What I love about Angkor Wat

What is it like to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia

The history of the place is incredible.

Reading up about Angkor Wat, the other temples and the era in which it all was built is worthwhile. It will heighten your experience and your appreciation for this heritage site.

Some places speak for itself. This one a bit less on it’s own, since many of the temples and structures are in pretty bad shape.

Many structures are more ruins than anything else. Time, pollution, the climate and the forest have taken its toll and left a dark patina on everything. Such a shame really!

What I love about Angkor Wat -and the other temples in the area

• the history and story about this once city of temples is amazing!
• the temples are located amidst tropical flora and fauna. All that lush green!
  
• there are continuous restorations going on, to carefully preserve what is left. That is very positive, of course!
  
  And they seem to clean up here and there. The difference between a cleaned sculpture and a polluted, almost black one is enormous.
  
• the stone carvings everywhere. Complete books written in stone, you could say. The amount of carvings, the details, the artistry….impressive!
  
  
• the beautiful cylindrical shape of the stone window bars
  
• the smiling, serene, immense faces of Bayon Temple are breathtaking (more to follow in a separate post)
• feeling all Angeline Jolie Tomb Raider walking through the structures of the Jungle Temple Ta Phrom (more in a separate post)
• the rows of stone gods and demons, holding on to a serpent, at the South gate at Bayon Temple.

Missing colours

Being a sucker for colours and for “more is more’, the monochrome -often dark- tones of the temples were a bit hard for me. I missed colours, clearly.

Luckily I spotted some colourful diversions here and there. And no, I’m not referring to all the tourists;-).

There was a handful of statues with bright-coloured fabrics around them…

…there were monks in their typical orange clothes…

Monks, even with smart phones and ipads.

….novices in white…

….and the colors of a small local market, temple and settlement.

Did you visit Angkor Wat? What did you love most about this huge temple complex?