Grand Adventure 2017 Day 15: Angkor Waaaaaat
Today was one of the busiest and best days of the trip hands down. Today was the day we were going to see one of the most beloved historical sites in all of the world, Angkor Wat. Jenn has been talking about wanting to go to Angkor Wat at least since our Bejing/Bali trip in 2013. We had a couple of options with Angkor Wat. We could do it on our own and hire Tuk Tuks to take us around or we could hire a tour guide. Most of the time we'd do it on our own, but because we were in Cambodia and didn't know what to expect we went with the #1 rated tour guide on TripAdvisor, Happy Angkor Tour for a full 1-day sunrise tour of Angkor Wat.
Yes, you read that right, sunrise. We woke up at 4 AM this morning and were down in the lobby at 4:45 AM for our tour to begin. We met up with Pip (don't remember his full name) and our driver who drove us to the ticket booths, about a fifteen-minute drive from our hotel. After paying for our tickets we then drove in the pitch black to Angkor Wat. We arrived at the Angkor Wat temple a little after 5 AM and found two seats on a short brick wall to watch the sunrise.
Unfortunately, we knew our weather might be challenging for our time in Siem Reap. Although November is high season, the weather patterns have changed and at least between now and the next ten days there are thunderstorms and rain showers in the forecast. As the sun rose, so did a Thunderstorm in the distance. Luckily for us, it was still a ways off so although we didn't get to witness one of the perfect sunrises you read and see on social media, it still turned out to be a pretty glorious experience. Our tour guide held back, and just let Jenn and I and the hundreds of other onlookers with their cameras ready enjoy the beautiful morning.
By 6:15 AM the sun had risen as much as it was going to and after taking a ton of photos we were off on our tour. We asked our guide instead of stopping for breakfast, to tour the first temple. I'm so glad we did. Over the next two hours, we walked through the Angkor Wat temple as the clouds began to gather. Pip walked us through, and at times in excruciating detail explained every nook and cranny of Angkor Wat. We learned so much in the first two hours that it was information overload. About an hour in, the clouds came over and the rain started pouring. I'm not talking a little either. It came down like crazy. This cleared out the temple and we nearly had the entire temple to ourselves. We braved the elements, took pictures in the rain like the crazy tourists we are and had an amazing time. When we finished a full tour of Angkor Wat we asked to be taken back for breakfast at our hotel and to wait out the rain.
We arrived back at the Park Hyatt a little before 9 AM and had breakfast. Jenn had a beef noodle soup and I had their eggs benedict. Jenn didn't love her beef noodle but I did, and also enjoyed my own meal. This 45-minutes was the break we needed to recharge and gear up for another eight hours of touring. When Pip and our driver picked us up at 9:30 AM I think both sides got a little extra boost to really kick the tour into high gear.
When we arrived back at Angkor Wat the weather had cleared to beautiful blue skies and temperatures at nearly 90 degrees with almost 100% humidity. So although the pictures from this point on were stunning, we were dripping sweat and baking. Our first stop after breakfast was to Angkor Thom the biggest temple at Angkor Wat and one of the most photogenic. Pip got the hint that we were not so big on his very lengthy descriptions but were a huge fan of his amazing photography. So we spent more time snapping photos and video and less time talking about the thousands of wall murals that were amazing, but not the most riveting of content.
For the next three hours, we walked around every corner of Angkor Thom, one of the most amazing places I've ever visited. Although the complex is referred to as Angkor Wat and the first temple we toured is also called Angkor Wat, the largest temple on the 162.6 hectares site is Angkor Thom. It was unreal. The temple itself is stunning and massive. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century as a Hindu temple but over time was shifted to Buddhist. Throughout Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, you see signs of both religions as well as depictions of stories from that time period. The amount of intricate carvings and design through this temple is enough to get lost in, even when the weather was as hot and humid as it was. Pip became far better at giving us the cliff note versions of stories and then to run off and show us interesting places in the temple and some of his favorite photo opportunities.
Our time at Angkor Thom was long but flew by. Outside of sweating through our clothes we loved every second of it. Thankfully after a short walk out of Angkor Thom, we made our way back into the air-conditioned car where cold towels and water were waiting for us. That alone was worth the cost of a tour guide. The final part of our tour today was to Ta Prohm. The car dropped us off about 1 KM outside of the temple where we passed by a few small temples along the way. One in particular which was called Ta Keo. What was so memorable about Ta Keo was first it was stunning and second we were one of the only ones there. So we got amazing photos and were able to sit down and enjoy it while also watching a ton of monkeys eat and play.
When we arrived at Ta Prohm our jaws literally hit the floor and stunned us to silence. It was one of the most breathtaking sites I think either of us has ever seen. The site became even more famous in the mediocre Angelina Jolie movie, Tomb Raider, as a scene in that movie was filmed on site on this temple. The temple has dozens of trees growing through, around and on top of the temple making it quite the site to walk around. At least in two maybe three different instances Jenn and I would stop and marvel. It looks great in pictures but to walk on the roots of trees that are coming up through this thousand-year-old temple is something that I'll never forget. It was simply breathtaking.
We finished touring a little after 3 PM and walked back to the car which had more cold towels and cold water. When we hit the seats of the SUV I think we both felt the magnitude of the day. Waking up at 4 AM wasn't easy and the heat of the day wore us out. Just as we were making that it back to the car rain clouds starting coming overhead and it started raining again which felt great but also made us even happier to be heading back.
We left Angkor Wat and were back at our hotel nearly 12 hours after left the hotel, to begin with. Jenn fell asleep almost instantly and took a nap while I went through pictures and found us a place for dinner only two hours later. In fact, at 6 PM we had a car from another hotel pick us up and take us to a fine dining restaurant 2 KM's away called Danmak Lounge. There we arrived a little before 6:30 PM and had a window seat and both chose to do their tasting menu with wine.
We started off with a glass of champagne and a small amuse bouche of fried fish in a small salad. I loved it but Jenn who hates salad couldn't eat it. Our first course was a smoked salmon with a small salad (that Jenn once again ignored) and small bites. The salmon although not to the freshness of Tokyo was still really well seasoned and quite delicious.
Our third course was a tomato soup that had a slight curry flavor. It sort of reminded both of us of a cross between an Asian dish and an Indian one. Here we were also served a glass of their house white wine (Chardonnay) which was good but not great. Our main entree we chose to both try one of their two options. Jenn had fish and prawns and I had their beef. We were served a decent Merlot with this course which was a little odd given Jenn got fish but we weren't complaining. Jenn's dish was hands down the winner, the fish just was better prepared and better all around. My steak was fine, but nothing to write home about.
Our final course was dessert and it was a light affair, almost like a caramel flan with small fruits on top. We both enjoyed it but were so full by this point that we couldn't eat another bite. The meal although not great, hit the spot after such a long day. Plus the staff of the restaurant was so insanely nice the entire time that it was hard to complain.
We left the restaurant a little before 9 PM and rode a Tuk Tuk for $2 to take us from the restaurant to our hotel. We were once mugged on a Tuk Tuk (thanks, Beijing) so Jenn and I were both a little leery of getting on another. Luckily the restaurant set it up and we had a lovely drive back and enjoyed the cooler (still in the 80's) evening breeze. We got back to our hotel area, walked around a bit and called it a night.
We got back and watched an episode of the Amazon's TV show Red Oaks and quickly turned off the lights and fell asleep. As I write this I'm brought back to a post I made back in August of this year while we were in Peru. I ended that post with a quote that Anthony Bourdain wrote to describe Machu Picchu, something I've thought about a lot over the past couple of months. The quote which I paraphrased a bit of that post in full is referring to two historic sites Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat. The start of the quote is exactly how I felt writing today's recap. "It's an irritating reality" that both places defy description. There were moments in both places that I sat back and realized I was somewhere special and was just grateful to have lived to see it. We went to sleep knowing full well that today is a day that if we are ever blessed with kids and grandchildren that we will tell them about the time we visited Angkor Wat and how happy we were to have been able to witness it.
“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after,you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and whats happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there- with your eyes open- and lived to see it.”
