The mother of all temples - Angkor Wat

The previous post in this series is here..

We had seen the outside perimeter of the Angkor Wat temple earlier in the morning when watching the sunrise. Instead of going into the temple with the crowd, we had visted Bayon temple, the tomb raider temple, Banteay Kdei temple and Kravan temple and finally made our way to Angkor Wat.

Our driver said we could walk around ourselves and follow the crowd or better take an official guide from the entrance for 15 USD. So he found a guide who was his friend. This guy had practiced English lines with a Boston accent and he recited the lines at the right locations. He happened to be a decent photographer (not the same caliber as our driver but not bad). He told us there are 3 courtyards. The outer which we were in, the middle courtyard and a top courtyard which involved climbing a bunch of steep stairs.

The sun was up and there was no shade once we reached the middle courtyard. So we told our guide “while we have the energy, lets go to the top and do the difficult stuff first”. He was surprised by the request but said “whatever you want!”. So up we went, saw the main shrine first, then we came down and everything else was relatively a piece of cake.

The building below is the library in the background. No books. That building was just amazing. The moat around the temple was equally amazing. 1.3 km by 1.6 km with a 90 feet moat around the entire perimeter that was manually dug and filled !

The four main corridors converging below a square rock that align perfectly on a compass with the main directions.. marvellous engineering from a 1000 years ago!

We walked around the middle courtyard and made our way out through some stores to the parking lot. The guide said “I have to walk back a km to the point where we started our tour. you guys go straight up and turn right and your driver will be waiting for you”.

So in an hour and a half we had seen Angkor Wat Temple instead of 3 hours.

A video highlights reel..

When we came out, our driver asked us if we saw abc, xyz etc.. and we were like “Nope”. He skipped those. Later we had to google the Ramayana mural and dasavatar and figured out he had casually shown us some stuff but we did not go around the middle courtyard completely because we avoided a crowd. I was temporarily upset but got back to reality pretty quickly. We saw as much as we could see at that speed.

It was really hot and humid and I was getting a migraine. We really wanted to eat and get back to the hotel for a nap. We had started at 4:30 AM and it was close to Noon. We had walked miles in each temple. So we told our driver to tell his guide friend to do more coverage next time. He realized we were exhausted and suggested we drink some coconut water (we had wanted it the previous day). The coconut water outside the temple in the shacks was delicious and sweet. Next stop was our hotel. We stopped on the way at the market and while our driver waited we went through the market and shopped for T-shirts and linen pants with elephants on them.

We had some leftover from the breakfast that had been packed in the morning before seeing Angkor Wat. So we skipped lunch and took a nap in the hotel. The headache was getting pretty severe and San was tired as well. We rested for almost 3 hours and it was time to visit Siem Reap by ourselves in the evening.. We were to start at 4:30 AM again the next morning!

Sunrise at Angkor Wat - a meh experience

The previous post in this trip series is here..

The previous night we had crashed early but not before telling our hotel to pack us breakfast (it was included). They know folks go for sunrise and pack you a breakfast! We left the hotel shortly before 4:30 and drove to the temple complex. It was pitch dark in the area. There were still the ticket checkers working diligently with flashlights. The tickets have our photographs in them. We walked to a nice spot where a few hundred others were waiting.

Our driver warned us already that March 21 and Sept 21 are best times for sunrise viewing. In late November the sun goes to the side and is rising from the forest behind the fog. You see the light but not the sun for some time.

I had setup the iphone for a timelapse.. or so I thought. it was between my shoes on the steps.. must have had butterfingers and I turned it on and off right away! Realized it only after the sun came out and there was a photo instead of a timelapse video! It was a big missed opportunity. Next time, going to get a gorilla tripod so this doesn’t repeat. Did get some shots over the one hour we waited there. Once it became light, we took some shots of me doing yoga in front of Angkor Wat.

Our driver said at this point the entire crowd was going to visit the temple. We should go to Bayon temple instead and get great photos where there is no crowd and then come back to this temple. Given this one has shade and Bayon has none, he said that is a better plan.

We trusted Sarak given our entire previous day with him. Off we went..

A very short video reel..

Next time if at all we visit this place, should go in September. It will still be hit or miss because it rains during that time! One has to be lucky to get sunrise at this place.. There is always photoshop…

Waterfall heaven - Plitvice National Park in Croatia

The previous post in this series is here..

We had a full day plan to visit Plitvice National Park. This has been on the bucket list for a long time. So when San asked me what to visit in Eastern Europe, this was the first thing on the list. 

We met our guide at a pick up point at one of the gates in old town Zadar. She was a student learning English and History and could speak multiple local languages. She walked the group of 50 or so people to an empty parking lot near a busy street and we waited for buses to pick us up. There was a group going to another set of falls called Krka.. they were very particular about sorting the right folks into the right buses as it took some time. 

Plitvice is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Zadar. Zadar is the main city in the south and Zagreb is to the North and this park is in the middle. So we drove along a scenic route from Zadar towards Zageb.

We had a rest stop in between for some tea/coffee and restrooms (and for smokers!)

Once at the park, we had a guide who explained to us that the park is navigable by ourself as long as we followed the rules. Most important of which was not to drop anything even accidentally from our pocket like plastic , paper etc. This lake had 800 employees full time whose job was to make sure no litter of any kind got to the lakes. The ecology was delicate.

The waters crystal clear at depths of 50 feet! Hundreds of specific flora and fauna unique to this park. You had to watch your step everywhere. For a country where 1/4 people was lighting up a cigarette perpetually, inside the park, there is no smoking! So we thanked our stars for some temporary fresh air. 

It was a 10 mile hike around the park with a boat tour to get across a lake at one point, and a bus/train ride at another point. 

There are lakes in layers that come down from each level to the next in the form of a few hundred waterfalls.. we zig zag our way up and then come down partly and then by bus.

There are signs everywhere that show how many falls and the depth profile of the water..

You can see the fishes so clearly. The water is really deep. if you focus your eyes on the still water surface for a few seconds, it almost appears as though the fish are flying in air! 

San was very happy that I suggested this place. She enjoyed it as much as I did. 

We started walking at 10 and made it out at 2. We had to wait at the restaurant for the entire group to come before boarding the bus. Everyone was smoking there as soon as they came out of the park! No non-smoking area. We simply couldn't eat or hang out there. The irony of having such a beautiful place and fresh air only to see the people addicted to smoke come running out for cigarettes was sad to watch!

There were a lot of photos from that day.. it took me forever to select a few to show the beauty of the place and the happiness in our faces.. so, here are four slide show galleries.. 

*** There is a bug in Squarespace that is not allowing me to display galleries*** 

will update this post with the galleries once it is fixed. 

finally a video highlights reel.. yet another place where photos and videos will never do justice to the experience .. 

By 5 PM we were back in Zadar at the same point where we started. We decided to walk back to our hotel along the high wall get a quick shower and go see the rest of the sights in old town Zadar. 

The sun was still up.. we were up for an amazing evening!