(As i mentioned in part 1 of this post, Blogpress wont let me post one super large one...and so, here is part 2. Sigh.)
The last temple that we visited in the Angkor Complex was Ta Prohm. As I mentioned previously, the grounds of Angkor is riddled with vegetation.
What makes this temple special is that it is left relatively in its original form. The Angkor complex was first discovered by western civilisation in the 1500s by a portuguese monk. But it wasn't until the late 1900s did it become a true tourist destination.
Only then did most of the vegetation clearing and restorations start to occur. This temple was left relatiley untouched to show how the temples looked when they were first found.
Standing in that temple felt like we were looking back in time, or as if we were on a movie set. Everything seemed so unreal.
Trees seem to be growing out of the temples everywhere.
Just to give you an idea of how large these treea are, you can see the size of the roots compared to us. It was nuts!
Does this tree look familiar? It should! It was in the movie tomb raider! Coming here has made me want to go home and watch that movie. Lol.
This pic was super cool. In the area, there were a ton of bugs, but for some reason there were a group of dragon flies hanging around and I managed to catch this one on camera. Awesomeness:)
Around the temples, there were carvings everywhere. Im amazed its survived for so long in the jungle.
Yeah...
This one was one of my fav treea there.
Evything was so mossy and pretty. Like i said, it just looked unreal.
As we were leaving our last temple, we saw these stones on the gorund.
Numbered for a specific location to restore the temple. New stones have to be used when the old stones are too damaged or missing.
There were several joint efforts between foreign governments and Cambodia to restore/preserve the temples. Canada isnt one of them, but i think we are more about humanitarian efforts that the prervation of ancient works. Probably because we are such a young country with minimal ancient woks.
Angkor was an amazing sight to see, the beauty of the artwork, the masonry and symetry was incredible. If anyone is thinking of going to Angkor Wat one day, do go for at least two days and try to go for the sunset too. Its one of those things everyone must-go at somepoint in their life.
Anticipating that we would have a super long day, Coleman had made us a reservations at the romantic French restaurant at Hotel de la Paix.
It was a swanky hotel in Siem Reap with these cute swinging tables.
Coleman had the tasting menu and i ordered a la carte.
Fried needle fish with banana leaf nut salad with coconut and rum
Smoked trouth with seaweed salad on top of angel hair pasta and miso dressing. Kind of just tasted like a japanese salad with pasta.
Beef skewer with curry catfish soup and fried rice.
Langostine with seared scallops on curry risotto (i think it should be called seared scallop, because there was only one cut into several pieces to give the illusion of many.
Several items made with sticky rice and fruit.
The food was not bad, but considering the pricing we paid, not really worth the money. Could have probably had a hundred bowls of noodles for the same price!
All in all, an awesome day checking out the ancient Angkor Wat. I wish I could have spent more time there, but maybe I will return there one day to finish the rest of the 200 acres that I missed. :)
Up next? Villages and rain.
Location:Angkor, Cambodia
OMG... Those trees look like they will turn alive and eat human at night... - Lucy
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