Sunrise

Yesterday morning, Solange and I got up at 5:15 to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We paid a tuk-tuk driver $5 to meet us in the morning and take us there and back. The view was amazing...

The Temple was originally built as a tribute to the hindu God Vishnu in the 12th century. It consists of a giant moat that is around 200 meters wide and an outer wall that surrounds the inside area of 5 or 6 square kilometers. Angkor Wat was actually a capital city at one point, housing a city of around 12-15 thousand people. The Temple was later some what converted to budhism and a bunch of Buddhas were placed inside and it became a temple that monks were make pilgrimages to. The outer wall of the temple is inscribed with a bunch of Hindu mythology that was intricately carved out of the stone. The entire temple is made out of Sandstone and and almost no cement was used to put it together.

The inner chamber of the temple houses the 5 giant spires that you can see from anywhere. To get up to the spires you need to climb up the sides via huge stairs(pretty much like the side of a pyramid). Solange and I spent the morning sitting on the outer edge and watched the sunrise.

The entire temple is open for exploring, and you can touch pretty much everything. I guess the western anal retentetiveness of preserving historical buildings hasn't reached asia yet, thank god. Being able to wander freely through the temple was a freaking godsend. It made the whole experience that much more real and amazing. Jo and I climbed up the steep staircase( more like ladder) and hopped around inside and on the outsides of the temple. We found a comfortable place, sat down on the edge with our feet dangling off the edge, and had a cigarette. It was soooo relaxed and of course we were respectfull and used the pack of cigarettes as an ash tray, and took the butts with us.

Angkor Wat was deifinitly the highlight for me as far as temples go. Seeing it in person was just so hard to take in. It was like when I saw the eiffel tower in paris, my mind had a hard time beleiving it was real because I'd always seen it in pictures and postcards. When I actually saw it in real life, the scope of how big it actually is finally hit me.