Siem Reap, Cambodia

I’m in Siem Reap. The home of the world famous Angkor Wat complex. Most of the sites in this area were built in the 12th and 13th centuries. And it’s a magnet for thousands of foreign tourists. 360,000 in the past month! I think there is that many here now.

4am and not much traffic. I questioned why I needed to get up at 4am to see the sunrise that doesn’t start until 6:30. I was soon to find out why.

These are the early birds just after the ticket booths opened at 5am. There are 2 main types of tickets. 1 day cost $37, 3 day costs $67. In this part of Cambodia the US dollar is the preferred cash. But your bills better be almost perfect or they won’t be accepted.

Angkor Wat and some of the thousands that got up early to watch the sun rise. It was like a thousand human ants headed to a temple for food. And most of them, like me, had no idea where the best spot to watch from was.

I left Angkor Wat before the sun came up just to beat the hoards that were headed to these other sites. And I’m glad I did.

All of the temples were made from sandstone blocks and then carved. Originally they were Hindu but most were modified into Mahayana Buddhist.

mini Tiger

I thought my Tuk Tuk driver was stopping to get some alcohol. Nope. Thats gasoline in the bottles.

All of the temples had overgrown trees and brush hiding them until they were re-discovered.

Tomorrow I am going to try and escape the hoards of tourists by heading to a location that has a waterfall and some paintings on the canyon walls. But everyone else knows about these areas also so…………. I have my doubts that I will be alone.