10/11: Sunrise at Angkor Wat and the Big Circuit

Even though we had a glimpse of Angkor Wat yesterday (10/10) on our way to see Bayon, Baphoun and other temples on the Little Circuit, we decided to wait until today to tour Angkor Wat itself and see the wats on the "Big Circuit."  The Big Circuit, as the name implies, involves seeing more temples over a greater geographical area and was a set price of $15 for both of us, once again regardless of the amount of time we took seeing what we wanted.  I remember discussing the fee structure with Mr. Sarath, our tuk tuk driver, as it didn't seem fair to him and his colleagues that the price was predetermined for both circuits regardless of the amount of time the drivers were out AND the number of passengers in the tuk tuk.

The crowd of people waiting to see the sunrise at AW.  I read that there are FAR more people waiting during the high or dry season.  Sure glad we weren't there then.

Unfortunately all my very dark photos of the sunrise at AW don't transfer to the blog file - no idea why. We got up at 4:15 to go see the sunrise at AW and then spend time seeing the complex itself for the first time.

Sunrise at long last.

Steven didn't feel like waiting with me to see the sunrise because of the crowds so he wandered up on the path/bridge instead.  The picture is blurry because I was so far away from him when I took it.  Took a whopping 175 photos at AWof the sunrise and the temple itself and then another 134 on the same day of the other temples and sights!

There's a longish path to see AW itself as it's surrounded by a moat.

AW is a massive complex of buildings as it is the largest religious structure in the world; it's considered to be the "heart and soul of Cambodia, the Khmers' national symbol, the epicenter of their civilization and a source of fierce national pride."

I made sure I stepped over these ants as I wasn't sure they weren't fire ants.  Wasn't so lucky a few days later though.

Steven happy as a clam seeing AW after waiting for so long! He wondered that since AW had always been on his "bucket list," what would be the next big thing he wanted to see and do.

Yup, more steps to climb!

Saw a number of monkeys clambering on the roofs of AW.

One of the courtyards.

View from the top.

Saw a number of young boys and men cutting the lawn with scythes.

There were an untold number of interior courtyards each with just spectacular bas-relief sculptures.

Take your child to work day, Cambodian style!

Last photo at Angkor Wat.

Figuring how to get whee we wanted to go next with Mr. Sarath, our driver.

Took some more few quick photos of  the faces at Bayon since it was on our way to see the other temples.

Signs at Preah Khan, our next stop on the Big Circuit.

Heard a lot of  musicians, disabled during the Civil War, playing instruments and singing at temples and other public places throughout Cambodia; these were at Preah Khan.

I bought a painting from this artist at Preah Khan.

Photos from Preah Khan above and below to the wee girl.

Offerings to the gods.

A very wee one selling her wares at Preah Khan.  All the small children we saw spoke very good English and very great sellers in the making: they would bring out their roll of 10 postcards, flip them over one at a time showing us the pictures and count one, two, three, etc all the way up to ten.  If they were selling the krama or the Cambodian scarves the country is famous for, and I said I already have one or two, their immediate response would be to say ""You need another one."

On the water logged path to Preah Neak Pean. 

 I sure loved the process of  getting there even more than what we saw at the end of the path!

Had to be very careful not to fall in the brackish water!

This was all we could see of Preah Neak Pean, another late 12th century temple.  Now see what I mean about getting there was more fun than the destination?

Ta Som: another temple above and below.

Young boys herding cattle instead of being in school at East Mebon.

I loved seeing the different colored bricks at East Mebon.

We hadn't seen a temple prior to this with such visible holes like these in the bricks at East Mebon.

East Mebon is known for its elephant sculptures.  I had bought these culottes in Thailand - they came in so handy when I was clambering over the bricks, up and down steps in the wats around Siem Reap.  Plus I was never turned away from seeing some of the wats wearing these because they went over my knees.

Last photo of East Mebon.

Photos above and below of Pre Rup.

 At a lot of the temples, young boys offered to be our guide or would simply ask for money or candy outright.  We never gave them that but I almost always had a stash of toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, etc to hand out instead.  I had to be careful that if I gave anything out, I had enough for each child as often there were lots and lots of children begging.

Interesting to see cattle grazing in the temple grounds at Pre Rup.

Last photos of Pre Rup above.

More children on  both sides of our tuk tuk begging for candy and money after our getting a bite to eat.

Banteay Kdei: you guessed it, another wat!

It was always amazing to us that there was absolutely NO security once our entry pass was checked at the entrance to each temple; everyone could walk, climb anywhere you wanted because nothing was off limits even though these are priceless antiquities.  Also surprising to us was the very little litter anywhere in and around the temples.

My plan was to buy just one krama in a specific color when leaving Banteay Kdei but somehow I came away with a lot more than the one PLUS a number of the Cambodian culottes!

Sa Srang: or LAST temple of the day after starting at 4:15  in the morning.  A lot of people, according to the guidebooks, come here to watch the sunsets over the lake at Sa Srang.  After visiting it, we decided that we would choose another place to watch the sunset though.

More monkeys cavorting in the late afternoon sun.  Mr. Sarath told us a lot of Cambodians  like eating monkey brains and their skins are used for drums.