The Jungle Temples Of Angkor Wat

For my first trip to Cambodia I allotted myself seven nights, with three stops in quick succession. In this post I’ll be focusing on my last stop, and Cambodia’s main attraction — the World Heritage temple complex of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is located a short bit outside of the city of Siem Reap. Of the three cities I visited in Cambodia this was definitely my favorite. It lacked the rustic charm of the city of Battambang, and the important museums/historical sites of Phnom Penh — but Siem Reap was well equip for travelers. The coffee in town was good, and I loved the street food along the river, near the old market — with items like chicken fried rice for $1.50, or a huge fruit smoothie for $1. Cambodia can be oddly pricey for SE Asian standards, but cheap street food helped balance things out.

It was easy to sign up for an inexpensive full-day tour of Angkor Wat through my hostel. The sunrise tour left at 4:00 AM and dropped us back around 3:00. My entire 8-Bed dorm took the tour together, and we were driven by Tuk-Tuk (shared wagon/bike) to the ticket counters outside of town. At the time of my visit a 1 Day ticket counted for 2 days as part of a special promotion encouraging tourism — this allowed me to spend two days here for just $37 (with the additional tour fee on the first day for $10).

I am always skeptical of guided tours, and sadly this one was a bit of a miss. The social experience was bland, as the other backpackers on my tour immediately fell into cliques — with three Belgian girls, and two couples from the UK. when we arrived at the main temple the sky was murky and an approaching rain storm ruined our shot of experiencing the famous golden hues for sunrise. The tour guide spoke solid English, but it was difficult to pay attention while fighting off the urge to wander on my own.

A benefit of the tour was that it gave us an overview of the entire temple complex. Many of the temples are quite far from one another, and we were brought by Tuk-Tuk from one temple to the next. I wrote down all the temples we visited during the tour, and then used Google Maps to pin additional temples to visit on the second day.

The highlight stop on the first day was definitely Ta Prohm temple. This is known as the Tomb Raider temple, as it was used in the filming of the first Tomb Raider movie. It was one of the wildest places I’ve ever seen — with humongous 200+ year old trees that have grown through the stones of the temple, leaving some parts in-accessible and making for a spectacle of nature left untamed. It is the very definition of a jungle temple.

With most of the temples dating back to the 12th century there is now a full spectrum of color built up throughout. Small plants and moss form a patchwork on some temples, while others have developed rust shades.

Aside from the big-picture visuals I admired the smaller details, namely the intricate wall carvings — many of which depict meditating or dancing figures. From afar they appeared almost like abstract patterns.

For my second day at Angkor Wat I rented a bicycle from Siem Reap. This saved the costs of hiring a Tuk-Tuk for myself, and gave me free reign to live my best temple-wandering life for the day. I had a feeling that clouds would again ruin the sunrise, so I let myself sleep in and enjoy breakfast at a cafe in the city before making my way out.

Of all the temples, the Baksei Chamkrong temple was my favorite. It sits unassumingly behind some trees near the gate to Bayon temple. To my amazement there was no one there. ‘Baksei’ resembled the style of temple you would find in Central America, shaped like a pyramid and overgrown with moss and small plants. At the top I was surrounded by the most beautiful dragonfly’s — their blue and green wings sparkled in the mid-day sun. It almost seemed like they were there to protect the temple.

Many of the temples I’ve seen in SE Asia contain offerings — fruits, snacks and packaged sweets, clothing items, coca-cola cans, and other objects. The smell of incense was typical. Offerings could be seen inside and at the top of many temples throughout Angkor Wat.

I wanted to make it back to the main temple for sunset, but I was ultimately too late as a storm approached. The image below was the nearest I got to golden hour glow while at the Ta Keo temple. If I had more time I would have made it a point to explore more of the jungle trails, such as that which links the Ta Keo and Ta Nei temples.

To conclude my time at Angkor Wat I sat along the moat facing the main temple while under a darkened sky. I’d say this temple was a disappointment, as post cards and Instagram give us high expectations for ideal lighting and photos. Otherwise, the temple was too crowded even in bad weather to get decent shots. But for me there was a lot to admire at the other temples — and surely much more that could have been explored.

Up Next: “Bangkok & Northern Thailand“