Temples part 2 - Angkor wat

After a lovely lunch at a non tourist place with my driver I headed off to the biggest of the temples, Angkor Wat. I didn't know what to expect, and really it is hard to describe how impressive it is. Very seems an inadequate word!

But wait,firstly we drove there through the most amazing structure, maybe guardhouses or outposts of the temples. 

Certainly the most imposing road structures I have ever seen, and they appear out of the jungle so the suprise adds to it all.

So with anticipation building you come alongside the very large moat and see the outer walls of the temple and the bridge to it. Spectacular.  

Oh and you also see on your right the shops, cafés, and people everywhere. 

Angkor Wat is a temple of the Hindu faith to represent heaven on earth, or Mt Meru where the gods live.  It's is a rough square 1.5 km on each side, the biggest religious shrine in the world.  As you see it from the bridge you can't help but feels something ( yes something other thant the sweat trickling done you face).

You step inside, and it is cool and magic

Filled with religious symbols large and small

And then you realise you are not yet inside, but rather in the outer chamber, and their is another 500m walk to the central building.

All sorts of people are there, tourists, locals, monks as well.

The scale if this building, and the fact that it has lasted so long make you feel so insignificant

I spent two hours winding along cool verandas, with no one around sometimes, looking at the stories told in carvings

And resting in cool spots just looking

I would love to be here with a guide, and without other people haha. And here is a shot of the full spring fashion ensemble:)

This we definitely worth the effort, and I shouted my driver and I a fruit shake from the local cafe, and headed home, glad that I had booked an air conditioned bungalow