We woke up very early that day, and by 5.30am we headed off towards the Angkor Wat Archaelogical Park around 8 km away in a tuk-tuk that our hotel hired for us. It was still pitch dark but then along the way, there were swarms of tuk-tuks, taxis, tourists buses and even bicycles heading the same direction as we did, hoping for a glance of a sunrise in Angkor Wat.
"Angkor is the earthly representation of Mt. Peru, the Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of ancient gods", so said my guidebook. Looking at these ruins that have withstood the test of time, I just could not help but stand amazed by these architectural wonders, as well as the temple-building fervour of the Khmer people. Whoever who has rediscovered Angkor Wat from the lush jungle which reclaimed it centuries ago, definitely has my gratitude. No wonder everyone from every part of the world flocks here just to catch a glimpse of the Angkor Wat.
As we arrived at the moat bridge that led us to the entrance of the Angkor Wat, we were not alone; there were like hundreds of tourists trudging across the bridge into the ruins. My research advised us to keep to the left as the view of the sunrise would be better, hence we kept to it. Nonetheless, the weather gods were not in our favour, as we did not manage to catch the red fiery sunrise that we expected, just like in Bagan almost a year ago.
While waiting for the sky to light up, we were besieged by pedlars showing off their wares and coaxing us to get one of the scarves, books, souvenirs, paintings that they were trying to sell. Fortunately, they seemed to be more interested in the affluent Chinese tourists than 2 rugged backpackers like us!
After the sky has brighten up, most of the tourists left in their tour buses and private vehicles, leaving only a third of the throng that had blockaded the entrance of Angkor Wat. For us, this were the best moment to explore Angkor Wat as we are kind of sociophobic.
And the roof does look like a giant corn!
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