Our driver Mr. Johnny picked us up at 4:45am. We stopped at a mini mart for waters and snacks then headed to Angkor Wat temple. We walked up a long path in the dark to the temple and stopped at a reflecting pond to watch the sunrise. It wasn’t so much as a sunrise as it just got lighter, but it was stunning nonetheless. Dave and I visited Siem Reap in 2008 when we were stationed in Japan. It’s wild to me that I spent my 27 birthday here on a sunrise tour and I’m back with all of my kids 18 years later!
Then we explored inside the temple. We looked at all the reliefs, statues and even got to climb through the top tower. It is a beautiful and ancient place.
We spent hours exploring the temple and by that time were incredibly hot and worn out. Confession…they have a Starbucks on site and we enjoyed it thoroughly. That’s definitely new since last time!
Next Mr. Johnny drove us to Bayon Temple which is a Buddhist temple also known as the temple of smiling faces. It has many towers with four faces on each tower. A young Cambodian man started talking to us and then following us around telling us about the temple. He also took many pictures for us and took us to see the monkeys which the kids loved.
My favorite temple we visited was Ta Prohm. Its claim to fame is it’s where Tomb Raider was filmed. I love how nature has overtaken the buildings and the trees are literally dripping over the walls. I felt like I was in a secret jungle. It was surprising to us how much they’re reconstructing in that area to bring it back to how it looked originally. The Angkor Wat complex was stunning and such a unique experience!
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