Angkor Wat

Just a disclaimer:  There's a lot going on in this post.  Aaron took a ton of videos and I took a bunch of pictures, so it's kinda information overload.  Don't feel like you have to watch them all, just pick which ones interest you from the pictures.  It's pretty freakin cool though.  Are you ready??

We only got a couple hours of sleep (mistake!) and woke up at the butt crack of dawn (4:30am) and met with our driver at 5am.  He drove us straight to Angkor Wat (about 10 minutes by car), where we bought our tickets ($20/person for the day).  They even take your picture and print it on the ticket:

By far the coolest ticket we've gotten yet (yea, I realize how nerdy just I sounded).

Here's the map of Angkor Wat:

It's actually massive.  Let's back up a bit and get some knowledge.  Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the entire world (about 500 acres).  It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Wonder of the World (arguably THE Wonder of the World).  It's an ancient city (from the 12th century) filled with temples and ruins.  It originally started as a Hindu temple city, but was slowly converted into a Buddhist temple city. Amazing.
We ended up doing the purple line tour (short version):

We started at the bottom at Angkor Wat (this temple is the largest in the complex, hence the entire site being named after it) and worked our way up and around in almost a circle, following the purple line.
Here's our van:

We obviously took this later in the day, as it was dark when we first left.
The rules of Angkor Wat:
Appropriate dress: the temples require knees and shoulders covered (the majority were not enforced, but just in case I had a shawl and Aaron had a T-shirt.  It was way too hot to wear if we didn't have to, so we just carried them most of the day.).
No smoking: again not enforced, as I caught a few people smoking in corners.
No touching, sitting or climbing: obviously you can touch the walls, but there were a few places they asked that you abstain and no sitting on ledges or climbing on the structure or ruins.
Appropriate language and tone: again not enforced, but I saw a couple signs asking for quiet and no foul language.
Basically, you're on hallowed ground, so respect the space.
I'll admit I rarely wore my shawl and Aaron didn't wear his T-shirt (it was unreal how hot it was), but we really tried to be respectful (even though Aaron wore his Ted-peeing-in-a-urinal tank top (OMG)).
Okay, now that we've got all the preliminary stuff out of the way, let's go to Angkor Wat!

We got there around 5:20am and walked over a stone bridge over a lake, which we couldn't appreciate because it was pitched black.  We followed the hoards of people copying our brilliant idea and we waited near another lake, looking up at the iconic Angkor Wat Temple:

Aaron took a video

Another video

It wasn't the most memorable sunrise ever, it just basically turned from day to night.  Kinda anticlimactic because we didn't wait for the sun to come all the way up (it had already been like an hour!  Forget that!).

We didn't get a guide or anything, so we're basically just wandering.  Let's wander on inside:

The cool thing was that even though there were tons of people everywhere, the place is so huge that you're able to find quiet spots to be alone and take pictures without tons of people in the background.  This wasn't always the case (I'm telling you it was like Disneyland packed), but with a little patience and common courtesy, we were able to get some really great shots.  Like these:

Whoa!  Unreal!

Check out the intricate detailing on the walls:

That's what amazed me so much, not only the massive scale of Angkor Wat, but the crazy small detailing you find in every nook and cranny.

They had these in most of the temples for people to come pray:

Courtyard area

From the back

Peek-a-boo!

Can you spot Aaron up there?

How about now?

There's me:

and him again (copycat!):

From the front

Most of the scaffolding was used to hold up the structure.  Some sections were clearly falling apart (not here, but in other temples).  A lot of the temples have also been restored with help from other countries.  Germany, Russia and I think Thailand have sponsored different temples.

Gorgeous!

You could even get a helicopter tour or hot air balloon ride:

Back in the very front

Here's that lake on our way out:

Lake video

Just wow.  I probably have 10x more pictures than that, I just couldn't stop.

Our driver picked us up at the front and took us to a restaurant to grab some breakfast.

Cheese omelette for me:

Fried rice for Aaron:

and it came with this insane garlic soup:

Super delish!

Next temple: Angkor Thom (Bayon) through the South Gate
We got out at the South Gate to snap some pictures:

You could ride an elephant, but we've learned our lesson:

South Gate. Don't listen to anything Aaron is saying, it's all wrong.
another video
other side

Bayon Temple
video of the front
Again, we didn't get a tour, so just enjoy the pictures!  All I learned is that it's a 54 tower temple and the towers have faces on them.

walking inside

walking way inside

There are legit tombs in here!

Let's go upstairs and get a closer look at the towers:

Amazeballs

I saw some other people doing this, so I copied LOL Ignore my double chin:

Aaron's working the Jay Leno pretty successfully.

Spectacular.  Aaron said this was his favorite temple.

Then we walked across the street to Phimeanakas, which is at the end of this really long walkway:

Unfortunately, we forgot our shoulder coverings in the car and this was one of the few places that enforced, so we could only see the outside.

We walked across the way and saw a monkey:

He came right up to us and a woman walking near us gave him that banana.

Kept walking until we got to Terrace of the Elephants:

It's about 10am at this point and it's starting to get really unbearably hot.  Good thing we're halfway done!

That in the distance is Prasat Suor Prat, a collection of towers facing Terrace of the Elephants:

Then we got back in the van and stopped at a few random, smaller temples:

Blue butterfly on my back

Unfinished temple

They were filming an interview or something

This is Phnom Bakheng and Aaron climbed all the way to the top:

Can you spot him?  Video from the top
Here he is climbing back down:

The stairs at Angkor Wat are no joke!  They are uneven and super tiny, so you have to turn your foot sideways to fit on the step.  Super sketchy!  Not to mention, I didn't bring my tennies, so I was in sandals all day tripping over everything and Aaron was totally freaking out that I'd fall and die, so I had to walk very slowly (have I mentioned lately how hot it was?  I did?  Just checking.).

If by now, you're thinking all this stuff looks like it could have been in Tomb Raider, you're spot on!  This next temple is where they filmed Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie.  It's called Ta Prohm.  It was super awesome!  Let's go!
Aaron found this ant trail at the entrance
The front of Tomb Raider Temple
Band playing at the entrance:

Inside

Crazy cool tree growth:

Trees!

Apparently this is the famous tree from Tomb Raider:

Now I have to go watch Tomb Raider, great!

Outside

More outside

This was the temple that reminded me of a movie (maybe because a movie was filmed here), but it just had all those elements that make you think of an actual tomb.  I felt like I was on a backlot tour at Universal or something.  Really, really fantastic place.

Saw termites on the way out.

We visited a couple more small temples:

Broken Temple

Finally, Prasat Kravan:

This was one of the few remaining Hindu temples and had Sanskrit written on the walls:

as well as Hindu Goddesses:

We finished our tour before 2pm, which seems fast (and it was), but it was scorching hot by that point and we were exhausted, so we were quite glad to be done.  Although there's still so much more to see, we'll just have to save it for next time.
I know that was a long one, but I hope you enjoyed seeing Angkor Wat with us!
Tomorrow morning we board a flight to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, where we will stay for a few days before heading back to our apartment.  Yay!