Angkor Wat

Good Afternoon All,


Wow! I had a wonderful amazing tour of the temples today. I met my tour guide @7:30 this morning full of coffee and ready to go. My tour guide's name is Sopaul. Sopaul is 25, newly married with a baby on the way. He was so helpful. I explained this was my first time traveling alone so far from home, he seemed mindful of that all day and made me feel very comfortable. There are many children and people selling stuff at the exits of the temple areas, they can get very aggressive, he made sure they knew not to overdo it.

So Angkor Wat is a huge complex of temples, acres and acres. Although I will be here for another day and a half, I wanted to pay for only one day admission and make it a long afternoon. I will take a long bike ride tomorrow and get to know Siem Reap a bit better. In any case, I did temples' greatest hits today, walked up and down and down and up again. It was quite a work out, about 7 hours of walking in intense heat and humidity. I was dripping with sweat, but so was everyone else, so it all worked out!

Went to Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Elephant Terrace, Ta Prohm and Banteay  Srei, my favorite. These structures are truly engineering feats. The intricacies of the carvings, and the overall designs are stunning! The Khnmer civilization was the most remarkable to flourish in Southeast Asia. Between the 8th and the 13th centuries, a succession of Hindu and Buddhist kings created these magnificent temples.

So just tried to download photos again, unfortunately having some issues again with slow connection, times out the computer every time. Had no trouble in Ho Chi Min City, so I will save these photos for you and continue taking more, so when I get back to HCMC I will download a bunch.


Tonight I am going to a dinner with traditional Cambodian dancing. Looking forward to that and sharing it with you later.

Much Love,
Maria