able to go to the top square and get a view to the west from where I had tried to watch the sunrise earlier. The steps to the top level, four stories (11m) higher than the third level were so steep that a wooden staircase was provided to get people up, the number of people was limited and there were strict rules on people's physical condition and dress. The temple is in pretty good shape. The steps are all there, there is no rubble and the carvings are decent. A few carvings were even polished, giving an idea of what the temple was like in its glory.
At the top, the five pointy towers surrounded me. Those are not climbable of course. There is a square hallway with windows and pillars on each side that goes all around. The middle has a tower. I wonder how/if the space was used for religious ceremonies. Both Saitha and I made some photosphere shots, which will give an idea of what it is like to be in there. Both our sphere photo are on Google+, so you can actually run them.
We got back just in time for breakfast and then went to sleep and hung out. We went to a Khmer/Indian restaurant for dinner. It had been sold and merged with another restaurant, unbeknown to us. The most recent TripAdvisor review was in August, so I did not think to call to check if the restaurant was still open, We sent the Tuk Tuk driver all over to find its new location, after making some calls. I wanted to check out the night market, right there, but it was pouring.
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