Siem Reap - Angkor Wat Part 2

 

Here are some souvenir shots of me in Angkor Wat. I can't go all the way there and not take some photos of myself, right? Above, me in front of the reflection pool of water after exploring the whole of Angkor Wat within 2 hours. It was a tiring walk! But this was only the first temple we've visited! By the end of the day, my legs were pretty wobbly! 

Above, me on my way into Angkor Wat. Blue skies and everything nice! Blue skies make me so happy!

Inside Angkor Wat with all it's beautiful stone building and sandstone carving. I am so glad I came during non-peak period! To have photos without a crowd of people behind me is awesome! Plus the fact that we started our private tour at 8am when all the other tour starts around 9am helps too! Always be early! Except for China. You can't beat the crowd in China! Lol.

Me and my favourite dancers carving. I just think these carvings are so beautiful. It really celebrates the beauty of the female form. And I love how delicate and detailed it is, with all the jewelries and head set etc. It show case a very elegant culture, even if it may no longer exist today. It just makes me wander more what life was like during those times, in this beautiful place call Angkor.

There were people dressing up in traditional costume taking photos here too. I think most were Cambodian themselves instead of foreigners as they seem to come with their families, and they performed prayers and brought food along like a family outing. Interesting thing to note, you can't really go up to the Angkor Wat temple if you are not properly dressed, e.g. covering your shoulders and knees etc. The Cambodian traditional costume for the ladies actually leave one shoulder exposed. So when the guard stopped a lady, all she did was used the scarf-like cloth to cover her shoulder to get in, and once in, she just uncover it..... Lol. I find that rather amusing. 

Above is either a wedding photo shot, or maybe a celebrity photo shot. I can't really tell. I am thinking it's a magazine shot cause there were too many photographers there. Love the setting and the clothing!

Inside the temple, you can imagine the amount of maintenance required to maintain a ruin. Above are the hardworking people repairing or cleaning the structure. Note, no safely nets or gears attached! Just a hard case helmet, and that's it. They just climb up bamboo sticks or so and proceed to work as per normal! Amazing skills! I've seen Myanmar workers in Penang decorating the Kek Lok See Temple during Chinese New Year period, they were pretty amazing to watch too!

Maintenance were also needed to help the reservoir stay clean. Here are three guys in a boat working outside in the morning heat. The setting just made them looked like they are just crossing the river in some village, lol. But they are actually maintaining the pool of water outside Angkor Wat. It is super clean here.

While running around inside the temple, there are huge windows looking out. So of course I took some nice silhouette photos! Above and below, two of my favourite silhouette shots.