Greetings from Southeast Asia! I’m currently right smack dab in the middle of a FANTASTIC two week trip through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. I’m a total travel junkie and love to get away whenever I can, but this is my first visit to Asia. I have so many places I want to visit (as I’m sure you do too), but I have managed to cram quite a few in on this fabulous trip (thanks to the wonderful planning by my hubby) and will be sharing my adventures with you through blogs, vlogs, vines, tweets, Instagram and Facebook posts over the next few weeks!
Sunrise Adventure at Angkor Wat
To kick this travel series off I just have to share my delightful experience in the beautiful and oh so kind country of Cambodia!! Visiting Cambodia and the magical Angkor Wat Temple has been on my bucket list for YEARS! Every time I see a pic taken at Siem Reap show up in my feed I get total FOMO. And I didn’t want to just visit, I had to make it special! Watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat is absolutely magical!! And yes it is worth it to wake up at 4:30am. Watch here:
Can we please talk about that reflection pool – WOW!! I hope you take my advice and watch from the far less crowded library on the right (unless you are die hard and line up at 3am to be the first one in and run to the reflection pool on the left).
In case you aren’t familiar, Angkor Wat (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត or “Capital Temple”) is a temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia and the LARGEST religious monument in the world! It was originally built as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire and then gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century.
It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation.
Prepare to be awed! And please enjoy the kindness and gentleness of the Cambodian people. I will have more details about my stay in my next post.
Shine bright travel junkies!
Stuart you and Rob are seeing the beauty of Vietnam and Cambodia. During the Vietnam war all I saw was the ugliness and destruction of people, cultures and the geography. Well done!!!