Temples of Cambodia

The main reason we're in Cambodia is to volunteer at an orphanage.. But I'll get to that another time.

Yesterday we took a day off from the orphanage to see the temples! The temples are the biggest tourist attraction in Siem Reap. There are more than 300 temples in the area, and around 5000 throughout the country. However they also think that there’s probably more which are still undiscovered. We were told to get an early start because it gets so hot during the afternoon. We set off at 8am and after stopping at a ticket check point (where they take a photo of you to put on your ticket) we arrived at Angkor Wat.. The biggest Hindu temple in the world! It was pretty damn impressive. It’s falling apart slowly; all around the grounds there are piles of rocks that have fallen. We were told they fall all the time, so we should keep an eye out! 

We hired a guide we told us all about the history and the architectural features. He particularly liked pointing out the ladies sculpted onto the walls, who were all pretty much the same but with different hairstyles. Must’ve explained that at least ten times. Needless to say I remember that little fact, but very few others. He also showed us many bullet holes, and bomb markings left during the Civil War. 

We climbed some veeeery steep stairs up the top of the Wat. To do this you had to respectfully dressed, so I pulled my dress down as far below my knees as possible, and Jo put pants over her shorts. And this is not the kind of weather where you want to be wearing pants over shorts! Soooo hot. Luckily, the view at the top was worth it.

The next temple we ventured to was Ta Phrom, a temple in the midst of a jungle. It also just so happens to be where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed! While it was nowhere near as big as Angkor Wat (and not nearly in such good condition; it’s practically fallen apart) it was incredible. There are trees there which have grown all over the temple. Apparently they are a special type of tree which will grow on anything, so they climb up the walls. Their roots are humongous. I’m surprised the temple hasn’t completely fallen apart. 

Two temples down, three-hundred-something to go!