Sunday morning, March 13^th, 2016

We rose before dawn to watch the sunrise over the majestic Angkor Wat, one of the world’s most famous attractions. Built in the 12^th century as the capital of King Suryavarman II’s kingdom, it is the largest and best-preserved of the Angkor temples, and the only one to have remained a significant religious center (first Hindu, then Buddhist) since its founding. Being there at 6:00am, it was fantastic to explore all around Angkor Wat before the tour buses arrived.

Finishing up at Angkor Wat, we then jetted over to Ta Prohm Temple before the crowds showed up. It was now still before 8:00am so we had great timing. Ta Prohm was definitely our favorite of all temples, and was actually featured in the movie Tomb Raider due to it’s unreal setting. The ruins date from 1186 and have been allowed to be reclaimed by the jungle and a huge archeological area due to all the discoveries they are finding as they restore the temple.

After our adventurous morning, we had an authentic Khmer breakfast overlooking one of the reservoirs. It was a lovely way to end the morning!