Angkor Wat (Siem Reap, Cambodia) - Ultimate Grandest

Last night’s dinner hunger story (Ho Chi Minh City)? Hellish! I don't even want to talk about. Cramping bus loads of tourists in one specific, no doubt a spacious space, for buffet and cultural show thrown in. Madness. Hardly any space for even pulling out your chair and standing in the queue amongst the hungry like wolves, all walk of life humans? Not my scene. Not at all. Pushing, rushing and waiting, as though you are begging for free meal. I ate so little and I quickly left. To my room within five minutes walk, I showered and to curb my hunger, a hot cuppa of coffee, before literally forcing sleep over me.   


Next morning. Thank god. Decent hotel buffet breakfast without being bulldozed and for putting my hunger in perspective. Subsequently? The highlight in Siem Reap? Yes. Yes. Angkor Wat. What I have been waiting for. For so many years. Finally. In fact, I hopped into this tour mainly for Angkor Wat. The major pride of Cambodia. The must do. Do or die. Indeed, the ultimate grandest Angkor Wat. UNESCO world heritage site listed as one of world's iconic landmarks. How did it start for us in Angkor Wat? Standing in the queue for photo taking for our pass and you have a choice between a day, or three days or a week to Angkor Wat exploring. Ours definitely just a day. Tips for you before you embark on Angkor Wat? Cotton wear. Flat comfortable shoes. Carry water. Sun glasses, hat or scarf defense mechanism. Make sure you also lather aplenty sunblock on your face and body. Why? Sun in Angkor Wat, in an open really huge area is merciless. Really. Furthermore, please respect the rules and regulations as stated in Angkor Wat. Give respect to the gods and no monkey tricks of yours please.   

For those of you who are in a tour group, stick together. Otherwise, you will troubling the rest and listen carefully to your guide on where to meet later. Right. Your walk into Angkor Wat? Via the long stretch of road. Mind you dusty, and lined already with huge stone pillars and stone sculptures. All the way in and all the way walking throughout Angkor Wat. 

Trust me, all will be fair and fine if you follow the signs for seeing, admiring and picturing Angkor Wat and once you walk further inside, you will arrive in front of Angkor Thom (The Large City). Angkor Thom. The fortified inner royal city built by King Jayavarman Vll at the end of the 12th century and where you will see? The famous Bayon, the Terrace of the Leper King and Baphuon, amongst other smaller temples. This my travel enthusiasts, is the famous location where Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) was shot. Dreams do come true, don' they? It did for me. Seeing in movie against real time live experience. Obviously? Incomparable.   

First half of our day already taken up by this hour, putting a comma to Angkor Wat, we then headed to the road side Eat @Khmer Restaurant for lunch. Deliciousness. Sincerely. A revelation of big, bold, profound tastes. Fresh local ingredients and herbs, coconut milk and burst of chilies. Nothing nor could be faulted. Yummy rocking and energy packing for our second half of the day in Angkor Wat.

(Vegetable Curry)

(Salad)

(Pumpkin Custard)

To Angkor centrality by walking through the bridge and before climbing the really steep, uneven and unbalanced stone staircase right to the top. Be careful. If you are afraid of height or even for everyone. Watch your steps. And once you are up there, a different experience all together for seeing the symbolic meaningful stone walls and Angkor Wat’s religious faith and history in tandem to the gods. While you are still up there, take a 360 degrees look at the surrounding and towards where you walked from, before bidding bye-bye and leaving Angkor Wat. 

Over in Angkor Wat, but tour not over yet. The last draw? Sunset watching. Havoc. I almost died. I really struggled. Walking via the dusty uphill slope until I almost wanted to turn back. Then again, coming this far and not seeing the sunset? Can't be right? Next? Standing in the long queue before being signalled to climb the stair. A massive test of your endurance and strength of your legs and once you are up in Bakheng Mountain? I almost collapsed. 

The best part of this whole thing to sunset watching? Honestly, over-rated. For less than five minutes sunset watching? Sun slowly fading and? That's it. Goodness me. Luckily we didn't do the wee hour sunrise watching. If only I knew. Then again, unless you experience, you will never know. True.   

Angkor Wat and sunset watching? A whole day which socked us up in tiredness and dust browning our skin. Up next, dinner while still under the spell of Angkor Wat and energy literally drained out. We couldn't even focus on eating. Instead, wanting to dash back to our room for showering and immediately hopping in bed. So we did.