Angkor Wat

Visited Angkor archeological ruins today.... now i fully appreciate why my friend said you need more than one day there... for the first time, I realised Angkor Wat is just one part of it... it's a complex of temples linked by roads...some a hundred or so metres apart and others at kilometers arms-length...

But I think I have built up in me a frenzy of out-of-proportion images of the Angkor ruins. They seemed less imposing than Borobudur, being shorter and lacking the grandeur of multiple stupas housing Buddha figures as in the latter. However, the site is better managed with park guides casting a watchful eye over would-be offences and infinitely cleaner. The ticketing purchase was interesting too, with a photo being taken of you and immortalised next to picture of the heavenly structure..

I also visited Phnom Bakheng, which is overpopulated with tourists jostling for the choice spot to capture the Angkor sunset. It's supposed to cast a warm glow over Angkor Wat, which you can look down on together with a bird's eye view of the surroundings including the hot air balloon. But to get there, you need to climb this daunting-looking steps which are only half a foot wide, which is not an uncommon construction. it is supposedly for pilgrims, etc to go on hands and feet while climbing up which shows deference. The same is seen at Angkor Wat, just that visitors are no longer allowed to climb up the epitome which is the representation of Mt Meru the sacred.