Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat was a center for architecture, arts and crafts, and spirituality. It is still a Mecca for many. It was sometimes Buddhist and sometimes Hindu, depending on the outcome of wars.

Sunrise

View from Below

Grumpy

Happy

So Sunrise, breakfast at the hotel and then back to continue exploring in 97 degree temperatures with 95% humidity. Pulling your pants up or down while going to the bathroom was just like putting on or taking off a wet bathing suit. TMI? Very uncomfortable! Quite an amazing place. In modern times the filming site for Tomb Raiders with Angelina Jolie.

Angelina are you in there?

Tomb Raiders

It is such a contrast to the Killing Fields. Everyone was very quiet for the rest of the day because of how horrible that piece of history is. The man who was our guide there lost his father and five brothers. Everyone who lives in Cambodia has been affected by those three years in the seventies. Everyone was very quiet at the end of this day because we were exhausted.

Nose to Nose

Dennis's Comments~
Siem Reap is home to Angkor Wat and many world famous Buddhist temples dating back to 1100 AD. We got up, left our hotel at 4:45 AM so we could see the sunrise over Angkor Wat the most famous of the temples. At 5:30 we had our pictures taken for admission to the grounds. Ask Cindy to show you hers--bet she won't do it! There we were along with about 5,000 other bleary eyed, partially sober world travelers. We found a spot facing East (yep, the sun comes up in the east here too!). It rises right over the three domes of this renowned temple. For one and a half hours, 5,000 people sat waiting for the 7:00 AM sunrise. The sun rose, we took our photos, waddled back to the buses and 1/2 hour later we wer having breakfast at our hotel. At 9:00 AM we returned to the ruins and spent the rest of the day exploring and being guided through the most famous.

My thoughts? I should've slept in, went around 10:30 AM, bought a pack of ten postcards for a dollar with perfect pictures of the sunrise, looked around a bit, and headed back to the hotel and the beautiful pool for a before lunch cocktail.

All in good time...

All things come to those who wait

Call me a religious fanatic in reverse, but most temples, mosques, churches and synagogues look pretty much the same to me. A lot of money is spent on edifices that could be used to aid the people who could really use the help. Just my thoughts.
Note from CM: Do you think he's a bit cynical? Perhaps but he's the first to buy a magnet or postcards from the sweet little girl with the big brown eyes who just stands there looking at him.