Angkor What?

I was already in love with Cambodia just from the bus drive to Siem Reap. I knew I would be, that's why I was so determined to get here. I checked into my hostel and soon found myself booking onto a sunrise tour of Angkor Wat. Yes people, a sunrise tour. That meant being at the front door at 4.30am! Luckily everyone else in my dorm had had the same bright idea, so we all woke each other up. I ended up tagging along with two British girls - Mel and Lindsey - and we headed off into the dark with our Tuk Tuk driver.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat is pretty incredible. Even on this day when it was cloudy, it was still pretty spectacular. Lots of the tourists made the mistake of thinking because it was light, sunrise was over, and so wandered off, giving us an even better view :-)

After sunrise, we spent the next 3 hours wandering around temples, with our Tuk Tuk driver (I want to say his name was Heung but I have probably spelt it wrong!) giving us a few extra details along the way, and letting us borrow a guide book - great!

I spent the next day here too (this time with a Danish girl!) adding another 4 hours amongst the massive temple complex. Built mostly in the 12th century, it was rediscovered in the 19th, and most temples have been restored to their original state, carvings redone, new wooden steps added to reduce the wear as tourists weave around them. But some (including Ta Prohm) have been left as they were found, with trees wrapped around the sandstone blocks, roots pushing them up, slowly causing collapse.

I honestly don't know which was more impressive - the restored ones, or the ones left as they were found - and I wondered what those European explorers must have thought, how they must have felt, as they pressed through the jungle, only to come across these giant ancient structures. I knew what I was coming to, and I was still blown away by the enormity of the whole complex and the minute details throughout. For someone who had no idea, it must have been something else entirely.