Angor Wat Temples, Cambodia - Decay & Crumbling at it's Best!

I had a fabulous day in Angor Wat temples. It was a decay and crumbling ruins at their best! Think Tomb Raider!

It was clear and sunny earlier than it has been, though again today's rain eliminated the possibility of seeing the famed sunset drenched view. Oh well. It's only about 20 minutes slow drive back to town, so my driver and I can adjust in the future. I engaged the services of a tuk tuk driver for 3 dayss, at the day rate of $8 US. A tuk tuk is sort of a motorcycle covered rickshaw. It's safer and cooler than the cheaper motorcycle driver, and yet it's more interesting than an air conditioned car. The latter doesn't allow for the fascinating smells and sounds of the countryside and temple grounds.

I pushed my driver to put aside the normal tour circuit, so that I could visit the ruins of the famous tree root encased buildings, during the more dramatic morning light. This trip is mostly about gathering lots of gorgeous and unuual reference images for future landscape paintings. And this particular grouping of ruins is the main reason I came all the way to Cambodia! I was not disappointed!

I would love to upload images to this blog, but with my laptop's CD burner being broken, it seems that's not possible at this time. It's completely impractical to upload my high quality photo's as is, via slow internet connections. I'll have to see if I can have my digital camera create small thumbnails, without the aid of photoshop.

I opted for the $60 week pass, instead of the $40 3-day pass. It was a hard call, as $20 puts a significant dent in my meager budget. But, I didn't travel all this way to be penny wise and pound foolish and squander my probably once in a lifetime opportunity and what's arguably one of the most impressive collection of ruins and temples in the world. I hope this week pass gives me the flexibility to compensate for any bad weather and needed breaks in case of swollen feet or heat exhaustion. It's really hot here, and many of the ruins do not have much shade.

These musicians were bomb survivors, and had at least one major physical challenge, like blindness or missing limbs. They played beautifully crafted traditioal music. I bought the CD!


This single image, of jungle merging with ancient ambitious crumbling architecture, was what spurred me to travel to Cambodia... a major detour on my trip. Once I arrived, I found much more to appreciate. It was worth the long and arduous overland trip, and stressful border crossings. This is not an easy country to travel, for a variety of physical and psychological reasons... especially during rainy season.