The morning started really early for us. I think we needed to leave the hotel by 7.30 or sometime ridiculous... But it was okay, cause we went to bed really early the night before, and I slept soundly. I think I would have died if there was a fire! Hehehe...
Anyways, this day was filled with walking, walking... and more walking! With some climbing too, of course!
The first part of the morning was going to Angkor Thom. I don't quite know what Angkor Thom really means, but it's huge! It used to be the "palace" where the king and his extended family lived. It took us the whole morning just to walk from one entrance to the other...
Us, upon arriving at one of the entrances to Angkor Thom. The architecture was amazing. Gargantuous structures from around the 9th to 15th century, built purely with sandstones stacked on top of each other, and then carved with immaculate skills. After all these years, it's still standing... Albeit tarnished with time, but still standing none-the-less.
View of Angkor Thom - "the magnificent city".
Mei among the ruins...
We figured it'll take too much energy to walk around, so we decided to ride on the elephants instead :D USD10 for an elephant... Will fit 2 comfortably, but can fit 3 people if you're not too big. The don't charge "per head". Quite worth it, I'd say... the ride takes about... 15 minutes to half an hour? Depending on how quickly your elephant goes, I guess...
We had this elephant behind us, that went really fast. Overtook my mom, and then our elephant as well! So, I don't think they got their money's worth!
Dad and I on the elephant...
Funny and mom on another. I think Mom was afraid that her hat will fall off. **holding on tight**
After getting off the elephant, more walking.....!!!
One of the many faces of those sculptures. Apparently this smiling face, symbolises "joy". The tour guide told us that it's the "nicest" face in the whole temple **or something along those lines** as we couldn't fully understand her.
Mom and I under the huge ass hollow tree. It's not an uncommon sight to see many bigggg, tall trees here. But the funny thing is, their roots wrap around the walls of these structures, and never really crush them. Kinda amazing...
This is where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider. Just look at how small we are, compared to the tree. You only see the roots!
My ultimate favourite photo. My desktop background at the moment. Beautiful in many ways.... the scenery was just breathtaking, and of course... because all members of my family's in it. :)
*click to enlarge*
We actually didn't think much of the place when we were there. Maybe cause we were too exhausted from all the walking! Thank God I was in a sleeveless cotton top, and shorts! I can't imagine how some people can walk around, wrapped up like a dumpling, and wearing high heels!
But the tour guide kept insisting that we should take a photo here. We were like "O.o"
"Really? But we're so hot and tired already"
Dad even went "No lotus flowers in the pond. Not nice"
But the photo actually turned out reallllyyyy nice! So I'm quite glad that we obliged the tour guide and let her take this beautiful photo for us!
Another nice view of the greeneries around~! I think we would have stayed a little longer if the weather wasn't so hot! Can you imagine having a picnic around here?! Absolutely beautiful!!!
Of course, it would be better if you didn't get hassled by the many underaged kids, trying to sell you any types of souvenirs, ranging from keyrings, to magnets, to handicrafts, t-shirts,scarves, books, maps, etc. We got conned into buying a fan each, cause it was sooo darn hot! I reckon we probably paid too much for them, but I definitely made good use of them! If you're planning a trip there soon, be sure to bring along your little "battery fan" if you can be bothered!
The night ended at the hotel's massage parlour, where each of us got pampered with a nice massage after a whole day of walking....
If you're interested, sis also blogged about Cambodia *here*
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On a separate note, The Dark Knight was awesome!!!!! and so was the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony! Too bad I didn't blog about it on the 08-08-08. Would have been nice to have an entry on this auspicious date! :P Hehehe...
Geez, I'm soooo knackered from work!
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