Angkor Wat - and a gazillion other amazing ruined temples!

I took the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the town adjacent to the famous ruins around Angkor wat. What I didn't quite realize was that Angkor wat is just one temple... One temple which is absolutely amazing in its grandeur, design and construction. Standing alone it would be well worth a visit. But that's not just what Angkor wat is about. There are TONS of other temples all over the place. Angkor wat is just the biggest and grandest, but some of the other temples rival it in terms of design or attention to detail. I spent three days getting driven around on a moto seeing temples and I never ceased to be impressed. Though the forty degree heat did take its toll on me.

The last of my three days I got up at 4:00 AM to see the sunrise at Angkor wat. The day before I had had a nap in the afternoon and because of that I wasn't able to get to sleep. I finally managed to pass out a little after 3:00 AM... Less than one hour of sleep but was it worth it? I would say yes. I put a few pictures below taken at intervals of the sunning rising.
Of all the temples I visited I spent by far the most time at Angkor wat, which I guess makes sense as it is so huge. The downfall is the amount of tourists, sometimes it is literally swarming with them (I do realize that I am part of that swarm ;) but there were moments where I felt almost on my own there. The sunrise was great because I got thee just before 5 AM. It was pitch black and I had no flashlight but it was worth stumbling my through the first buildings to feel like I was alone in the massive courtyard were I took those sunrise pictures. Though by about the second picture it was already starting to fill up.

I really like this picture of the solitary monk walking towards Angkor wat. What is funny is that just before this scene presented itself that whole road was absolutely packed from start to end with huge groups of Korean tourists(they always seem to travel in groups). I was on the steps of the back gatehouse of Angkor waiting for the sun to get lower and watching the tour groups leave. But eventually everyone just seemed to disappear and then this monk showed up. I suppose it's true what they say that photography is mostly about waiting around.

I have taken so many pictures of temples that aside form Angkor wat their names escape me. Many were a lot more fun to explore because there were less people, or the temple was very steep and high (fun to climb), or covered in jungle etc.

This temple was extremely steep and high. I'm not sure if these pictures capture the height well, but take my assurances: high and steep!!
Two of my favorite temples were fairly covered in jungle and had massive trees growing right on the buildings. These were in relatively rough condition but that just added to the feeling that you were discovering something new.

Some were just fun to sit on for a half an hour and do nothing but stare at the landscape.

The size of all these places sometimes made me look over the small details. Most of these temples are covered in intricate relief carving. There was one nice moment when a sudden rainstorm came along and cut into the stifling heat. I'm not sure where most of the people took refuge but I just hung out in a temple and watched the rain come down. It was nice and relaxing. Afterwards the temple looked like it was steaming, there was mist coming up all over the place. It is mind boggling to think of the time and effort required to build just one of these temples let alone the dozens that dot the landscape or hide in the jungle. I walked through more than twenty different temples, each one of them unique and breathtaking in its own way. Yet there is still so much I didn't explore. Sometimes it was so hot and the driver would be taking me to another temple and we'd pass one that looked really great, but I was just too tired to say stop, or maybe it wasn't quite as nice as the one I had just been through. There may be too much of a good thing here as, I at least, overlooked a lot of the smaller places that I'm sure have their own quirks to offer.

I do remember this temple is called Bayoun temple. It has to be in my top three. It is quite large and has something like 12 towers each one with huge 4 huge faces carved into them. 4+12= I'm not good at math, but a lot of giant faces. It was just also really fun to climb through.This place was cool too. When it was built it was surrounded by water, an artificial island said to have healing waters. There is no water anymore, so I bathed in the dirt presuming it is also healing.

Um, ya this is another picture of a temple...

OK, so I went a little picture crazy here, how can you not! There are literally over a hundred more pics on my camera.