Postcard from Angkor Wat

Even with all the hastle getting to Angkor Wat, it was well worth the trip.



Around Angkor Wat are a collection of temples that were built during the height of the Khmer empire. This one is Bayon which has 216 faces of the king facing tons of directions. Angkor Wat itself is the most impressive since it is almost completely still intact and has some incredible long murals almost undamaged for 800 years. We'll leave these to your imagination though so you have some reason to go to Angkor Wat yourself.

There was also Baphoun which was painstakingly takeen apart by archeologists in the 60's in order to be renovated. Unfortunately the records of what pieces went where were lost during the Khmer Rouge period so the temple is now the worlds largest jigsaw puzzle.


Baphoun currently under construction

Pieces of the puzzle


It rained several times while we were there so we had to take shelter where we could. Here is Stephen waiting out the rain in a ruined corridor.


Ta Prohm was one of the coolest temples because it has largely been left unrestored. I kept having songs from The Jungle Book running through my head because it reminded me of the movie so much.

Part of Tomb Raider was filmed in this temple and it definitely feels like it. This one makes a person feel like they are living in Indiana Jones, until you see the tourists with cameras getting their picture taken that is.


This one is another where's stephen picture. It is a photo of him at Ta Keo which was built in a pyramid style but was never finished. The steps up are so steep it is more like crawling up a cliff than climbing steps.


All over the place were incredible carvings covering almost all of the doorways walls and anything else made of stone. Here is one of the best preserved ones we found.

One of the murals at Angkor Wat shows the gods and demons playing tug-of-war with a snake above the sea of milk. This was used as balustrades as well which look really awesome.

Here is me doing my part to help out.


Finally, at Preah Khan is this strange building that looks very greek.

Cambodia in general felt like a huge tourist trap with everyone out to squeeze money out of the tourists. If it wasn't for how incredible Angkor Wat is, it wouldn't be worth it. Stephen and I were both very glad to be back in Thailand after the trip where we were able to easily and cheaply get where we wanted to go. Angkor Wat stands higly recommended on things to see. Next stop, Vientianne, Laos and picking up Ryanna and Katie. Needless to say we are excited.