Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap was city number 2 on my Cambodia trip. Transportation was incredibly easy and cheap in Cambodia and I took a 5 hour air-conditioned minivan complete with cold water and wifi to Siem Reap. My time in Siem Reap was much less somber than my time in Phomn Penh, but I believe both cities were very meaningful in different ways. If you'd like to read about my time learning about eh Cambodian genocide, please see my post about Phomn Penh.

Also, there are cows everywhere in Cambodia! They are all over the roads and caused many traffic delays during my van ride. I included a picture below of some of the cows perfectly lined up for a picture!

The main reason I came to Siem Reap with my friends was to see the famous temple, Angkor Wat. This massive temple was originally constructed during the 12 century as a Hindu Temple, but over the years it has gradually been transitioned to a Buddhist temple. It is the largest religious monument in the world and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 We decided to see Angkor Wat at sunrise, as we had heard it was breathtaking. We got up at 4am, loaded in our Tuk Tuk, and went off on our temple day.

Angkor Wat:







Although I loved walking around Angkor Wat, I actually thought that many of the other temples we saw were just as impressive. Angkor Wat is truly special because of it's sheer size (500 acres!!), I also really loved the other temples we saw. Most of them were more calm and were just as beautiful.

One of my favorites was the temple from the movie "Tomb Raider." The carvings on the temple and the beautiful, intricate details really blew me away.


(Our cow roadblock)












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