cambodia: angkor wat

angkor wat is the largest religious monument in the world, and was something on our must do list for asia. it is a symbol of cambodia, and what the khmer people are most proud of.

we got up at 4:30 am to go watch the sunrise with, as it turns out, lots and lots of other people. but we found our own little niche in that vast stone complex and witnessed the sun rise slowly over the temple grounds. the temperature rose too--it's amazing how fast it gets hot in the morning!


sage rocked her onesie pajamas because it was too early for real clothes...okay, and because i'm paranoid about mosquitoes.





just wandering the stone halls of majestic angkor wat in her jammies.
cambodia doesn't really do "safety precautions" or "liability" so you really can hike and explore most parts of the temples. playing hide and seek here would be epic.

the walls tell many stories, like how angkor wat started as a hindu temple, then transformed into a buddhist monument when the king converted to buddhism.

the next temple we explored was ta prohm, which is overgrown with trees and roots. it's pretty dilapidated in some places and felt like it should be the backdrop for an indiana jones movie. this is the place where tomb raider was filmed though.

our favorite temple was bayon, just through this stone gate lined with guardian statues. 

nate and sage really nailed the face in this photo.

we saw a few other temples after bayon, but i can't even remember their names. we were so hot that the ruins kind of melted together in my memory. despite the heat and feeling like we were getting swindled a little too often, it was pretty amazing to see this place in person. 

angkor wat truly is a treasure.