Angkor Wat in photos: 25 postcards from Cambodia’s complex of temples

Lets face it, when people say the word Cambodia you are probably already thinking of Angelina Jolie and Angkor Wat, right?

It is no surprise then that Lonely Planet just voted it the number one tourist sight to see in the world and that it topped my own Top Things to do in Cambodia list…

I could tell you how amazing it is in person, how all the hype is true, or, I could let the pictures do the talking.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

I rocked up at stupid o’clock on my first of two visits to Angkor Wat, so much so that my Tuk-Tuk driver took me for coffee at 7/11 on route. Mr Thom was a pretty awesome guy.

Once I had shelled out my $20 for a day pass ($40 for three) and was inside it is fair to say I kinda got side tracked by his conversation and forget why I was there.

I headed to the far corner of the car pack, grabbed another coffee and hung out who Mr Thom and his tuk-tuk driver crew for a little bit too long. I liked these guys, they had good vibes and I didn’t feel I was at a major tourist attraction, just a local coffee shop.

A little word of warning from my coffee error, head there too late or make the mistake of turning around and expect a slightly different view of that historic masterpiece: It is SELFIE STICK INVASION BACK THERE!!! I thought Angelina might have popped back for a cameo…

But, if you get creative you can still grab a good view of that famous Angkor Wat Sunrise (not as creative I hope as the women who went paddling with her TWO selfie sticks and got some serious boo’s, though, credit for multitasking I guess).

The picture above was taken at Bayan Temple by Jeremy of the awesome blog: Travel Freak who headed solo from the group. Gotta say I think he got the quieter dealer and proved that you don’t need the main temple to get an awesome sunrise.

Moving on… Once the sunrise has been and gone it seemed most the crowds did too, which although surprising is certainly not something you want to complain about.

What to see at Angkor Wat

The complex is vast and covers over 400 km2, you could easily spend at least a day exploring them all, perhaps even more. However, if you have had a few in pub street the night before and have not slept so you can hit up sunrise then you might have to miss a few out or come back later again in the day.

Best bit? If you are luck you get Monkeys! MONKEYS!!!! In case you didn’t know, I have a serious monkey obsession…

There are also elephants, with big seats to carry around groups of tourists. I swear I can see a tear in his beautiful eye saying ‘Get off me and look at the temple, I am not the attraction here’

So there it is. Angkor Wat. Finally, after cancelling it last year to spend more time in Laos, I finally made it.

Worth the wait? Yes!
Worth the hype? Hell yes!
Should you go? See the photos!
Am I the only person in the world who has never watched tomb raider? I guess so…