Day 15, Thursday, 3/27/25, Angkor Wat

Our room in the hotel is nice. The bed is comfortable. The view from the room is like looking into a jungle. Mangos hang ripening on the tree just out of reach. Breakfast at the hotel is another good buffet. The bus will pick us up at 8:15 AM.

We’re on the bus now. Our guide, Pisa, from yesterday is our guide again today. We go by a fun shop, The Samurai Barber Shop and it reminded me I need a haircut!

Angkor Wat is made of grey blue sandstone. It took 75,000 people 32 years to build. This is the world’s largest religious site. over 400 acres! Doorways are made in one piece. There is a 200 meter wide moat around it. Angkor Wat is the crowning jewel of Khmer architecture and the national symbol of Cambodia. It is the largest, best-preserved, and most religiously significant of the Angkor temples. We are impressed with its sheer scale and beautifully proportioned layout. As we approach the temple, we cross a vast moat, 200 meters across, and continue along a broad causeway lined with naga (snake) balustrades. We enter the main building and ascend through a series of galleries and courtyards before we reach the central sanctuary The views back over the causeway and across the surrounding countryside are beautiful. We admire the intricate stone carvings that adorn nearly every surface, with some 1,700 Apsaras or celestial dancers sculpted into the walls. The outer gallery walls feature the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, narrating stories from Hindu mythology, including the famous Churning of the Ocean of Milk.

The views are amazing from the top and all around. Every visible surface is carved in some way.

It’s 11:30 AM. The temp is 37C (98.6F) and approximately 80% humidity. Sweltering! Cambodian New Year is in April. There is scaffolding being set up for the upcoming celebrations. A flooded rain pond gives a fun view of the complex.

Some cute children pose for our cameras. Red fire ants cross our path. You might remember that I had them in my salad last night! Intentionally!

A 7 headed Naga (snake) protects Angkor Wat! There are several protective Naga’s that protect this place. They always have 5, 7, 9, or 11 heads! This is one of the best preserved that we see.

Back on the bus with AC blasting we all take a deep breath! We head for lunch. At the restaurant we are given ice cold lemon eucalyptus towels to refresh our faces! Then we have more local food favorites such as Snake Head Fish and Beef Lok Lak. Once again, lunch was a fantastic amount of food!

After lunch, we head in search of more temples. Fabulous history behind all of these temples. We drive for over an hour to this one and it was suggested we all take a nap. Not the case as the road was too rough. And besides, my camera kept nudging me and asking what was outside the window. I kept telling it to close it’s eyes and take a nap. Then the bus would hit another bump and my camera would snarl at me. Okay, okay, you win. Take a photo or 50. These temples are extraordinary examples of Khmer sculpture and architecture!

We arrive at Banteay Srei Temple, this one is built with a lot of pink sandstone. It is considered one of the jewels of the Angkor area. Water Buffalo and roosters greet us at the entrance.

We even see a man fishing in murky rain puddles and catching fish with his bare hands! A group of minstrels plays for tips. How many people can fit on a motorcycle?

Then it’s a 30 minute drive to the next temple to visit and probably the most unique temple of the day. Ta Prohm Temple is very unique in that trees, some over 400 years old are still alive and growing in and on the temples! These are Spong trees. They are spongey and fibrous and seemingly live as one with the temples! It was fabulous to see. Ta Prohm has been left relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Its appeal lies in the fact that, unlike the other monuments of Angkor, it was abandoned and swallowed by the jungle, looking very much the way most of the Angkor temples appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them.

Pisa tells us we have only 3 more temples to visit. Takeo, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda. The bus erupts in a collective groan. Even the younger people in the group have seen enough today in this sweltering heat! So we go back to the city where Elee gets off at Pub Street to shop. Pisa leaves us also but the driver takes the rest of us back to the hotel. I go back to the hotel and kick back. When Elee arrives back we both relax for a while and then go to the same restaurant we visited last night and sit in the Air Conditioned section.

Our entire group comes along and even Hannah (who has come here on her own) comes to hang with us! We all begin to say goodbye to each other even though some of us will travel to the airport together in the morning. I splurge and buy dinner for the group of 9 people and the bill, with tip, comes to $90 US Dollars. 9 people! Including drinks!

So Goodnight All!