Our Monday started early with a visit to the incredibly vast Angkor Wat complex, one of the 300 temple complexes in the Angkor World Heritage archeological site. It's also the world’s largest religious structure, covering more than 400 acres and once comprising 1,000 buildings. By comparison, it measures four times the size of the Vatican City.
Angkor Wat was built with mostly sandstone by the Khmer kings as a Hindu temple to honor the god Vishnu. The temple complex served as the royal center of the Khmer Empire, considered one of the richest and most sophisticated kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Completed in the early 12th century, it’s estimated to have taken 300 years to complete this vast complex. What’s mind-boggling is the sheer volume of hand carvings in the sandstone throughout this vast complex; it’s no wonder it took centuries to complete.
Apsara, the goddess of love and dance in Khmer and Hindu belief (and a celestial nymph in Buddhism), is an ever-present figure in the sandstone carvings throughout Angkor Wat. In fact, it's estimated there are nearly 1,900 Apsara carvings – and displaying 36 different hairstyles – in this vast complex.
Angkor Wat’s five main towers are said to symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru, which, according to Hindu mythology, sits at the center of the world and is the home of the gods. The massive moat that surrounds the complex is said to represent the ocean surrounding Mount Meru.
At some point, Angkor Wat shifted from Hinduism to Buddhism, and the Hindu statues and carvings were replaced with Buddhist art throughout the complex. There seems to be a big discrepancy as to when this occurred, with multiple different centuries listed in historical accounts.
In the early 15th century, Angkor was abandoned and engulfed by the Cambodian jungle. It was then rediscovered in the mid-1800s. Today, it serves as one of the most important religious shrines in Southeast Asia, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is considered the Eighth Wonder of the World.
After exploring many of its vast buildings across this massive complex, including witnessing a young Cambodian couple having their bridal portraits made, we made the climb to the very top temple via a steep set of stairs pitched at a 70-degree incline! Absolutely worth it to soak in the views as our reward. That is until we made our way back down the stairs – it was much scarier coming down than going up!
I’m committed to my theme of hot and humid, so I’d be remiss in not mentioning how unbelievably hot this day was…in fact, we had renamed the complex “Angkor Hot” by the end of our tour. Again, we required showers and a full change of clothes once back at our hotel.
Luckily, our hotel had the most gorgeous pool area surrounded by lush gardens. A little forethought and a quick conversation with the concierge resulted in a reservation of two private, pool-side cabanas for our use. We arrived to find frosty fruit drinks and a fresh fruit tray waiting for us. We swam, ate poolside, and relaxed. We even waited out a heavy afternoon rain shower, which brought the relief of somewhat cooler temps while lounging and reading in our cabanas.
With a free evening, we grabbed a quick bite in the hotel bar, then ventured back to Pub Street and explored Siem Reap's massive market. On our way back to the hotel, we asked our tuk-tuk driver to stop by the nearby 7-Eleven so we could grab some bottled water. He suggested we take a quick peek at a higher-end silk rug, clothing, and lacquerware showroom. We were happy to oblige since he received free gas for stopping by with tourists. Little did we know we would walk out an hour later, having purchased the most beautiful silk rugs. That was one expensive 7-Eleven run!
We couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our first full day in Siem Reap.
Comments