Angkor Wat

This was the big day, I could barely get sleep partly because of the weed and the karaoke throughout the night, but also because I was so excited to finally go to Angkor Wat. I had gotten to know so many of the temples around Angkor Park and decided to save the best for last so it wouldn't outshine all the rest and we could get mind-blown every day. At around 3:30AM, I had already awoken Jasper since I was getting too impatient and got him hyped up. This was it, we got our stuff ready, I took my shower and got the day's necessities all in check. The sun wasn't even out yet and it was pitch black outside. We pushed our bikes out towards the gate and unlocked it and then we were off. It was definitely a different experience riding out into the darkness. I had to be really careful with where I was going, using the headlights smartly and watching the road with eagle eyes to not get into an accident for any stray potholes. Jasper was trailing behind me. The cold wind brushed against my skin and whistled as we made twists and turns. The streets were empty with just a couple of street lights showing us the day but soon we were in the wilderness with nothing but our headlights to keep us going. It was so exciting and a bit scary but it was truly one of the best and memorable highlights in the Cambodian adventure. We managed to arrive at the familiar moat surrounding Angkor Wat and parked our bikes in a nearby parking spot before following the crowds to one of the bridges leading to the temple grounds. It was closed and much to everyone's confusion, we decided to try out another entrance. We got in line and showed our worn-out tickets to cross the moat and somehow we got in front of the crowd and they ended up following us instead. One of the ladies asked me if I knew where I was going and I told them I was going to the reflecting pond so they were all in consensus to just follow me. With some pressure on my back, I managed to lead everyone to the supposed pond except that it was fenced off. We transfered to the adjacent pond instead where we took our places and prepared for the sunrise. I took the supposed shrooms I got from Lucky as the sun was rising up. With how the weather was looking, I wasn't too hopeful in getting a magnificent sunrise. We did get the quintessential reflection silhouette shots of Angkor Wat so there's that. We stayed for a long time in front of that pond, trying to get as many angles as we can. Even though it was cloudy, it was still a pretty magical moment. The temple actually wasn't open yet so we hanged around the bridge for awhile. From the distance, I saw some people going in through a backdoor route so I prompted us to do the same. At this point, I kinda figured the mushrooms were a sham and I got scammed but I wasn't going to let it ruin the day.

Entering the actual temple was a different experience than all the other temples. There was something about the day itself. The weather played a vital role in creating such a forlorn ambience and added so much mood and drama to the photos I took that day. The temple itself was of the most ancient and holy places in the whole park and I definitely felt that energy. It was huge, with a lot of corridors and empty spaces of what once was. The only remaining remnants were a lot of statues showering us with blessings. We went up to the top main square where the famous towers of Angkor Wat stood. It was surprisingly still empty despite already being the most popular temple in Cambodia, we were beyond lucky to be able to have such a unique experience. We made a lap around the main square and waited until they opened up one of the towers. We climbed up and got even better views around the park. Angkor Wat was really in the middle of a jungle, or perhaps all the temples were. The trees extending as far as the eye can see and surrounded by water. I just love spiritual places especially when they are in smackdab in the middle of nature. Satisfied with the first temple of the day, went back to the first pond and decided to eat brunch. I had a large number of fruits and a watermelon smoothie before we started the walk back to our bikes.

We decided it was time to smoke up and take the jungle adventure to the next level, we passed by two smaller temples on the way. Prohm Kel Temple and Prasat Rorng Ramong, deciding to take a smoke break at the latter. Oh man, oh man, the joint definitely hit the spot and it still didn't work for Jasper! It was definitely weird as the guy used to smoke cigs back in the day. The bike ride to the next spot went from epic to absolutely euphoric.

We got to Phnom Bakheng, another very unique temple because this one turned out to be a mountain temple. To see it, one had to hike up which was really perfect as I needed to do something with all of this energy. Jasper wanted to skip out on this one which was definitely a no-no for me. We were presented two choices, a man-made and the natural path. My instincts pointed towards taking the natural path as it seemed to be the best way to experience the mountain and making the temple much more worth it. Jasper wanted to take the stairs instead so I made it a race. I got into the woods and started the steep hike up. It was a good things Jasper didn't take this route because it was hella technical and really high-level. A lot of these maneauvers required a lot of strength and flexibility and some paths weren't so obvious and I had to really use my intuition to find out how to best approach each obstacle. It definitely put me to the test and I was panting but I still kept going as it was so fun. I eventually made it up to the top with no one else in sight but just the guard. This temple must not be visited too often because a lot of people would be put off by the hike. Jasper seemed to take a pretty long time getting up despite taking the stairs but I had time to rest and wait. After awhile, he finally showed up and with such a tired face on. It got me in stitches as I laughed my ass off. He was swearing at me for making him go through with while I simply found the whole thing hilarious, especially so that the temple still had a huge number of steps going up. Phnom Bakheng is also one a very popular sunset spot though compared to Pre Rup, it was definitely much harder to get to. We should have saved this one for last but alas it is done. The temple had a pretty unique thing going on with its shapes and the views were really great. At the top, there was a tiny shrine for a local deity. I sat in front of it and meditated and noticed that from an angle of somehow sitting down, even the small shrine's surroundings were decorated intricately with amazing decals. Going down, I invited Jasper to try out the natural path to which he made a comment that those were only for monks and I laughed at him even more for being a wuss. We both took the man-made stairs this time around so I could see what the other path was like, and it was so easy and smooth-sailing I ended up reaching the bottom pretty quickly.

After Phnom Bakheng, we started to make our way to Angkor Thom where Bayon Temple was. We stopped by Baksei Chamkrong Temple on the way, this temple was kinda similar to Pre Rup's temple towers except it was just a singular solitary one.Read more