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Hi there.....well, I did a "short" day today doing Angkor Wat at sunrise, Angkor Thom at mid-morning, and later Ta-Prohm starting at 4 a.m. and joining the masses for a sunrise viewing over the spires (which was less than spectacular due to morning clouds in the east).
Overall, I rate it an A+ day. My hotel packed a breakfast box which I enjoyed while the 1,000 's of earlybirds flocked to the temple and I took a seat on the wall leading to the temple.
As iI approached the Angkor Wat temple, I was amazed at the incredible detail and statuary. Once inside however, my amazement grew with the scope and magnitude of the architecture and attention to details. I noted that several of the access points to the spire-towers had long lines already but what stopped me what the absolute steepness of the steps in many areas and they reminded me of the Mayan and Aztecs temples.
I walked the perimeter, took photos of course and returned the way I came near the entrance to meet up with my driver after 4 hours.
Entry fee for one day is US $37 and 3 days is US$62. Everyone has to go to the central ticket office outside the actual sites and a photo of every guest is taken and is transferred to each individual's ticket for comparison when actually entering the sites
I then saw several other smaller temples during the drive to Angkor Thom several kilometers away. Once there, I noted immediately how much the temple was deteriorated compared to Angkor Wat. I also walked about half of the site in about 3 hours. Thom is massive in land mass size compared to a relatively compact but still HUGE temple area and grounds.
Finally, after a WC (toilet/water closet) stop---and note, I never saw a single toilet on or near the Angkor Wat or even Angkor Thom temple sites but there was one nice WC o the way to Ta-Prohm temple which was made famous by Angelina Jolie's original Tomb Raider movie. Note, your Angkor Wat ticket allows you to use the toilet for no cost
And all three sites had vendors selling the normal things outside the walled temple perimeters.
Ta-Prohm was the biggest surprise as I thought I had seen the big tree (from the movie) whose roots grew so big they destroyed a stone wall. (true) and the tree grew on and around the wall. I got turned around at one point and an unaccompanied tour guide saw me and assisted me with the rest of the temple going to places the public appeared not to know about and I saw so much more in 45 minutes---I was thrilled. I have him 20,000 Khymer Rial (Cambodian) which is about US$6.
Anyway, I did much more than I intended and now am taking time tomorrow to visit the Angkor Wat Museum in Siem Reap.
I know I missed other points but I'm so tired right now
Ann
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