Angkor Wat (Siem Reap)

There are certain places in the world that are must sees. And the temples of Ankgor Wat are definitely to be included on this list.

The first thing that I was unaware of was the actual size of the area that the temples are found. visiting the temples is like visiting a national park with the temples scattered through the park. Some of the temples can be found as far as 50 km away.

But do not fret as there are numerous temples within 2-3 km of each other and are by far the main attractions. The reason the Angkor Wat temple is so popular is due to its sheer size. It is the largest of all the temples and is surrounded by a large moat.

When you walk around the temples it is hard not to wonder how they placed such large stones in place.

Another nice thing about walking around the temples was the trees that could be found. Because it is a protected place the Cambodians have not stripped the trees around the temples as they have throughout the rest of their country.

Just some motifs found on the walls of one of the temples

As with most temples around the world the geometry of the temples is astounding. This one temple had four corridors each facing directly north; south; east and west.

Once again symmetry is all important and the alignment using primitive methods is amazing to see.

Even though restoration is in process certain temples are starting to be overrun by nature. The next few pictures are of the temple that was made famous in the Lara Croft movie.