Siem Reap + Angkor Wat

Two wonderful days spent in Siem Reap.  The first we spent switching hotels (to a very nice guesthouse... lesson learned on hotels while on a $15 or less/night budget: it's better to go to a midrange hotel and get their cheapest room than go to a low range hotel and get their best room, more perks like free breakfast and awesome swimming pool!) and then doing pretty much nothing-- reading, planning, mapping, sitting by the pool.  Lovely.  The second was a day long adventure in the temples to the north of Siem Reap, the most well known being Angkor Wat.  We planned to meet a very sweet and goofy tuk tuk driver (he caught our attention the day before in the market by beckoning us over with a little dance), Mr. Fee, around 4:30 AM.  We woke up around 4, got dressed, and grabbed our breakfast to go from the hotel.  It was still very dark outside as we met Mr. Fee with a big smile on his face at the door.  The drive to the temples wasn't long, and we bought tickets when the gate opened at 5:00.  We wanted to get there early, partially to get the most out of our one day, and also to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  The sunrise was beautiful, but when surrounded by about a hundred other tourists flashing pictures, it loses a bit of the magic.  We broke off from the group a couple minutes (and about 10 mosquito bites!) later and walked into the still fairly dim Angkor Wat.  Probably the only time of the day when the temple is empty, it was very quiet and stunning to watch it slowly light up as the sun rose.  We explored the massive temple on our own for about an hour until the rest of the tourists started to filter in, and then headed out to meet Mr. Fee.  The temples were in little clusters a few kilometers apart each, and we spent the morning visiting most of the small ones, stopping for breakfast at Sras Srang.

4:30 AM

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

With a million new friends

Inside the temple at sunrise

Breakfast spot view

Exploring the temples was really incredible, just how massive and well preserved most were, and how expansive the complex is.  After the smaller temples in morning, we stopped for a quick lunch and explored the bigger temple Angkor Thom in the afternoon. Here is a map of the area to give you an idea of our day. We probably took around 400 pictures throughout the day, so here are some of our favorites...

 Tuk tuk with Mr. Fee between temples

Tuk tuk we rode all day-- yes, those are cartoon kittens.  So awesome.

One of the millions of amazing wall carvings

Kissy kissy

This temple was apparently used in scenes of Tomb Raider

We were going to stay for the sunset, but the clouds suggested rain and probably a pretty hazy view so we headed back, tired, dusty, and happy.

Ended the day poolside.

Up next, THAILAND!