Sunrise to Sunset at Angkor Wat

We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Easter Sunday than watching the sun rise and fall over one of the world’s most amazing marvels – Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Armed with bunny ears, every conceivable piece of camera equipment we could carry and a Cambodian guide who also doubled as our family photographer, we set out at 4:45am. Even at this early hour, the “hair dryer hot” air laden with as much humidity as it could carry before bursting forth with rain immediately reminds you of the jungle that had claimed Angkor of centuries before being discovered in the late 1800s.


Not to be missed, the sunrise was spectacular, not as much for the opportunity for a photo trophy as the world party environment of people from all over the globe sharing in the experience. After sun up, we escaped the crowds and arrived at an other-worldly, dreamy jungle temple called Ta Prohm. At such an early hour, we had the entire 900-year old temple ruins and the huge jungle trees that are slowly devouring it to ourselves. Think Indiana Jones or Tomb Raiders and you’ll begin to get an inkling as to just how cool this place is.
Later in the day, we saddled up elephants (see Otto's post) who took us to the mountain-top temple of Phnom Bakheng for front-row seats to the magnificent sunset over Angkor Wat. The world party continued, with 30 or so fellow sunset worshippers taking particular delight in me donning the bunny ears for a photo as payback for making the kids do the same! With collective awe and peace, we watched our beautiful day come to an end, feeling so lucky and fortunate for the experience.
If you have not been to Cambodia, you absolutely MUST go. After only 10 or so years of peace, this is one of the world’s fastest changing places. Already, fantastic hotels and restaurants are open to make your stay as comfortable as anywhere. And, while clearly there is a growing effort to protect the treasures of Angkor, the runis and temples are still absurdly accessible and open to your unfettered exploration. This should clearly change, but in the meantime, make haste to visit Cambodia!