Angkor Wat

It'll be tough to use enough adjectives to adequately describe how incredible the Angkor temples were so this post will have more pictures and less writing. 

After an excellent breakfast at our hotel, we were picked up by our tour guide, Phi, at 8:15 and headed to Angkor Wat. We briefly stopped to get our complex passed before leaving the bus on the east side of Angkor Wat and beginning the walk into the magnificent temple. 

Even the entrance pavilion to Angkor Wat is immense and imposing, rising out of the jungle and directing you to something even grander. 

We continued down the path under some generous cloud and tree cover until Angkor Wat opened up before us. 

The next three hours flew by as Phi told our small group about the history of the temple, the ancient Khmer civilization, and somehow also became the best photographer we've ever had as a tour guide! He knew all the best places to stop and educate us (finding all the shady spots) and also the best locations for photos. Incredibly, he also found a way to clone us. 

Halfway through our tour of Angkor Wat, we climbed the tight and steep steps up to the top level and were thrilled by expansive views of Cambodian jungle all around us. 

Our selfie game was also on point. 

Finally, only because we had more to see, we descended and made our way away from the first temple, slowly. 

Very slowly... to the reflecting pool for our obligatory, amazing post card views. 

Finally, dragged kicking and screaming away, we were pulled back on the bus and driven to the entrance to Angkor Thom, the former political center of the empire. 

There, we visited the stunning Bayon Temple where there are 196 Buddha faces chiseled into the limestone blocks. 

And some of our own. 

On the way out from the Bayon Temple we stopped at the Terrace of the Elephants, and Erika wanted to get quite close. 

Then, after a stop for some delicious, traditional Cambodian lunch, we made it to Ta Prohm, also known as the Tomb Raider temple. The remarkable site is slowly being eaten alive by nature and it is breathtaking to see it. 

Finally, we left the complex (for today - we're headed to other temples tomorrow) and went back to our hotel for a delicious mango smoothie. I won the race to the bottom. 

We finished the day watching a fascinating Cambodian cultural performance over dinner. Now we're gearing up for our last day in this remarkable country before flying to Hanoi tomorrow night.