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We get up at 4:45am hoping to join the few eager to see the sun rise behind one of the largest temples in the world, Angkor Wat. When we arrive, there is a crowd. It is clear that Angkor Wat is the main attraction in Cambodia. Accepting this, we sit and wait. The sun rises. At first slowly, then we see it peek, and it seems to ascend more quickly, up behind the temple, accenting the scene, not stealing the show, but making the place look even more majestic. We sit in awe.
Once the sun has fully risen, like all the other tourists we head inside. All the Buddha heads are gone! They were stolen... If you see a Buddha head, please return. We walk in and around the temple. Our guide tells us that a moat was built around the temple to make it appear as though it were floating in heaven. Furthermore, the carvings in the sandstone depict gods, arms stretched up and out, as if they are holding up the temple much like Hercules holding up the world.
Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century to honour Vishnu, the god of preservation. It was originally created as a Hindu temple, but has since been turned into a Buddhist one. At the time it was built, there were a million people living in the area. King (nicknamed) Jay VII ordered half the population to work on the temple itself and the other half to provide supplies to those putting up the temple. Luckily, Angkor Wat has survived the many wars on Cambodian soil, though it still being reconstructed. After our tour, we head back to the hotel for our “free breakfast with hotel stay”, then nap!
In the afternoon, we take a quick boat ride through the floating community on lake Tonle Sap. Over 8,000 families live in bamboo huts literally floating on the water. Families station their homes by dropping weights. As we ride by, we see a floating school, a floating basket ball court, a floating convenience store. We also see a motor boat helping to move a home over to deeper waters, as the dry season is drawing near. The water is murky; in fact, it is indistinguishable in colour from the brown dirt by the shore. People here go to the bathroom, bath, fish, and travel on this same water. We are astonished by all of it.
Once the sun has fully risen, like all the other tourists we head inside. All the Buddha heads are gone! They were stolen... If you see a Buddha head, please return. We walk in and around the temple. Our guide tells us that a moat was built around the temple to make it appear as though it were floating in heaven. Furthermore, the carvings in the sandstone depict gods, arms stretched up and out, as if they are holding up the temple much like Hercules holding up the world.
Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century to honour Vishnu, the god of preservation. It was originally created as a Hindu temple, but has since been turned into a Buddhist one. At the time it was built, there were a million people living in the area. King (nicknamed) Jay VII ordered half the population to work on the temple itself and the other half to provide supplies to those putting up the temple. Luckily, Angkor Wat has survived the many wars on Cambodian soil, though it still being reconstructed. After our tour, we head back to the hotel for our “free breakfast with hotel stay”, then nap!
In the afternoon, we take a quick boat ride through the floating community on lake Tonle Sap. Over 8,000 families live in bamboo huts literally floating on the water. Families station their homes by dropping weights. As we ride by, we see a floating school, a floating basket ball court, a floating convenience store. We also see a motor boat helping to move a home over to deeper waters, as the dry season is drawing near. The water is murky; in fact, it is indistinguishable in colour from the brown dirt by the shore. People here go to the bathroom, bath, fish, and travel on this same water. We are astonished by all of it.
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