Our First Full Day in Siem Reap (Prasat Bayon in Angkor Thom)

23-Oct-2014 • Siem Reap Cambodia

We wasted no time sightseeing on our first full day in Siem Reap. We came to see temples, and a lot of temples, we did see.

Everywhere Marc and I travel, we normally just walk around to sightsee and/or use the subway or train. In Siem Reap, however, we had to hire a tuktuk and its driver for three days to take us to the different temples scattered all throughout the city. Our driver was named Sophea and he was the one in charge of the itinerary. He did tell us where he was going to take us for the day every morning before we set out.

Our routine was the following: He took us to a temple while he stayed behind in his tuktuk and waited for us everytime we went exploring. After we were done with our visit to a particular temple, we proceeded to visit another.

While he waited for us each and every time, he either hung out with his fellow tuktuk drivers in the parking lot, played a sport with them, or took a nap.

In order to visit the temples, we first had to buy a pass, in our case, one good for three full days. From that point on, we were free to visit all the temples we pleased.

How cool are these? These statues lined a so called causeway on both sides. They stretched for quite a long distance and they made for an impressive sight.

Marc standing next to the statues that lined up the causeway leading to one of the main entrances of the temples of Angkor

My turn!

We had not yet entered the premises and we had taken tons of pictures already by this time. We just kept saying "Wow! Wow!" each time. We simply couldn't help but be in awe.

The four headed sandstone gopura

The other faces on the entrance to the Angkor Temples

A close up view of one of the faces of the gopura or tower entrance

Once we passed the four headed gopura entrance, PRASAT BAYON within ANGKOR THOM was the very first temple we saw and visited. We couldn't believe the sight before us as we approached it. Words were not enough to describe the view. Simply put, we were surprised, speechless, and stunned.