Today was the start of our ancient templing.
Siem Reap is famous for it's historical temple sites, built over a thousand years ago, there are dozens of temples scattered around the modern city, the majority of them being in the Angkor area.
Straight up, I have to say that I loved literally every single temple, no matter how big or small, but some were real standouts.
The restoration work they have done is amazing. In most temples, you can see where some of it looks like it is practically brand new, then you can turn around and see a few crumbling door frames. It's a great balance, and they've done it very well.
The first one we visited was Preah Khan, a temple built in the 1100s which really got the trip off to a great start. It was a slightly overcast morning, so the grim backdrop really made the temple look even older.
This temple is particular was a great one to start off with, because it was quite large, and had a few trees growing through it, where nature had reclaimed some of its territory without completely taking over.
The detail in the carvings is still incredible, and was really very beautiful. I imagine putting together some of the walls that had collapsed would have been like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
The next temple we went to was much smaller, Neak Pean, and was built around the same time.
Because it isn't wet season, the moat that usually surrounds it was fairly low tide, but the reflection was still very pretty, and the locals fishing in the huge lake, and kids playing in the trees.
The next temple was Ta Som, the first of the "face" temples. It was smaller than the first one, but no less impressive, with similar stones and architecture.
There was also a class of school kids who were there for an art class. I wish there had been such incredible things to draw when I was in primary school! (Pretty much the only thing I'm envious of with their schooling system though...)
The next temple was East Mebon. This temple was really different from the others, made of a different stone, almost bricks, and elephant statues.
We then went on a bit of a huge drive, 37km in the back of a Tuk Tuk to Banteay Srei. It was worth the drive though, for a huge complex with a lake and series of temples. It was also the oldest we had seen, built in the 800s!
The landscape just a few kilometers away from the other temples was also completely different, with a red sandstone temple, and dry arid surrounds, a far cry from the greenery of the others.
The final temple of the day was Pre Rup, a funeral temple from the 900s. This one was a bit of a combinations of a few of the others from the day.
The stairs were kind of killer though.
Tomorrow, more temples xx