16 December 2015. First Visit to Angkor Wat

I set off at 10.00 to get my pass and make a first visit to some of the temples. This was regarded by the hotel as extremely late and, indeed, the norm seems to be to make an early start. I was aware of this but, with a week available, decided to take it easy my first day.I really wanted to take a first look as I could not get any sort of concept of the place just from reading about it.

The tuk tuk journey to the office to buy the pass is long enough and built up along the way with quite a few of the large swanky hotels - Meridien; Sofitel etc. Getting the pass was easy and we set off up the road to Ankor Wat. This road is undeveloped and passes through forest. It is about 2/3 kilometres before one reaches the temple area.

The Angkor Wat temple is approached by foot up a long causeway with lake either side.

 About half way along the causeway, is the entrance building, introducing one to the vista of long corridors that are a feature of the temple. One also passes a library on the left.

The scale of the place is hard to convey and only sinks in as one wanders around. It is vast. There is an outer gallery, inner gallery and then the centre with the towers and housing the shrine.

Everywhere, there are carvings in the stone. In the galleries these stretch endlessly, looking rather like the Assyrian sculptures in the British Museum. They illustrate, for example, the Judgement of Yama, and Heavens and Hells. According to the guidebook, there are 600 metres of these bas-reliefs. They have to be seen to be grasped.

Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious monument. Although busy, it was not unpleasantly so. At the outset, I bought a guide book, rather than relying on a guide to usher me around.

I stayed a couple of hours and then we moved on to the next temple. This is Angkor Thom, occupying a vast 9 sq km site, centred on the Bayon. It is in significantly worse repair than Angkor Wat but no less impressive for that. One arrives at the entrance surrounded by a moat.

Then, after another few hundred metres one arrives at the Bayon itself. It is notable for all the carved faces.

Having spent another hour or so, I was beginning to flag and the heat was building. We did a little more by tuk tuk and made our way back to the hotel. The journey just gave me a chance for the scale of the place to sink in - and the incredible symmetries and vastly long approaches. I can well see why it is counted amongst the wonders of the world and I have hardly scratched the surface.

We went back to the hotel and I arranged to meet the tuk tuk driver at 5.00 tomorrow. So I'm taking it easy tonight!