Angkor Wat visit

We just come back after having a nice dinner at Bruce’s amazing house. We were all dead today after having visited during all day Angkor’s Wat temples!

Day started very early at 6am to be able to buy the visit tickets and have time for seen as many temples as possible. It was built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.

As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

We started visiting Angkor Thom with an entrance in elephant through the main gates. A really nice experience from my colleagues that I will for sure take when I will be back in April!   Angkor Wat translation means "Great City" and was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the centre of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.

It is curious that they have two roads of exit from Angkor Thom the Victorious road and another really small, hide and dirty road (for use in case of losing the war). It was soooooo hot that we were melting and it was only 9am!!! We visited several temples in Angkor Thom and went up through several thousands of stairs. My training in my Budapest flat without elevator actually was a great help for me!

We visited also the Ta Phrom temple where Angelina Jolie was playing Tomb Raider where the amazing roots of the trees cover the temples in a spectacular way. They are huge!!

After we had lunch in a restaurant inside Angkor and we went back to the hotel to rest a bit for the afternoon as it was practically impossible to walk under the intense hot. We went back around 15 pm to see Angkor Wat the most famous of the temples as our guide recommended us to visit it in the afternoon to use the light of the sun in our backs for better pictures!!! It is amazing and I think the pictures describe the environment better that what I could do with words. I catch even some young monks in the right moment! So enjoy the amazing views of Angkor Wat!!

 Dinner at Bruce´s house!