Day 13: Angkor Wat +

Day 13: Hi. I'm in the middle of my dream. It's like 4:29am and I have to be up in a minute. I'm dreaming of our meal last night.

My table setting dream sequence. 
Whatever that means.
Whatever man.

Ok, so why are we up at 4:30am? No idea. But apparently when you go to Angkor Wat you want to get there for the sunrise shots. I've never gotten up this early for temple. But, lots of people gather, to worship the sunrise. Pretty cool. I'm still tired.

Angkor Woodstock Wat

The money shot is to get the reflection off the water. So everyone is scrambling for the Angkor reflection shot. Mine is better. No mine is better. But your's is too dark. Mine has the perfect sunlight at 6:07am.

Angkor Money Shot

"Now what?" Mark asks. And I nod. Davith? So, here's the lowdown. Angkor Wat is this massive temple complex in Cambodia, built in the early 12th century. It's like the GOAT of temples, originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, but it got a rebranding as a Buddhist site somewhere down the line. Hurry, it's now 6:15am and we need the sun coming up shots. Sing, "Here comes the sun"

...little darling

Here comes the sun (again...).  It's alright....

Ok.  I think we got it.  Davith, it's 6:47am

Time to go inside Angkor Wat. The place is enormous, seriously. It's a lot of football fields put together. It's got halls...

And more halls....

It does make you feel like how the fuck did you build this in the 1,100's? It took 39 years to build. There's a house on our block that took almost that long to build. These folks crushed it. Architecture 101. I could only imagine having to build this in the United States.

Won't pass inspection. 
You need handrails and your setback is to close to the neighbors

I did spot a very nice tribute to the King who prayed here during the day. He had a Queen, and also concubine. It's what Kings did in those days.

It's good to be the King!

Oh King! Oh King! We walked all the way through the temple. 7:17am and it's time again to play, "Guess Who's The Virgin?"

Yep.

I learned today that Angkor Wat is where the Stairmaster was created.

Mo-Phos's stair mastered the shit out of this place.

Ankgor Wat is like the spiritual Disneyland of Cambodia. The King had some amazing views from his bathroom.

Rub a dub, dub 7 Mo-Phos in his tub

Sick front yard view

So, you go, you see, you conquer the temple fatigue with the thought, "I'll look back on this and be happy for the wake up call." And even if you're not that into temples, Angkor Wat has a way of making you feel very spiritual; it's a testament to the work that went into building this place. It's hard not to feel a level of awe.

Awe...Mr. Balance Equation
Here's to being balanced.  

Awe...Mr. Happy Equation
Here's to Doodle's prayer strategy 

By 8:30am we were ready to go back to the hotel and grab some breakfast.  The ride back had some spirit to it also.

Amen Angkor Wat

By 9:30am, some went poolside.

Rub a tug tug the Pearls in their tub
(sorry Max and Evan)

By 10:30am we were back out for more temple time.  We are off to the Tomb Raider temple.  It's funny to me that when someone films a movie in a foreign country, it's the movie and not the history that becomes most relevant.  I think Angelina Jolie played Lara Croft here.

The Croft Cavern
The Lara Hole
The Raider Ring

Temple Ta Prohm is like the cool, edgy sibling of Angkor Wat that needs a cleaning.  The reason it's so famous, is because of the massive trees growing out of it.  Big ass roots.  They don't even look real.  

Rooted in history is the Ta Prohm temple.  The people that prayed at the temple were very well rooted.  I'm rooting that we finish the tour within Davith's record of 45 minutes.

Choose one: Another picture or a root canal?

And another picture wins again. 

Amy, which root is bigger?

Kunta Kinte would love this place.  This has to be our last picture please.

I'm done smiling for today. I need a nap.

However, it was pretty cool how nature took over the ruins. It's a reminder that no matter how much we build, nature has its way of reclaiming its space.  The final temple of the day, was just a drive by.  Here's some monkeys we saw on our way there.

"Did you humans like the Tomb Raider Temple?"
Spare a banana?

Here's proof we did go through the 3rd temple of the day.  I refuse to be in any more pictures, so here's a picture of our temple receipts.  They did find a way to put our face on the tickets.  How did they do that?  Spy temple.

Say cheese.  Say temple day.  Say we made it.

Ok.  I'm tired and going to take a nap.  I think it's still only 2:00pm.  They say that some of the longest days are camping days.  I think temple days are right up there.  However, this is why you travel to Cambodia, you just have to see it.  For me, the temples are really incredible for the first 15 minutes.  The next 1:45 minutes is more like a workout.  Stairmaster.  Breathe.  Enjoy.  Actually, I did enjoy our day and I'm happy we did it.

Angkors Away!!!
Say la vie.  Say onara.

Tomorrow I am sleeping in...