The next morning we were up as early as can be to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was beautiful and worth it.
We took a tour with our guide through the structure after the sunrise. It is one of the biggest religious structures in the world. It was built by the Khmer as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in the 12th century. The Khmer rulers became Buddhist through the centuries, and the changes can be seen in the temples. The Buddha Park in Vientiane also incorporated both faiths. Angkor Wat was the capital city in the Khmer Empire, which is why these beautiful temples were built here.
I was able to go up the stairs to one of the towers and get some amazing views. A warning for the ladies: you must bring a skirt to cover your legs, as well as make sure your shoulders are covered. They are very strict and will not allow you to use a tied shawl; we saw ladies get kicked out of the line for trying that. It was hot so I wore shorts and a tee shirt, but I had a long skirt in my bag when I needed it. The place is breathtaking…you can wander the hallways, just soaking it all in…take allot of pictures, but also take the time to just look. You can take a seat at a window ledge, and journal and sketch.
After a break, we came back in the late afternoon to see the Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm temples that are north of Angkor Wat. Angkor Thom has the smiling faces on the towers…you can get a photo kissing one of them if you are silly like us.
You can tell these temples were built later since they are dedicated to Buddhism. Ta Prohm is nicknamed the “Tomb Raider” temple since part of the movie was filmed there. There are these massive trees growing out of the structure…it feels like another world.
The temples were beautiful, and there is all this amazing plant life growing through them. I feel so fortunate to have been able to go and wander through this amazing complex.
We left late the next day so we were able to go to this amazing spa, Bodia, for massages and facials. They served us delicious tea before and after. There was a pond with fish and blossomsinside the spa. And when I was getting a massage, below was a blossom in water…the place was just beautiful, and the people that worked there were so nice. I was able to bring some tea and products from the shop home. I highly recommend this place.
We found a café owned by an Australian guy that had great sandwiches and smoothies. It was so hot there that we took tuk tuks whenever possible. We ended up hanging out at the pool in our hotel since it was refreshing after walking around in the heat. We arranged for transport at the hotel to take us to the airport. My sister and I were both going to Seoul for a layover. This was where we, sadly, had to part ways since she was going back to Las Vegas.
I think this was the trip of a life time, and we both had a blast. I feel so blessed for having gone and had all these experiences. I can’t recommend it enough. I wish I had the time to go to Vietnam like allot of people from the group did, but two weeks was all the vacation I could take at a time. I hope you enjoyed the experiences I shared!