Angkor Wat: A photographic journey

February 16, 2015

Angkor Wat is one of the very great wonders of the world, a real marvel constructed at the height of the Khmer Empire way back in the twelfth century. Whilst Europe still languished in the midst of the Dark Ages on the other side of the wolrd the good King Suryavarman II was making full use of an excess of slave labour to construct what remains one of the world's most impressive architectural grandeurs, an enduring testament to the size of King Suryavarman II's ego. But you haven't come here for a history lesson, you've come here to see a whole bunch of pictures. Well, maybe that isn't what you came for originally, but it's what you're going to get, because I'm feeling pressured to get this blog post out to the world, and I don't have time to do any writing. Which is okay, because I feel I can sum up the day best with photos, and I don't have any good stories about my day at Angkor Wat anyway. Well, there was one story about me giving money to a prostitute, but you don't want to hear about that (it was in exchange for a pineapple shake, Dea, honest!)

They say that Angkor Wat is best seen at sunrise, but my body said that my bed was best seen at sunrise, so I didn't get to Angkor Wat until a bit later. I decided straight away that I was not going to be able to avoid getting tourists in my photos

So I decided to absolutely embrace the tourists, and in fact just take photos with them in

The top of the highest part of Angkor Wat

'The guy walking around everywhere with his camera on a stick'

There were steep steps up to the highest part

Ah, I finally found a quiet spot to enjoy the view. Angkor Wat = impressive

"I don't know, but I've got some good stuff over here in this one!"

"Really? Mine's just filled with plastic bottles"

"Hey, that's not fair! I'm coming over there!"

'The woman who is going to be pissed with her husband for blocking Angkor Wat out of her selfie with his great big umbrella'

'The taking a photo of an elephant without slowing down cyclist'

Angkor Wat is just one of many, many temples located in close proximity. On the way to the next one I saw cool trees, like this one

The intricate carvings at Bayun were intricate

The great thing about Bayun were the faces. I liked it more than Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat could do with more faces

'The guy who turned around quickly and saw me taking a photo of him'

'The 'I don't know what to say about this guy' guy.'

'The tour guide who always wanted to be a photographer'

'The couldn't be bothered to get out of the tuk tuk'

Some of the trees were really, really, really tall

I got lost on a trail in the jungle for a bit when I tried to take a shortcut to get away from all the tuk tuks on the road. It was pretty exciting, until I came to a dead-end and had to back-track

This is another temple II. There are a great many temples spread over a big area. People say you can't see it all in one day. People are right

There were little local children selling things everywhere - it was very sad

"Shall we exchange our pictures later darling?""No, they're the same"

A scene in Tomb Raider was filmed here. This is 'the Angelina tree'

This tree root was so big it needed supports!

Wait a minute, I thought this was from the 12th century? They're still building it!!!

This picture would look better without the tourists I think

'The Chinese man who lost his tour group'

You can't see everything in one day, true, but you can see the best bits, and it costs $40 for a three-day ticket. I was content

'The taking a photo of someone taking a photo of me'

Another temple. If you think there are no tourists here, look closer'

The people of the Khmer Empire were big on dancing like monkeys

'The guy walking around everywhere with his camera on a stick II'

These monkeys were hanging around by the moat which surrounds Angkor Wat. I decided to go back there once more before sunset

Here I am going back whilst everyone else was leaving

And it was worth it to get this private moment to myself

That was going to be it for my exciting day at Angkor Wat, but then just as I was preparing to leave I met David and Elena again, the cycling couple that I'm sure you remember me meeting before. You remember? Don't you? So we watched the sunset, which was rubbish, and then cycled back to Siem Reap together amongst the cavalry of tuk tuks and tour buses, and that was that

16/02/15 - 44km unloaded

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