OK, I didn't get up in time to make my 5am tuk-tuk appointment to head to the temples at sun-up. I got up at a lazy 6:15 a.m. and, surprisingly enough, there were
still 20 tuk-tuk drivers waiting outside my hotel to bring me (and my fellow western tourists) to the temples to catch the tail end of sunrise. This was something I definitely wanted to do by myself, so I found Mr. Bora, my US15 tuk-tuk guide for the day and took off for the temples. The temples are a ~10 minute drive northeast from the city, and although Angkor Wat cannot be described in thousands of words, one comes to mind: imposing. The temple walls almost menacingly overlook the moat that was carved to surround the "temple that is a city," which was apparently designed to be a depiction of the entire world and cosmos (accurately reflecting the ~13th century view of a two-dimensional world surrounded by water). I learn this and other information from an English-speaking tour guide I'm mooching off of, since I read that this is one of the biggest ripoffs at the temples.
One trend I am tickled to learn was not bucked by Angkor Wat: epic religious monuments, the world over, are unconditionally co-opted by the ruling religion du jour. Angkor Wat, being no exception, was a Hindu temple at its inception, then ultimately appropriated by Buddhism. While I marvel at the impeccable detail of the bas-reliefs depicting the early Hindu epics of Vishnu's battle versus the "asuras" (demons, as far as I can gather from my "borrowed" guide and my 2US black-market reprint of a Lonely Planet guidebook), on account of the relentless crowds I feel very little sense of peace or holiness at Angkor Wat. I hope for some more peace at the other temples, and hop back in my tuk-tuk with Mr. Bora. A few more pics, courtesy of yours truly:
