On to Cambodia

Yesterday was our last day in Luang Prabang. The night before, we had watched the sun set. This morning we wanted to see the monks walking past our hotel on their way to the temple at the end of our street, the one we visited on our first evening in Luang Prabang. They do this every morning at around 6:00 a.m. We had a mid-morning flight to catch so it worked out well to be up at that time.

As the monks and novices pass, people give them alms in the form of food, sticky rice for example. You could see them from our room.

But a better view was from the street.

There were a couple of hundred of them.

They filed silently past and finally came to an end, leaving some alms givers with something left over for next time.

After breakfast we headed for the airport and an uneventful two hour flight to Siem Reap. Our helpful cab driver suggested he pick us up at our hotel at 4:30 so we could see Angkor Wat at sunset. And that's exactly what we did. First, however, we took a tuk-tuk into town for some Mexican food :). Actually, the restaurant had Cambodian food also, but you see the cactus.

Promptly at 4:30 our driver showed up and off we went.

Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century and is the best known of the many temples in Cambodia. We were told it was built over some 37 years by a million men, and I can believe it, at least the million men part. It is vast, though not the biggest temple in the country, and absolutely covered with intricate carvings. It is simply stunning. It represents the Hindu mythological concept of the universe, with the seat of the gods in the center (specifically Vishnu in this case), and the oceans surrounding the sides. Here's the view as you enter. There are five towers surrounding the center, but as you come in you only see three of them.

The surrounding "ocean" is a moat which looks more like a river.

It was near closing time, so we didn't spend a lot of time inside. That would come the next day (today). Here are just a few photos.

It was soon time to leave. But the next morning we would be up at 4:00 a.m. to see the sunrise, gluttons for punishment that we are. Such an amazing place.