We got up at 4 AM this morning so we could be at The Angkor Wat Temple before the dawn lightens the sky so that we could experience the magic of seeing the temple's towers emerging in the morning light. Sunrise was at 6:45 but we had the best shots between 6:15 and 6:30.
Because we had he best view site we also had the closest path to enter the temple ahead of the hoards. It was estimated that over 10,000 people came for sunrise and another 20-30,000 would visit the Temple today.
Angkor Wat represents the heart and soul of Cambodia. It was built in the mid-1100's as a Hindu temple honoring the gods Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma but in the 16th century the Buddhist converted it into a Hindu temple. Because of that it is better preserved than most of the others in this area.
We entered the temple on one level, had a short climbe to another level where the royalty and priests would have lived. They built 4 huge ponds to collect water for the dry season on this level.
The next level was to take you to heaven. The common people would climb 37 steps to the top but Royalty had 45 steps. A wooden staircase with handrails is necessary in this age, just image not having that and climbing with offerings for the Gods!
The shear size of the upper temple was astounding. All surfaces were covered in carvings, massive roofs covered the walkways and stone pillars in every window. The whole building is surrounded by a covered walk where the history of the people has been carved into the walls.
Over one million people would have lived inside the city walls that surrounds Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and several other minor temples. To visit them all would take days and we are here only 2 days. Truely amazing place!
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