Angkor Wat

Today was a tiring but ultimately rewarding day. My driver came to pick me up at 4:40 am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I had had a fitful night of sleep in the top-floor fan room where the fan was doing a great job of circulating hot air around the room. But the experience at Angkor Wat drove away any cobwebs in my head for the time being.

Sunrise at the temple was unbelievable. I almost felt like I was visually giving thanks for the coming day. I feel like if everyone was able to do this ritual at least once in their lives that there would be a lot more happiness in the world.

I don't remember ever being in a place this immense ever before, except maybe the Taj Mahal. Even though there are a thousand people who are visiting at the same time as you, it's still possible to find yourself alone with the monkey urine and the wonderful architecture along a corridor you've never visited before. The temple is surrounded by a giant moat that runs over such a great length and width that it made me wonder how long it took to build the moat and what the process was. The temple itself is divided into several courtyards, each further inside from the entrances and at a higher level than the courtyard below. The climb up to the innermost courtyard up steep, narrow steps was dizzying but offered some spectacular views of the temple grounds and the surrounding coutryside's lakes and greenery.

The outer wall of one of the lower courtyards is ringed by vast bas-reliefs depicting mostly scenes from the Ramayana. Unusually, depiction of the Mahabharata is also present, even though this story isn't depicted widely in other Cambodian temples. The images were without color besides the pink of the sandstone, although some of the faces were polished from hands touching them over the past ten centuries. I think a lot of the scenes were lost on me because there was too much going on, but the famous Churning of the Ocean of Milk scenes was as powerful as a painting. Visiting Angkor Wat was the primary reason that I decided to travel to Southeast Asia for vacation; I'm glad being there in person was as wonderful as I had hoped.

Some highlights from other temples I visited today:

Banteay Srei: The sandstone carvings in the edifices above doorways were finely intricate and remarkably well preserved for a temple built in the 9th century AD. The sandstone had several different colors that came out in the sunlight: yellow, pink, and gray.

Ta Som: A gigantic tree had the pretty substantial eastern gate of the temple surrounded by its huge roots. I feel like the temples' slow decay and return to nature is the most beautiful thing about Angkor.

Also, I was excited to buy some things in a fair trade store in the backpacker district: a checked Cambodian scarf that I hope will filter out the exhaust fumes from my breaths as I ride my bicycle today and a shirt featuring another animal for Elena.