A week in Cambodia -11/18/2023-11/24/2023

Siam Reap-11/23/2023

Day 6- Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Today our tour guide is taking us to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise.  In order to get there on time we had to be ready to be picked up at our hotel at 4:00Am.  It takes our tour guide 20 minutes to pick up the whole group and another 30 minutes to get to Angkor Wat.   The park open at 5:00 am everyday to allow people to experience the break of day as the sun rises from behind the temple’s five towers in a spectacle of red and golden hues.

It takes a good 15 minutes to walk from the parking lot to get into Angkor Wat.  We walked in total darkness.

There were a lot of people walking in the dark.

We are entering via the Western tower in total darkness but thanks to our tour guide who had a really bright flashlight to guide us and to see in front of us. 

Inside the Western tower is the main statue of Ta Reach (royal ancestor)is speculated to be the original statue of Vishnu from the central shrine.

The statue is mentioned in an inscription on the walls of Angkor Thom that was added in the post-Angkorian era stating that the mother of King Sattha donated her hair to create a lacquer to protect the statue. It is likely that it was also restored at that time from a broken state and the head replaced by an alternate version. The statue underwent another major restoration around the year 2000 that revealed the prior restoration works using lead, it also revealed gold leaf that once covered the statue. In a big event for the time, the original head was held at the Phnom Penh Museum and returned to Siem Reap to be repatriated with its body. Annually, at the end of harvest, a festival is held to pay homage to the spirit.

The gigantic statue of Hindu divinity Vishnu locally known as “Ta Reach", is regarded as one of the most sacred and divined figures, whom people faithfully believe and pray upon for happiness and prosperity.  Standing as tall as five meters above the ground with eight hands stretching out.

 Ta Reach is highly respected and well-known to many people from every part of the country. They come to pray to him and ask for all kinds of blessings.

Galleries run between the towers and two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals.

There are so many people staying in line already but our tour guide knows the best spot to take pictures and luckily we were able to get a front row view.

The best sunrise spot is in front of Angkor Wat Temple in front of a reflecting pond.   It is about 5:30AM and the moon is shining above.

The sunrise today is at 6:06 am so we have about half an hour to witness the sunrise.

Reflecting pond.

The sky is starting to change colors.

Golden and orange hues are starting to cover the sky.

We were all waiting to see the sun rising but all we saw is the color of the sky changing.  It was too cloudy to see the sunrise.

Across the pond at exactly 6:00am we saw a bunch of monks starting to walk out of the temple for their morning prayers.

Basically this is the most that we saw from the sunrise.  We are all so disappointed that it was so subtle

People standing in front of the pond to watch the sunrise.

It was actually really fun to see so many people watching the sunrise and taking pictures.

This the crowd behind us also here to watch the sunrise.  You have to come pretty early to get the best spot.

Huge crowd around the pond.

People still hanging around even if the sun already has risen.

People were also standing on top of the steps of a temple nearby to take pictures.

So many people...

People starting to leave.

Sunrise behind us.

Our tour guide picked us up and we are following him to tour the complex.  We are on the outer wall of Angkor Wat.

View of the central structure of Angkor Wat.

We were very lucky to part of this really good mix of people. In the group there were an Australian, A Spanish, an Italian, mand the remaining folks are from England.

We all got a long very well and was really nice meeting them and spending 2 days with them.

Angkor Wat is enormous. A 15-foot high wall, surrounded by a wide moat, protected the city, the temple and residents from invasion, and much of that fortification is still standing.

Panoramic view of a small part of the park.  A sandstone causeway served as the main access point for the temple.

In 1992, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Although visitors to Angkor Wat numbered in just the few thousands at the time, the landmark now welcomes some 500,000 visitors each year adn Angkor Wat site remains an important source of national pride for Cambodians.

Out tour guide gathered us around the stairs and gave us a quick history of Angkor Wat.

The group right after sunset.

Next...Angkor Wat