Day 3: Temples Angkor Wat: Tourist Destination

Weather Update: Cloudy Early, Sunshine in the afternoon. High30c

It started nice and cool but it got very hot by lunchtime. I didn't intend to stay out into the afternoon but I took a different path home and got lost being confused by locals who put me in one direction only to be sent another way later on, I was riding a bicycle that I had not done for 20 years. It was fun navigating the roads because they drive on a different side than we do, but the chaotic nature of driving here made you fully conscious of your surroundings.

Angkor Wat was a real trek, I bought a ticket for 3 days I did not want to spend like most people 7-9 hrs with a guide going through ruins. The complex is huge, and it amazes me that when it was built the amount of people that took to make it, and then the number of monks that would have inhabited the place. The size of the complex indicates that it was a sizable structure containing many people. The stone itself looks like the complex had a major fire because the stones are black but inn treading the historical evidence it's a lichen that has turned the stones black due to the porous surface which allows water and microbes to enter the stone,

Angkor Wat is a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia. Located on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres) within the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed in 1150 CE as a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Vishnu. It was later gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century.

Angkor Wat was built at the behest of the Khmer king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology and is surrounded by a moat more than 5 km (3.1 mi). Enclosed within an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west with scholars divided as to the significance of this.

The temple complex fell into disuse before being restored in the 20th century with various international agencies involved in the project. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and devatas adorning its walls. The Angkor area was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Considered by some experts to be the largest religious structure in the world, it is regarded as one of the best examples of Khmer architecture and a symbol of Cambodia, depicted as a part of the Cambodian national flag. The Angkor Wat is a major tourist attraction and attracts more than 2.5 million visitors every year.