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| From small, Angkor Wat was a place u heard in
school text book , a place relating to Cambodia (Kampuchea/Kemboja).
Angkor WAt is visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It
is the centerpiece of any visit to the temples of Angkor.
Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat and an
exterior wall measuring 1300 x 1500 meters. The Temple itself is 1km
square and consists of three levels surmounted by a central tower. The
walls of the temple are covered inside and out with bas-reliefs and
carvings. The exterior walls of the lower level depicts stories and
characters from Hindu Methodology and the historical wars of Suryavarman
II. It is in the viewing of the bas-reliefs that a tour guide can be very
helpful. Follow the bas-reliefs counterclockwise around the temple.
The northern reflecting pool in front is
the most popular sunrise location. The sun will rise behind Angkor Wat
providing a silhouette of Angkor's distinctively shaped towers against a
colored sunrise sky. Some of the best colors appear just before the sun
breaks over the horizon, so do go there very early.
To maximize the effect, you should make
your 1st visit in optimal lighting condition (after 2PM). Do not make your
first visit to Angkor Wat in the morning when the backlighting obscures
the view.
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It rained. From the front gates(exterior
wall), we knew that we wont be
able to see the temple to be golden at sunset :( |
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At sunset, the sun will be infront of the temple, giving
it a golden color. But it was cloudy when we were there. Sigh. :( |
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Michael, Osman, Ooi & John |
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The Southern Pool had less water lily and was a better
spot to take picture of the temple with its reflection.
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Michael in a poster perfect picture.
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The reflection made the picture awesome |
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Michael @ Angkor
Wat |
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Osman @ Angkor Wat |
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| Changing settings on camera to
capture the details in the back ground. |
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Good Friends...
John, Osman, Ooi & Michael |
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Angkor Wat 2007
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Osman & Michael @ Angkor
Wat
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Ooi, John, Michael & Osman
@ Angkor |
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Sad as the rained and clouds spoilt the view. We headed
back to the guesthouse and await for the sunrise the following day. |
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At sunrise, the sun will be behind Angkor Wat. Yes, it is worth it to wake
up at 430am and leave the hotel at 5am and get there by 530am.
There's a breakfast place by the north pool but we packed cookies
instead...
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Many tourists were there. |
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Me waiting for the sun. It was cloudly again. :(
I was determine not to let the clouds ruined my pictures... |
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Adjusting the settings on my camera, we managed
to set it to what we had expected to see... he he :D |
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dawn @ Angkor
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Slowly the sun peaked its
rays
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Michael |
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Nice |
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Michael @ Osman |
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Nice |
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Nice |
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Now.. aint that nice :D |
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The sacrifice of sleep time was worth it. :D |
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The sun came out and we shifted and we decided to go to
the south pool |
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Tho a nicer spot to hav taken the pictures... the water
lilys made it the reflection looked messy... |
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We went into Angkor Wat as the sun rised. Most
people will go in at high noon for the shadows in the temple.
We opted to avoid the crowd and went in around 9am. |
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At the outer walls
looking outside. |
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Then we realized,
we were not walking counterclockwise.... |
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Theres a brief
description of each walls. |
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Restored bas
reliefs |
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Light and shadows
within the temple |
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Each outer wall
was 1km. This is only half of it. |
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so we had to
turned back... he he |
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Pillars |
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Corners |
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Apsaras |
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Epic of wars.
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The story of heaven, earth
and hell.
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After walking the outer
wall ( 4km )... we saw a monkey and followed it to the centre buddhist
shrine before walking up to the inner walls. |
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It looked like we had a
lot of climbing to do. steep it was. |
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There are staircases on
four sides of the tiered pyramid. But side handles only on one side.
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Thats the view
from way up high |
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Designs and
carvings were astonishing... |
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The center tower |
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I was scared shit
to look down...
Mental note.. leave ur crocs at home.
U wouldnt want to scratch it against the steps would u? |
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Headless relics
awaited inside
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The corner tower |
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The corner tower |
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Standing Tall. |
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A buddha statue |
We could see the outer
gate from all the way up. |
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Theres even a hot air
balloon for visitors to view Angkor Wat from the sky. |
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The hand railing
helped a lot. |
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Finally we were
both down again.. |
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Going down was
even worse.... |
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There was a long
queue to go down |
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The skies were
blue. We walked around the temple. |
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It was breath taking. |
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We sat for awhile
mesmerized by its artistic architecture. |
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Bits and pieces of
the temple laid on the temple floors. |
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Sun was up and
tourists started to flood into the temple |
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Angkor Wat started
to vanish from our sights |
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and we could see
the exterior gate from a distant. |
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Restoration works
were needed. |
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There are carvings
of Apsaras around the innerside of the exterior wall. |
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We bid farewell. |
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A local kid were
collecting lilies from the Northern pool. |
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For USD2, u can take three
sets of pictures with the locals in their costumes. We thought it would be
fun.. |
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Angkor Wat .... I rike.... |
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