Holiday In Cambodia :: Part 3

After breakfast on our first full day in Cambodia (see Part 1 / Part 2) we made our way back to the temples.

I had no clue how up close we were going to get, but we explored those temples like we were real-life Indiana Joneses. (There thankfully weren't any fight scenes though!)

Monkeys! We saw two families of them from the car! It's weird growing up and only seeing them in the zoo and then passing them from a car. My aunt compared it to foreigners coming to the U.S. and taking pictures of squirrels, but I'd like to think that monkeys are tons cooler than squirrels. That isn't to say that I've never taken pictures of squirrels...

In addition to Angkor Wat, there are more than 700 other temples in a few hundred square kilometer radius in Siem Reap. We started out at Angkor Thom. 

We explored every nook and cranny of the temples... the staircases, the skylights, the overlooks, the windows, and anything else of interest we could find.

After our first temple, we took a coconut break. It was so refreshing sitting down in the shade in the 95 degree weather.

Next we went to Ta Prohm (where the movie Tomb Raider was shot - some restaurants even had an Angelina Jolie/Tomb Raider cocktail haha). 

I loved how nature had integrated itself amongst both the structures. You'd expect that after hundreds of years, but seeing those huge trees growing in the middle or on top of a stone temple still left me in awe. 

We then went back to Angkor Wat to get up close. To do so we climbed the steepest steps to get to the top.  

The views (and breeze!) from the top. Oh my. I think we could've stayed all day. 

This moment when we were sitting pondside outside Angkor Wat felt like one of the most spiritual moments during the day. It was so hot out, but sitting after standing all day and watching the butterflies dance at the edge of the pond made it feel like some greater presence was there.

Just had to throw in a shot of my favorite orange flowering trees from Cambodia. I'm still not exactly sure what they are, but if anyone knows I'd love to figure this one out! 

After the temples we went out for lunch and then all took naps, but at night we went to Phare, a Cambodian circus which came highly recommended by all my aunt's Singapore friends. The stunts performed were exhilarating. Human catapults, jump roping fire, incredible feats of balance. Even though they were professionals, we were all on the edge of our seats hoping that the performers didn't fall!

After the show we went out for a late dinner on Pub Street. More spring rolls along with some pumpkin soup and pinot noir (do sing in your head if you must... I did ;p). Then we called it a night.

This day was definitely one of the longest days of my life, but I mean that in the best way possible. It was the type I could just keep holding on to and when I got in bed that night, in the probably ten seconds I was awake before passing out, I thought, "I really lived today".