The tour has developed a perceptible rhythm: we fly to a destination and while they offload our bags and deliver them to our rooms we go on a short sightseeing junket. When we landed in Cambodia, there was no immigration/customs wait (they gave us a group entry-hooray). That allowed time to go either to the National Museum or to the Central Market. We love to visit the markets that the locals also use themselves. It is a good way to see a natural part of their daily routine.
We are in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. The complex consisting of Angkor Wat , plus the other close-by temple areas that are often collectively referred to as Angkor Wat as well, is huge. Angkor Wat itself is a large island surrounded by a moat. It went from a palace to a religious locale, and from Buddhist to Hindu. In spite of its massiveness, it is able to take on an aspect of daintiness due to the large number of carved reliefs and crenolated spires. In fact, it resembles a child's sand castle more than an actual building.
The grounds contain dozens of shrines and the Palace. The area was abandoned in the 1500's and was rediscovered by a French explorer/naturalist in the 1800's. The site had been taken back by the jungle and was completely overgrown. In the 20th century it was looted, bombed, pillaged, and abused for decades, yet it is still magnificent. The carvings on the walls that pictorially show the culture's stories (read legends) about the creation of the nation are still in incredible shape. Since it has been declared a World Heritage site, many countries, notably Germany, Japan, and India, have sent teams and resources to reconstruct Angkor Wat and the other related temple sites. There was a lot of climbing over irregularly sized stones as we walked through the complex and where there were wooden stairs, there was no hand rail. (It violated every possible A.D.A rule, regulation and policy.)
We next visited a temple that is closer to what the French explorer must have seen when he was taken to Angkor Wat. Monstrous trees have the most amazing external root systems: they look like an arborial octopus trying to consume the stone. This temple was made additionally famous because it was the location for the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. In some ways it was even more interesting than the specific site of Angkor Wat.
The tour has developed a perceptible rhythm: we fly to a destination and while they offload our bags and deliver them to our rooms we go on a short sightseeing junket. When we landed in Cambodia, there was no immigration/customs wait (they gave us a group entry-hooray). That allowed time to go either to the National Museum or to the Central Market. We love to visit the markets that the locals also use themselves. It is a good way to see a natural part of their daily routine. 
We are in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. The complex consisting of Angkor Wat , plus the other close-by temple areas that are often collectively referred to as Angkor Wat as well, is huge. Angkor Wat itself is a large island surrounded by a moat. It went from a palace to a religious locale, and from Buddhist to Hindu. In spite of its massiveness, it is able to take on an aspect of daintiness due to the large number of carved reliefs and crenolated spires. In fact, it resembles a child's sand castle more than an actual building. 
shrines and the Palace. The area was abandoned in the 1500's and was rediscovered by a French explorer/naturalist in the 1800's. The site had been taken back by the jungle and was completely overgrown. In the 20th century it was looted, bombed, pillaged, and abused for decades, yet it is still magnificent. The carvings on the walls that pictorially show the culture's stories (read legends) about the creation of the nation are still in incredible shape. Since it has been declared a World Heritage site, many countries, notably Germany, Japan, and India, have sent teams and resources to reconstruct Angkor Wat and the other related temple sites. There was a lot of climbing over irregularly sized stones as we walked through the complex and where there were wooden stairs, there was no hand rail. (It violated every possible A.D.A rule, regulation and policy.) 
We next visited a temple that is closer to what the French explorer must have seen when he was taken to Angkor Wat. Monstrous trees have the most amazing external root systems: they look like an arborial octopus trying to consume the stone. This temple was made additionally famous because it was the location for the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. In some ways it was even more interesting than the specific site of Angkor Wat.