Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and ATVing

Another busy day today! Up at 4:30 am we were on the bus with our local guide, Cheak, to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. I was anticipating massive crowds like at the Taj Mahal, but the number of people jostling for position for the perfect photo wasn't bad. Especially when you're taller, have 50 lbs on most of them and spent years in hockey media scrums. Don't worry! I wasn't rude or aggressive - that would be downright un-Canadian. I just waited for people to shuffle naturally and squeezed in the gaps with a friendly smile on.

The sea of people

The crowds also started to thin when we realized that the sunrise would be cloudy and the sun wouldn't break between Angkor Wat's tallest towers. Again, I actually think sunrises with clouds are way prettier with the soft colours and diffuse lighting, but you be the judge of the progressing sunrise. 

I seriously took hundreds of photos. Spamming time!

And then some of us got bored of being well behaved. 

Photobomb fun!

BAM!

And then some of us got bossy with their creative direction. 

Back to the hotel for a bite for breakfast and we headed back to begin our tour of the massive ancient complex. Construction on the sites in Angkor began in the 9th century by King Jayavarman II, and continued through the 14th century. The most well-known structure, Angkor Wat, was built between 1113 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II. 

Angkor means "Holy City" and Wat means temple - a bit of a misnomer for us as it is not simply one temple. There are more than 72 temples and dozens of other complexes in the UNESCO World Heritage site. It covers 400 square kilometres. Conservation and restoration work has been ongoing since 1907, largely by French, Japanese and Indian teams. 

The temples and buildings are a mix of Buddhist and Hindu as the complexes changed hands with shifting dominant powers and beliefs. 

The first site we visited was Angkor Thom - the main city of Angkor. It was established by King Jayavarman VII, aka the seventh King, in the 12th century. Entering through the South Gate was a great way to start exploring. The architects of Angkor constructed moats around every site. Their purpose was two-fold: to provide stability to the sand foundation of the buildings and for religious symbolism. 

Crossing the moat by bridge we saw one side lines with gods and one side lines with demons. Each were holding the body of a massive snake. I'll share the legend behind this in my next post. 

Smiling gods (devas)

Frowning demons (asuras)

We were also greeted by giant faces watching us from the entry tower. Four guardian faces were placed above every gate, one facing each compass direction. 

Within Angkor Thom rests Prasat Bayon - a Buddhist temple.

Still wrecking everyone's fun. Hoorah!

The most spectacular part in my opinion was the recently restored stone carved wall depicting scenes from the lives of ordinary people. 

But also very cool were the multitude of faces, argued to be representative of King Jayavarman or bodhisattavs or both if he thought of himself as a god-king. 

After exiting Prasat Bayon I chased a bunch of cool bugs around. 

Look at his glass-tipped wings!

Oh, and somewhere along the way were a bunch of stupid monkeys everyone went bananas over. 

On our way to lunch we crossed the elephant terrace, so called for the carvings. The King would use the platform to watch his victorious returning army and as a platform for public ceremonies and addressing the people. 

Then it was off to Prasat Ta Prohm one of the most iconic and well known temples in Angkor. It was also built in the late 12th century by the seventh king. The trees growing from the ruins have not been removed but redirected and the buildings bolstered. 

He's watching you...

Can you spot the tiny Buddha above?

We also saw a hoard of termites and the world's longest earthworm. 

Technically a colony of termites.

Angela's size 9.5 foot for scale.

And then we went back to the hotel to get ready for ATVing! Signing away our lives and with a brief tutorial, we were off on our own quads for a 1.5 hour ride through the countryside. It was my first time on a quad and I hope not the last. Mud was flying everywhere! 

We stopped for a few photos in the rice paddies and when I looked ahead, Ang was stuck up to her ankles in mud and fishtailing around slinging mud in all directions. 

Photo courtesy Nicole Engel

Nicole and I immediately had a laughing fit. Next through the mud hole were Barbra and Scott. They got the signal to go, then half a second later someone yelled stop. I was in hysterics watching them slowly slide down the mud bank into the sink hole. 

Photo courtesy Nicole Engel

Photo courtesy Nicole Engel

At this point I was not allowed to go through the mud myself and one of the guides hopped on the quad. I mostly ended up being a mud shield for him as he got stuck in the muck and revved the engine. 

Photo courtesy Nicole Engel

A few group photos and a sloshy night drive back and we were getting cleaned up for a night out. 

Photo courtesy Nicole Engel

As a matter of coincidence, there were four birthdays on the same day in our little group! How crazy is that to have four people in a group of 13 with the same birthday? So it was pool, karaoke and cake to celebrate a birthday in every decade from 20s through to 50s. 

Happy birthdays!