Angkor Wat

We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia a couple of days ago and have had an awesome time here so far. Our first day here we set out for Angkor Watt. This is a famous temple that was built by the Hindus and later became a Buddhist Temple Complex. It is the largest religious monument in the world and was built under the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.

 A group of Buddhist monkeys have moved into one of the temples :)

 Many of the stones used to build Angkor Wat were floated down the river on bamboo rafts or dragged by elephants to the site of the temple. You can see the two holes in the stone above. This is because this stone was dragged by an elephant with bamboo rods inserted through the holes. The local people say that the temple was sent by the Gods because man could not have built something so magnificent during that time period.Others say aliens built it. What do you think?

During the first half of the 12th century it was illegal for Cambodian people to look at their King. They were sentenced to death if they saw him purposefully or not. In order to prevent this, all of the stairs in Angkor Watt are very very narrow and steep. This is so when going up or down the stairs of the temple, you must crawl so you will not see the king who resided there. It made our temple trekking a little tricky but well worth it.

 
Our Tuk Tuk driver napped patiently while waiting for us at each temple.