April 20,2015

Yesterday was a fun, but VERY HOT day.  We spent the morning exploring the Angkor temple complex outside of Siem Reap.  We had intended to spend most of the day here, but it was truly unbearably hot!  I’m not sure of the actual temperature, but it had to be at least 100 degrees and much of the area is directly in the sun.  After about 4 hours, we were all ready to get back to the pool.

We started off the day going through Angkor Wat.  We originally thought we might try to make it there for sunrise, but we weren’t exactly early birds, so we got there around 8:00 am instead.  In hindsight, we definitely should have goen first thing in the a.m. to avoid the heat and spend a little more time there.  The temple itself was really cool.  The Cambodian temples are much different than the Chinese or Vietnamese temples that we have been seeing, so it was great to see something different.  The other difference at Angkor is that the temples are not “restored” like many of them in China.  You can see where they have fixed some places (and there is tons of ongoing restoration), but you can also see the ruins and what has been destroyed over the past 1,000 years.  We took tons of pictures, but it’s impossible to get pictures that capture how amazing it really is to see it in person.

In the tuk tuk

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

After spending some time going through Angkor Wat, we went over to the bigger temple complex, Angkor Thom.  There are several temples inside of this complex that were really cool.  Some are in better repair than others and some don’t allow kids, so we didn’t get to go through all of them.  We thought that Angkor Thom was even cooler than Angkor Wat because you are able to actually climb around in the temple and explore the area.

World Heritage Site

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom

Vijils at Angkor Thom

Vijils at Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom

Vijils at Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom

Adam and Hayden had fun playing “Indiana Jones” inside of the temples!  We did lots of exploring and adventuring during the day.  Hayden had a great time finding the hidden doors and avoiding booby traps.  lol

Hayden ” Indiana Jones” Vijil

Adam “Indiana Jones” Vijil

There were a few other areas that we explored before we gave up because we were SO HOT!  It is really cool to see how old the building are and to see that first hand.  There are lots of areas were the trees have grown over the buildings and into the walls.

Baphuon

Face Tower gate

Banyon Trees

It’s HOT!