Angkor Wat - Part 2

Angkor Wat was our first temple visit in Cambodia, it's the largest religious monument in the world and something truly amazing to see. My previous post covered the walk from the carpark to the outer Libraries, while this post covers the remaining part of the journey to the innermost and uppermost parts of this amazing place. Along the way we were accomanied by our driver, guide and mate, Sophorn and our Angkor guide Kea Simon.

The Griswalds, Phil, Lori, Mikah, Mel and Ken, in front of the southern reflecting pool of Angkor Wat. These pools are normally a lot fuller than this, and are a very popular spot to shoot the sunrise over Angkor Wat. We decided to avoid that, as we preferred to go when there were less tourists around, not more.

The entrance to the western gallery of Angkor Wat, on the right of the shot you can see a bullet hole left behind after a shoot out between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces as the Vietnamese pushed the Khmer Rouge west towards the Thai border.

Three Apsara depicted dancing on the walls of the western gallery of Angkor Wat.

The northwest corner of the five central towers of Angkor Wat, symbolizing the five peaked Mount Meru, mythical home of the gods in both Buddhist and Hindu lore.

The view from the upper gallery of Angkor Wat, looking out over the western gallery, down the Terrace of Honor that leads between the North and South Libraries to the horizon. This upper level is the most revered portion of Angkor Wat, where dress standards are more strictly enforced. This is where you will need your shoulders and knees covered and your head uncovered.

The central sanctuary tower of Angkor Wat, this is one the sun rises over on the Equinox.

Cambodia is still a deeply religious country and you will come across monks anywhere, all wearing those beautiful bright orange robes. I personally just love this shot, this part of Angkor Wat is quieter, harder to get to and a great spot for reflection, we all took time to take in the enormity of this site and it's history.

Mel, Mikah and Lori after climbing back down from the upper gallery at Angkor Wat. There are some pretty steep climbs in these temples, even after they've had new steps installed over the top to protect the originals and make them a little easier for tourists and pilgrims to climb. Here Mikah's having a little giggle and wondering if I'm going to trip myself up scooting backwards across the lava stone floor.

A passage way at Angkor Wat, with Sanskrit writing carved into the columns.

The five central sanctuary towers of Angkor Wat, seen from the north east. In the foreground is the northern of two reflecting pools, maintenance crews are taking advantage of the lower water levels at this time to perform some upkeep on the pools.

And that's a wrap for Angkor Wat this time around for us, this was our first visit, and I'm sure we will be back again. Like many of the great wonders of the world, this place draws you back to explore it more. Over several hundred metres of intricately carved walls telling epic tales from Hindu mythology and so much more detail we barely discovered deserve another look.

For now, however, Sophorns' air conditioned van awaits.

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Angkor Wat - Part 1

Angkor Wat. If this isn't one of the 7 wonders of the world, it sure should be. A truly amazing complex to experience, and although we barely scratched the surface today, something that must not be missed on any trip to Cambodia. A thousand years of living history around you and under your feet. We have more temples to explore over the coming days, but it's hard to imagine anything topping this.

The words above are what I wrote on social media after spending the day exploring Angkor Wat, I kept the photos to 10, as per Instagrams post limit, but for the blog, I'm going to make it into two posts and hopefully the captions will explain a bit more of what we saw during the day.

The five Griswalds, Ken, Mel, Mikah, Lori and myself, Phil, on the main entry terrace to Angkor Wat. This is about where the enormity of what you are about to experience starts to hit you. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this is the largest religous structure in the world.

The Naga (multi headed snake) and the lion are both protective elements used in a lot of stone work in Cambodia. The Naga is symbolic in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology as a guardian and also a sign of peace and prosperity, while the lions are the symbolic protectors of the Khmer kings. The lion seen here has been left unrestored, despite being one of the first statues that most visitors to Angkor Wat encounter and contrasts with the restored Naga beside it. As seen here, a lot of the statues had their heads removed by theives in the post Khmer Rouge period.

Our Angkor temple guide Kea Simon and Ken. Simon was a huge help to us over our three days in the Angkor Archaeological Park, which includes not only Angkor Wat, but a number of other temples around Siem Reap. We had a three day pass and Simon accompanied us on all three days.

Angkor Wat is well known for it's reflection photos, here's Mel grabbing one such shot across the moat surrounding the temple complex. To the left of shot is the Rainbow Bridge, the main entrance to Angkor Wat, which is currently closed for renovations, so we used a temporary floating bridge that is out of shot to the right.

This part of Angkor Wat is very popular with locals and tourists alike. It seemed more locals knew about it than tourists when we were there, so thanks to Simon for detouring us from the path all the other tourists were following to see it.

Myself, Lori and Mikah also getting that framed shot of Angkor Wat in the background.

There are so many amazing facets to these ancient temples. The detail in the columns and the walls is mind blowing, and then you look up at the ceilings and realise that they are works of art as well.

Lori and myself on the causeway leading to the central part of Angkor Wat.

Mel and Ken at the entrance to the Southern library of Angkor Wat. Built in the 12th Century, the texts are long since gone, but the buildings are quite well preserved.

Lori, Mikah and myself, also at the entrance to the Southern library of Angkor Wat. The famous reflecting pools are just the other side of the two libraries.

The next post will cover the inner part of Angkor Wat, past the libraries and reflecting pools and all the way up to the uppermost gallery that surrounds the central tower, the highest accessible point of Angkor Wat.

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Day 1 - We Made It!

I posted the following to my socials back on the 16th of September, just before we all crashed after a huge day of travelling, and quick look around Siem Reap to get our bearings.

"We made it! Out of bed at around 2am this morning, off to Perth International Airport, with access to the Aspire Lounge (courtesy of Mel) making things go a little more easily. Two flights, some pig trotter at Singapore Airport and well over half a day later and we were on the ground in Siem Reap. Stairs and a short walk across the tarmac sure brought back some familiar and so much missed memories of a time gone by. We checked into our hotel and headed down to Pub Street for a feed and a few drinks before a few big days exploring Siem Reap and the various temples around here, including Angkor Wat."

The bar at the Aspire Lounge happened to have the perfect view of our plane waiting to take us on to our first stop at Singapore Airport. We loved the Aspire Lounge, the staff were great, the only slight disappointment was that it was not open at the advertised '3 hours before boarding', instead opening at just after 4am leaving ourselves and a few other customers confused.

Mel is a confirmed Hard Rock Cafe addict, with a huge memorabilia collection to go with that addiction, and one of our goals on this trip was to get to all three of the Hard Rock Cafe locations in Cambodia (Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Phnom Penh Airport). Here she is missing out on a fourth location at Singapores' Changi Airport by a couple of weeks.

During our Changi Airport we had just enough time to get ourselves over to the Straits Food Village, a Hawker style food court inside the airports T2 building, here I went for the Pork Trotters and a roti style dish on the side. The Straits Food Village sets a very high (yet quick cheap) bar for any other airport dining experience to match.

On the upper level of Singapore Changi Airports T2 building is a Sunflower Garden. Here are Lori and Mikah with some of the garden.

Our travel companions Mel and Ken, also posting with some sunflowers at Singapore Changi Airport. This really is one of the most layover friendly airports you'll find.

On the deck in Siem Reap. In just a couple of weeks, all international flights into Siem Reap will transition to the new Siem Reap Angkor International Airport and these old signs and buildings won't be popping up in photos anymore.

Disembarking in Siem Reap. There was a definite touch of nostalgia here, no airbridge, just that slap in the face from that wonderful tropical heat and humidity and a walk across the tarmac to the arrivals lounge. It's a rare experience that is getting rarer these days and I will certainly miss it when it's gone.

Mikah, Mel, Ken and Lori in Pub Street, Siem Reap. This is the traditional party area of Siem Reap, a couple of blocks of bars and restaurants (as well as a couple of laneways nearby) that have been home to Siem Reaps nightlife scene for several years, although as we found, there are other parts of town that have plenty to offer in that regard too.

The Angkor What? Bar in Siem Reap's Pub Street is one of the older bars here and claims to have been 'Promoting Irresponsible Drinking Since 1998' - so of course we had to stop in for a drink.

Myself, shot by Mikah at Angkor What? Bar on Siem Reap's Pub Street. Mikah would occasionally grab the camera and take a few shots during the trip, and I'm liking the way she's developing her photography.

We have been using the hashtag #GRSWLD2023 during the trip, so keep an eye out for that on social media while you're waiting for the next blog post.

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Griswalds Cambodian Vacation

If you've been following my social media (instagram and facebook) - then you'll know that we've just returned from 2 weeks exploring Cambodia, 5 Aussies and our Cambodian driver, guide and mate, Sophorn - the Griswalds.

The five Griswalds with Angkor Wat in the background.
Left to right: Ken, Mel, Mikah, Lori and Phil (not shown here, Sophorn, our driver - an invaluable part of our trip)

We flew into Siem Reap and out of Phnom Penh, and covered a lot of country in between.  Over the next several weeks, I'll try to convert those social media posts to blogs that should archive a lot better and be more searchable than those other channels.

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Gidgestock Music Festival This Weekend

In October last year, Lori, Mikah, myself and a bunch of our mates loaded up the vans and campers and headed out to Gidgegannup for a little music festival called Gidgestock Music Festival. Steve and Jo Mitcham run Gidgestock with the help of a whole heap of awesome volunteers and they donate all the proceeds to the local bush firefighters and the Leukemia foundation. Last year this saw each group receive a cheque for $20,000.

Gidgestock 2022 is on this weekend and we're heading up there again and looking forward to another great weekend. Tickets are still available through Eventbrite, so if you're interested, head on over to their facebook page for details.

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