A Magnificent Sunrise at Angkor Wat is absolutely worth the 4 a.m. wake-up call. Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world. It is stunning for its grand scale and its incredible detail.
Story by Mel Gee Henderson
With Select Images captured by our Cambodian native Guide Extraordinaire, Ben Bond
What is Wat and What does it all mean?
Angkor Wat – built by Suryavarman II (r 1112–52) – is the earthly representation of Mt Meru, the Mt Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of ancient gods. The Cambodian god-kings of old each strove to better their ancestors’ structures in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in what is believed to be the world’s largest religious building.
The sandstone blocks from which Angkor Wat was built were quarried from the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen, more than 50km away, and floated down the Siem Reap River on rafts. The logistics of such an operation are difficult to comprehend, consuming the labor of thousands.
According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 workers and 6000 elephants, yet it was still not fully completed. You have to see it to believe!
The West Wall of the outer enclosure of Angkor Wat.
The temple is the heart and soul of Cambodia, whose landscapes showcase an empire of temples, and a source of fierce national pride.
Today’s Cambodia is the successor state to the mighty Khmer empire, which, during the Angkorian period, ruled much of what is now Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The remains of this empire can be seen at the fabled temples of Angkor, monuments unrivalled in scale and grandeur in Southeast Asia. The traveller’s first glimpse of Angkor Wat is matched by only a few select spots on earth, such as Machu Picchu or Petra.
Pools of water reflect the harmony and majesty of Angkor Wat’s structures, while its five soaring towers resemble the lush forms of the green trees surrounding them. The most recognizable landmark at the Unesco World Heritage site of Angkor, the temple is regarded by many as the pinnacle of the brilliant, creative culture that flourished in the early medieval reign of the Khmer empire.
It is believed Cambodia was once a major world power. A 2015 survey of the site has confirmed that colossal cities once lay near Angkor, and that Cambodia could well have been the largest empire on Earth in the 12th century.
From the ninth century, under the Khmer dynasty, Cambodia built up an empire that covered swaths of what was once known as Indochina [Laos, Thailand, Vietnam]. When the Khmer king Suryavarman II built the Angkor Wat temples in the 1100s, the empire was at the peak of its power. Angkor Wat, meaning “capital temple,” was sacred to the Hindu god Vishnu, and the complex’s architecture was greatly influenced by Indian style. In a sign of the region’s shifting religious loyalties, it was later adapted for Buddhist worship.
In the 1400s, the empire declined. The city was partly abandoned and rapidly swallowed by vegetation. Hundreds of years later, its mystery gave rise to outlandish myths among the first Europeans who saw it: Spanish missionaries attributed it to leaders like Alexander the Great, while others theorized it had been built by Jews who had passed through the region before settling in China.
SO MUCH TO LEARN…SO LITTLE TIME.
If you go to Angkor Wat, request a guide who knows the Temples like the back of his hand! Enter Cambodian Ben Bond.
What happens when you learn that your scholarly guide is also an outstanding photographer who knows exactly where the best photo ops are at all the Temples in Siem Reap? You go back to your hotel and revise your wardrobe so it’s more camera-friendly…one that merited his remarkable photography skills.
Morning Tour…wonderful, benevolent, engaging new friends…and our super early sunrise wardrobe.
Upon discovering what a brilliant and clever photographer our guide is, we treated him to a beautiful lunch, and thereafter, revised our wardrobe…after all, we wanted it befitting the iconic world’s wonder–that is Angkor Wat! There is an elegance to these ancient monuments.
As we explored the Temples of Angkor, our guide captured one memorable moment after another.
Our photographer wasn’t the only one reminding us to SMILE!
A goodbye kiss seems in order too.
If ancient trees could speak, what stories they would tell…
Angkor may be the scene of one of the greatest vanishing acts of all time. The Khmer kingdom lasted from the ninth to the 15th centuries, and at its height dominated a wide swath of Southeast Asia, from Myanmar (Burma) in the west to Vietnam in the east. As many as 750,000 people lived in Angkor, its capital, which sprawled across an area the size of New York City’s five boroughs, making it the most extensive urban complex of the preindustrial world. By the late 16th century, when Portuguese missionaries came upon the lotus-shaped towers of Angkor Wat—the most elaborate of the city’s temples and the world’s largest religious monument—the once resplendent capital of the empire, scholars claim was in its death throes.
Scholars have come up with a long list of suspected causes, including rapacious invaders, a religious change of heart, and a shift to maritime trade that condemned an inland city. It’s mostly guesswork: Roughly 1,300 inscriptions survive on temple doorjambs and freestanding stelae, but the people of Angkor left not a single word explaining their kingdom’s collapse.
Recent excavations, not of the temples but of the infrastructure that made the vast city possible, are converging on a new answer. Angkor, it appears, was doomed by the very ingenuity that transformed a collection of minor fiefdoms into an empire. The civilization learned how to tame Southeast Asia’s seasonal deluges, then faded as its control of water, the most vital of resources, slipped away.
As they say, “When in Rome”…well, When in Siem Reap, and it just happens to be the second day of the city’s Water Festival and Moon Festival celebrations [Nov. 2, 3], you do what any enthusiastic visitor to the city does: You join the brilliant parade and dance to the beat of a brand new drum! 
[Photocred: our amazing guide, Ben Bond]
Our Home Away from Home: An Oasis in the Heart of Siem Reap
Just 10 minutes away from the famed monuments, French colonial elegance sits harmoniously amidst the cool manicured gardens of Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort.
And, after walking and climbing throughout the temple grounds, a dream Spa was exactly what we yearned.
![If Golf is your cup of Tee [pun intended], the Sofitel Golf course will surely have you seeing green...emerald green reminiscent of the golf courses in Ireland!](https://escapeseeker.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/3123_go_00_p_1024x768.jpg)
If Golf is your cup of Tee [pun intended], the Sofitel Golf course will surely have you seeing green…emerald green reminiscent of the golf courses in Ireland!
Dining al fresco is such a terrific way to embrace that you are in fact residing in an incredibly exotic tropical region of the world!
We want to express our sincere gratitude to the entire Sofitel staff for the Royal treatment from the moment we were picked up at the Siem Reap airport, to the seamless check-in experience, to the daily “princess treatment” that gave us so much motivation to jump out of bed for we knew another amazing breakfast was in store to help fuel and energize our Cambodian exploration.
Next stop…Our #amazingasiaadventures continue as we embark on the AmaDara Mekong River Cruise!
We hope you’ll stay tuned…
Here’s to #blissful #neverending #escapes!
Remember, no matter where you go, be the kindest person you know! I promise, the world will open up to you,
Mel aka the ESCAPESEEKER
Interested in joining my future adventures? I welcome your emails, recommendations, comments, etc. escapeseeker@gmail.com
