Cambodia- Angkor Wat

We flew into Cambodia the next day. We arrived in the evening and went to check out our hotel. It was so nice. Everything was made out of wood. They had these amazing hallways and everything a beautiful wood.

There are several temples in Angkor Wat. We knew we were in for a lot of hiking the next day so we went to the night market for dinner and headed to bed fairly early. We hired the taxi driver that brought us from the airport for the next day. The charge was $25 for the entire day. 

We took a tuk tuk over to the night market for food though. 

 Angkor Wat was first on the agenda.  Angkor Wat means "City Temple", and it was built in the 12th century.  It is the most famous complex/temple in the Angkor region. 

Wiki: "As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors...Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle...

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of." In the mid 19th century the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularized the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:

"One of these temples—a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."

So that's the background.  (Courtesy of Kristen S.)

Rhett was too lazy to take off the tripod. I thought it was funny.

Just playing around together taking pictures. It was seriously amazing.

They had these little alters to pray at. The lady insisted I do it. :)

Funny story about this one- You can see me sitting on the edge. Rhett was on the bottom taking pictures. Well, from where I was at I couldn't really tell how high it was. I dangled down like I was going to jump and Rhett said, "It's really not that far." So, I jumped. BAD IDEA. I had plenty of time to think about my decision since it was probably at least 10 feet up. lol. I braced myself hitting with my legs and they totally buckled. My knees flew up and nearly knocked me out. hahaha

Rhett felt so bad. He came running over and I was just laying in the grass laughing. He was like... I didn't mean that you should jump. I limped around for the next 10 minutes extremely grateful I didn't really hurt myself.

I am so glad that Rhett brought the tripod with him. We usually only have pictures with one or the other, but this way we were able to get a few of the two of us together.

Watch out Rhett there isn't any water in that pool. :)