Day 81: Angkor Day 3 —— Angkor Wat

This was not the orange ball of fire I was promised. Looks much much colder than it was...

The trick to seeing Angkor’s temples: go far and go early.

Believe me when I tell you that the crowds are crazy here and the only defense is a good alarm clock.

Going early has other benefits too: the heat is manageable before 11 AM. The golden light is better for taking pictures. Dusk has the same light, but your pictures will be covered with masses of other photographers.

Early Riser

With this hypothesis in mind, I set my alarm and planned my final day at Angkor. This time focusing on the big one: Angkor Wat itself. My phone buzzed me awake at 4:45 AM. Well, not really. When I know I need to get up early I get a species of insomnia which causes me to sleep poorly and wake early: I had been tossing and turning since 4.

In any event, up and out to meet my tuk tuk driver. He arrives a bit late at 5:15 which permits me down some coffee and still leaves plenty of time to see what I’ve no doubt will be awesome dawn radiance. His name is Pai and the motorcycle pulling his tuk tuk is truly ancient. He does not look like 5 AM is a natural time for him to be out and about.

The streets of Siem Reap are mostly deserted. As we approach the ticketing area, the signs of tourism hone into view in the form of small queues to purchase tickets. No problem; I already have my ticket and it takes only a minute to get my last day punched.

Approaching Angkor Wat reveals that I’m not the only one thinking of getting up early. There are hundreds of vehicles parked and a steady stream of people walking the causeway into the temple. The feeling there is not unlike the parking lot of those all-day music festivals.

Should you need some energy for the morning, vendors sell espresso and breakfast from little carts in the pitch-black pre-dawn.

I leave Pai, hoping I can remember enough landmarks from the inky blackness to find him again three and a half hours later when we agreed to meet.

Dimmer Switch Dawn

Visions of a violet sky yielding to red then to gold as the sun climbed into the hazy morning got me up before dawn.

Sadly, watching a beautiful light show wasn’t my fate that morning. Clouds blocked the sun and all my fellow tourists and I saw with our bleary eyes was a blueish glow lighting up the black then slowly increasing to full overcast daylight.

Talking to a fellow guest at my hostel, it turns out that this was the third dawn in a row without a postcard-worthy image. She tried all three times. Anyway, I’ve gotten up early for enough disappointing dawns that I’m resigned to consider fireworks a lucky exception, not a given. It didn’t lower my mood.

But enough of this sunrise chatter. The main point of my day was the the temple itself. And it was as wide-open as it would be that day.

The Future and the Past

UAV drone to fly over the temple and get those awesome shots.

The shape of tourism to come was in the air: the hum of insects and the chirping of birds in the morning was augmented by the buzzing of UAV drones as leading edge visitors got their aerial shots of the temple at dawn.

I’m sure this will be an ever increasing aspect of tourism. At least until it’s prohibited.

Angkot Wat

Angkor Wat is The Name. It’s got the brand recognition. Of the many temples at Angkor, this one temple is often confused with the entire region.

Though I love to be contrary, in this case it’s completely justifiable. Anybody can enjoy other temples more — and I did enjoy some more than Angkor Wat. Different tastes. But Angkor Wat is undeniably magnificent. Its monumental size and beautiful symmetry compel the eye. The intricate bas relief telling the stories of the Ramayana and the Churning of the Sea of Milk are genuinely beautiful.

The place, moreso than the other temples, has a strange emptiness about it. There aren’t many statues about. They’ve all been looted. There are no decorations on the walls save what are etched into the wall. It feels very much abandoned despite the constant stream of people flowing through it.

It was a fabulous way to cap my three days in Angkor. Despite the exhaustion I faced on my first day, I’m truly grateful I had the time and the wisdom to space out the visits, relax in between them, and really give this place a chance. It’s the kind of place which makes you regret ever using ‘awesome’ in daily speech. It is truly awesome.

Eastern view in the Morning.

View of the eastern entrance to Angkor Wat. The main entrance is to the west.

The Main Entrance

The main entrance as viewed from the top of Ankgor Wat. In the distance a hot air balloon takes flight.

History And Carvings

The walls of Angkor Wat are lined with carvings of apsaras and stoies. Some mythological stories, some historical. Some written in script and some in pictures.

The walls of Angkor Wat are lined with carvings of apsaras and stories. Some mythological stories, some historical. Some written in script and some in pictures.