After arranging to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat and some of the other temples yesterday, I ended up ill the night before so we didn't end up going.
Feeling better later on we rebooked it for today.
We were up and grabbing something quick to eat at 4.30 this morning before getting in the tuk tuk and driving to the ticket office. Here we got the three day pass as we figured with so much time in Siem Reap we should see as much as possible!
From here we were taken to the walkway that takes you across the moat into Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. We had bought a torch which was really useful as you couldn't see anything and we realised on the walk back in the light that we had been walking right on the edge of a massive gap in the path the whole time. Not sure where we were going we followed the direction everyone was walking and a Cambodian guy called Harry Potter told us the best place to stand to watch the sunrise. By this time it was coming up to 5.30 and we found a spot to sit and wait. This was quite surreal because you still couldn't see a thing and were just staring blankly at the darkness. As the sky started to lighten Angkor Wat's silhouette gradually appeared which was amazing to watch. Unfortunately it has been pretty cloudy in the mornings and today was no different meaning we never saw the moment the sun can over the building.
After this we spent nearly two hours walking around the outside of the building and then the inside. There was a part inside that didn't open until later which we didn't see but we still felt happy with what we had been able to see. We headed back to the lakes out the front where we had watched the sunrise just in time for the sun to break through the clouds, which was beautiful to see and made up for the lack of sunrise earlier! After grabbing a quick drink from Harry Potter we headed back to the tuk tuk and on to Angkor Thom.
When we arrived we were first dropped off at the Bayon temple. This was incredible, with more 50 towers carved with over 200 faces. It was quite an overwhelming thug to see and for me was more impressive than Angkor Wat. We then headed towards the Bathuon temple, which when you climbed the hundreds of steps that take you to the top have you incredible views of the jungle around the temple. We took the long walk through the trees and some smaller temples before walking across the terrace of the elephants, which is a long platform from which the king would watch processions and was surprisingly covered in lots of elephant carvings! We then followed a maze like path known as the terrace of the leper king, which had hundreds of faces carved on all of the high walls as you followed it around. Another cold drink stop and we hunted down our driver and headed off to Ta Prohm. This place is famous for being used during the filming of the to Tomb Raider movie and I figured that was what the hype was about. However, apart from Bayon temple, this was my other highlight of the day. The maze of ruins were incredible with stunning carvings and overgrown and unnatural looking trees covering most of the building. After here we had one more stop, Banteay Kdie. This was another smaller temple, which again is still incredible to see when you think how long ago they were built.
It was now half 11 and we headed back to where we are staying for some food and a bit of an afternoon nap! We have arranged to use the second day of our pass tomorrow, where we will finish seeing the rest of the temples on the grand circuit, possibly the waterfall and finally the sunset. With an 8am start instead we can look forward to a bit of a lie in!