Indochina Adventure Angkor Archeological Park (Siem Reap)

I enjoyed our bus trip to Siem Reap, I like the view of the countryside. It is a vast area of flat land and rice fields! I won't wonder if Cambodia doesn't go through rice shortages! I haven't seen any mountains and most houses are on stilts because of the flooding on rainy seasons. Six hours had passed and we finally arrived in Siem Reap, it was raining and we were cordially greeted by the hotel's "tuk tuk" driver who will take us to our accommodation. The hotel is cozy, the interior decorations obviously tells that I am in Khmer's ancient kingdom.

Sunrise!

The next day, we woke up very early for our Angkor Wat tour. We hired a private "tuk tuk" driver who will pick us at the hotel  at 4:30 AM. It was still dark but there were already a number of tourists on the road aboard a "tuk tuk" and other private vehicles going to the direction of  Angkor Wat!  Our driver took us to the ticketing center, it is open from 4:30AM until 5:30PM everyday. Our effort to wake up very early in the morning was rewarded with a glorious view of sunrise and the Angkor Wat temple!

Angkor Wat Temple

The Angkor Park is the largest archeological site that I've seen so far! Within the park are magnificent structures which dates back from the 9th to 15th century, and what's amazing is that most of these enormous structures are still undamaged even though some parts have already fallen apart! There are temples which survives to this date, they are being restored  through the funding of  UNESCO for being a World Heritage Site. One of them is the famous Angkor Wat temple, which is the largest and well maintained among the other temples. It is on the main entrance so it should not be missed! Angkor Wat is tremendous and is the perfect place to view the sunrise!

South  Gate of Angkor Thom

The walled city of Angkor Thom was the ancient capital of the Khmer empire. The South Gate is the usual and the most well preserved entrance of tourists to its perimeter. The stone figures on both sides of the gate holding a giant snake represents an ancient  Hindu story, which is quite remarkable to be depicted in an outstanding work of art.

Smiling faces of Bayon Temple

Upon entering the South Gate, a temple with towers that has smiling faces was exposed to our view. It's the Bayon  Temple. What was on my mind?  Who are they? Those four faced towers were so intriguing that I was left staring at them all the while we were there. I felt a little scared at times, as I walked closely to them thinking that they might suddenly open their eyes and yawn. Oh my God I didn't stay long in there!

Bayon Temple

The Bayon Temple is known for its composed human faces sculpted on its towers, I am not sure if they represent a God or a King, there are numerous stone faces that can be seen on any side of the temple. There are also scattered boulders on the ground which I think were some parts of the building that needs to be preserved for the restoration.

Baphuon

Within the walls of Angkor Thom are several magnificent structures which has undergone restoration which brings us back closer from what they looked during its heyday. The Baphuon is a pyramid like temple, it has an elevated walkway leading  to the entrance gate and pool on its other side, a great reclining Buddha image was constructed on the other side but it was never completed.

Preah Khan

As  we moved out of Angkor Thom we have come upon more temples, some under restoration and some are just waiting to be brought back at least on a stable condition. One of the picturesque is the Preah Khan which was built within the jungle. It is surrounded by old ancient banyan trees which roots has already overgrown. The corridors of Preah Khan is a perfect subject for photography especially when there's no people around, but I wasn't so lucky, but it's still beautiful.

Corridors of Preah  Khan

Moving on to the heart of the park , we stopped by Ta Phrom, which once became the location site of the film "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", which the Khmers has always been proud of. The famous giant banyan trees has already gained in control of the temple, as if it has a soul and is saving the temple from collapsing.

Ta Phrom

I cannot remember how many more temples we have been or passed by and for me they are all astonishing. As an ardent lover of ancient architecture, I was caught speechless, there were so many questions that lingered in my mind as we walked out of the park. How did they build massive edifices with elaborate and intricate designs on its walls, roofs, doors, posts with perfection during the ancient times? Who made them? What technology did they use? Well, I may not know but all I can say is I am truly impressed with everything that I saw and I would like to be there again.

Bantay Kdei

I would like to share some important things just in case you plan to go to Angkor Archeological Park.

The Angkor Pass can only be bought in the ticket center, tickets bought from hotels, tour companies and other parties are invalid. The entrance fee for a 1-day pass is US$37, while US$62 is for a 3-day pass, and US$72 for a-day pass. But I think a day is enough to visit most of the temples.There is a dress code in the park, since you are visiting temples which Khmer's consider it as their holy place, please refrain from wearing revealing clothes.

We hired a private tuk tuk driver who toured us around the park. The usual tour they do is the small tour and big tour but we're just so lucky that driver took us to almost all of  the beautiful temples for $20 from each of us and $5 for the tip, maybe it was the off-peak season and there were less tourists at the time so it's a goood deal. If you're interested to hire tuk tuk you can contact Mr. Sovann in WhatsApp app at telephone # 85593863051. He can speak English.

We stayed at Suon Angkor Boutique Hotel, it's a clean hotel, they  have a pool and food is delicious. By the way, breakfast is included with the accommodation and pick up at the airport and bus terminal is free.

So there,  thank you for reading!