Angkor Wat

We awoke bright and early from our slumbers at the Monica Angkor hotel, full of anticipation for the day ahead. We had thought of taking a Tuk-Tuk out to the temple complex but I reasoned that as it all seemed to be spread over quite a large area we would have far more flexibility if we took our little Honda. We were the first down for the inclusive breakfast at around 6.45am, which was quite fortunate as now sooner had we sat down with our food that hoards of Chinese school kids poured in like a plague of locusts! We’d eaten up and left before the last of the hoard had even sat down. In spite of the short distance we kitted up as usual. Due to the high volume of traffic in Siem Reap, it seemed to make sense, although it was getting to the point where the heat riding in our jackets was becoming intolerable. We had been expecting from everything we had read to be about 24 -26C, whereas in fact it was around 10C hotter and that is one very big difference! The route couldn’t have been easier as we simply turned right out of the hotel car park and just kept straight on until we picked up a sign for the ticket office on the right hand side of the road. It gave us a good indication of what to expect; think Severn Bridge on a sunny bank holiday weekend; although I must confess it was far more efficient even though they took a photo of you and printed it out on a rather nice full colour pass!!!

Less that a mile further on we turned left to follow the moat which surrounds the 3km square temple of Angkor Wat. I managed to park quite close to the main causeway and gate due to the fact by far the majority of visitors arrive by coach so there were not too many bikes. Even though it was barely 8am the tourist were there by the score, and we were anxious to join them, but not before our little Honda was safely locked up and our kit stowed. With the temperature already into the low 30s we had brought a couple of bottle of water from the hotel to start us off, so on with my little 20lt rucksack, camera primed, spare battery in pocket and off we went.

Just to stand at the end of the causeway and gaze in awe at the majesty of Angkor Wat was enough to make you break out in goose bumps (in spite of the heat!). Photographs can never convey the gravitas of a place such as this. The sheer immensity of it alone took your breath away; the moat enough to make an early Norman conqueror go weak at the knees; the walls at over 8 metres high appear as impregnable today as they must have back in the 12^th Century when it was built. To think that this vast complex just vanished into the jungle for more that 600 years until its rediscover in 1860 is just mind boggling; but then so are virtually all the statistics about the place! Walking across the huge causeway your jaw just drops involuntarily as you come ever closer to the main entrance. Even the words “main entrance” seem holey inadequate for such grandiose architecture. In all honesty I simply do not have the vocabulary to impart to you dear reader, the effect this staggeringly beautiful place had on me. Did it live up to expectations? Oh yes, and then some! Of course I’d seem photographs of it, but as I said earlier, photos just cannot adequately convey scale or gravitas.

We walked our little legs off round and around, up and down, in and out. Once across the causeway, due to the immensity of the place the crowds weren’t half as bad as we feared and we even found odd corners where we felt as though we had the place to ourselves; now wouldn’t that be something! In reality I really don’t think that could ever happen. At the rear of the complex a path led on through the woods which we though led to another temple Bayon. Whilst it led to another much smaller less visited building, this was still a part of the Angkor Wat complex. Back at the bike we paused to catch our breath and refresh ourselves with a couple of rather scrummy milkshakes cum ice creams!!!

and we saw load of these little fellas on the way round

Suitably refreshed, we jumped aboard our little steed and headed on around the perimeter road thinking that we had seen all we were going to see… Wrong! We hadn’t gone very far before another magnificent tower straddled the road in from of us. I still find it hard to believe that we actually got to ride through the centre of a 1000 year old temple gate which was hardly wide enough for a horse and cart to pass through. 

My overloaded sensory receptors were about to blow a fuse… but it was still not done with us. A mile or two further on I spotted some souvenir stalls on the left side of the road and an entrance on the right. I parked up in the shade of a big old tree and joined the few people walking along yet another ancient pathway at the end of which stood the temple of Preah Khan, covering over 5sq km it is even larger than the city of Angkor Wat but it is made even more special due the fact that rather than try to reconstruct the temple, it has simple been stabilised within the jungle setting that it was discovered. 

Once again the scale is mind-blowing, it took us the best part of an hour just to walk from front to back of the main temple building, but to see how the jungle has intertwined itself with the huge stone blocks and columns is just so spectacular, it has to be seen to be believed! I’m not sure that I will ever again witness anything that will shake me so profoundly.

So did Angkor Wat live up to our expectations? As I’m sure you have already realised, yes, yes and yes again! If you ever visit Cambodia and all you ever get to see if Preah Vinhear and Angkor Wat, In my honest opinion, ­you will have received full value for your money.