Angkor Wat

This was our first view of Angkor Wat.




We got there at 5:30 a.m. hoping to get a good sunrise picture.




We were amazed at the buildings.




Different leaders contributed buildings during their reign.




The building occured between 900 and 1400 AD.




At its height there were over one million people.




There had to be a lot of labor to build these monuments.




Originally the buildings were Hindu.




It was the last Cambodian leader who introduced Buddah.




These buildings for Buddah are important to the people of Cambodia.




Today there is a high percent of the people who are Buddists.




Notice the tethered balloon - one other way to view Angkor Wat.




So much effort was put forth to complete these incredible buildings.




We stopped for lunch. Da, our translator, came with us. He is a student and wants to be a travel guide so he enjoyed showing us Angor Wat. Notice we are drinking coconut milk. It was great.




Shrines like this were seen often throughout the buildings.




Buddahs were located throughout the buildings hoping people would participate and financially contribute.




Though the buildings were originally Hindu, with the last king they became Buddists.




Several monks were there who enjoyed all the Buddahs.




This boat in the 190 meter moot was near the next set of buildings.




This set of buildings is called Bayon.




Notice there are a lot of faces.






In total there are supposed to be 216 faces.




To us these buildings were amazing.






Notice that often the faces were four sided.




Wow. See that face.




Did we smile like the sandstone face?




We loved the faces carved in sandstone.




Dennis said we were going to see the monkeys.




They love eating mangos which are in season now.




Yes, we are in the land of monkeys!




Here the monkeys are fed by the tourists.




Notice that we are also in the land of the elephants.








Some people took elephant rides.




Not to leave out the cows like these often seen on the side of the road.




These were awesome buildings.




We are greeting you from our new door there.




And saying hello from our new window.




This group of actors showed some of the many stories associated with these buildings.




This group of building is called Ta Prohm. Amazing.




It is the large tree trunks that engulf the buildings.




Dennis and Wynnette with one of the amazing tree roots.




Ta Prohm was built in 1186 AD.




This building was not covered in roots.




But this building was totally covered.




What an amazing group of roots.




We loved our day seeing Angkor Wat. What a wonderful memory.