It was always my dream to visit this temple before it became overrun by tourism. Sure it`s not an insider anymore and the region had developed tremendously, however the people and atmosphere is still fascinating and gives you the feeling to be send back in time…
We had the luck to stay at a real lovely place outside of the city within the rice fields with a very private service – The Sojourn - too good to be true!
To explore the temples and the area around - you better hire a driver. Up to you it can be a motorbike, tuktuk or taxi. We booked our tuktuk driver Mr. Hau via the hotel to be sure to get reliable service and as a previous school teacher he did pretty well over the next 3 days.
We started early every morning between 7:00 & 8:00 and had our breakfast on the way to the Angkor city – don`t miss to try the crispy baguette filled with pate or eggs your style.
Yummy!
Now we are ready for the temple rally which was everyday a challenge itself – expect 10 to 12 hours non-stop sightseeing of 1000year old temples, which all look somehow different and keep you interested until the very last of them.
First day we did the inner cycle which features the most famous temples Angkor Wat, Bayon with its many faces & Ta Phrom famous from Tomb Raider. If you take pictures better start counter clockwise as the sun gives better light in this order. So afternoon is the best for Angkor Wat but also most busy, but now enough words – here it is Angkor Wat:
Bayon – our favorite temple with the faces of the god king
Ta Phrom – where the Mother Nature shows off her power over humanity
At the end of the day you can sit back at one of the famous spots for the sunset and reflect on the thousands impressions you soaked up over the day, gasping for more…
Next day we visited the temples in the far north which are less visited due to the additional hour to drive. As one of the first we arrived at the sacred Kbal Spean Mountain where after 30 minutes walk you reach a river where you will find Khmer carvings along the water.
After a refreshing dip we hiked down and drive to the next highlight the Banteay Srey. Small in its size but huge in the details is it THE most detailed and beautiful carved temple of this period.
The last day we dedicated to the other temples – the Rolous group and the Outer cycle. It’s impossible to visit all the temples within 2 to 3 days, but with 4 or 5 days it’s rather ideal to have enough time to visit the one or the other favorite temple twice.
As for me I had one of my best 3 days on this trip – puzzled from the size and impressions – I know that I will come back again.
Thumbs Up!!!
More on: http://picasaweb.google.at/marco.schoeggl/AngkorWatWorldBiggestSpiritualBuilding#
