So I ended my last post on my first day in Siem Reap, shopping in night markets so this starts off at 4:30am (yep that was the meeting time) and we took a sleepy bus over to queue for our tickets for the Angkor Wat complex.
It was a long, tiring but rewarding day and I have an awful lot of photos (plus a video) to show you guys so keep scrolling.


So once we'd queued for our tickets we headest straight to the main complex for sunrise, it was probably about 6am at this point and I was not awake, I was taking in the beauty of pre sunrise Angkor through slightly blurry eyes and an even blurrier brain but it was nice.
And of course everyone was there to get their Angkor sunrise reflection picture, everyone was gathered around the two pools in front of the main complex though sadly it was a bit cloudy, so my photos for the whole day didn't come out like I'd wanted them to. Not the end of the world though as it was still an amazing experience.
 Then we ventured inside and explored, some people got good luck bracelets done by some of the monks in this part of Ankor Wat and we learnt a bit about the history of the place, It's honestl so much bigger than I imagined it to be and it's grand and beautiful now so I can't imagine what it would have looked like just after it'd been built.
This part of Angkor is designed as Hell, earth and Heaven so the lower area is Hell, the middle if Earth and the very top bit (which had ridiculously steep stairs) was heaven, so we climbed up to heaven and guess what? There were cats there yes there are cats in heaven, and they're adorable.
Then we climbed all the way back down to hell, learning more about Buddhism and the building of Angkor Wat. And as were were taking some group pictures at the back of the first complex there was a monkey sat perfectly for a photo, thank you monkey.
Then it was off to the next temple, Ta Prohm, also known as the Tomb raider temple due to Tomb Raider being filmed there. I didn't get a lot of photos of Ta Prohm due to the cloud just ruining all of them, but I do have a lot more views of it in my video below if you want to see more.
Ta Prohm is currently undergoing restoration work, so there were bits cordened off, a little crane in there and all the rubble was numbered to try and work out how to get the pieces back where there belong.
The reason it is falling apart is because of the trees, the beauty of the place is that these trees grow into and from the structure of the building but they're also causing the place to fall apart.
And then it was my favourite part of the day, Bayon. This is a temple that is covered in serene faces of the Buddha and although it's smaller than the other two parts of Angkor we visited I found it the most beautiful. I am a big fan of symmetry and Buddha so add the two together and you've got yourself a winning combo in my eyes.
But that wasn't even the best part of it, There is a small Buddhist temple inside one of the Buddha heads where I went to have a look in and a brief meditate (as we had ten minutes before we had to leave), I sat on the outside as there were already men sat on the inside section, and I wasn't sure of the rules on tourists, but as one man stood up the monk in there invited me inside. He didn't speak much English but he very kindly showed my how, in Cambodia, they worship Buddha and lit incense for me.
Honestly this is why Bayon was my favourite, I was having a day where I just felt so content and present and then there was this monk inviting me over and making me feel so welcomed. Amazing.
And then after this we all went back to the hotel and napped before heading out for dinner, we had a bit to drink, sang a lot of karaoke, sat on a skate ramp on top of an eight story building and went to a reggae club. A pretty successful night if you ask me and one of my favourites in Cambodia (I say that but I had a lot of favourite nights the whole trip).
So that is that, if you want to see more then I have a video below which has lots of shots of the temple and a little bit of our night out. 

I went to Angkor Wat as part of a tour with G Adventures, who I highly recommend, you can view and book it for yourself here.
Thank you for reading this, the next instalment of my adventure through Cambodia will be next Friday but I will have a post up on Tuesday so stay tuned for that. Have a wonderful weekend, I need to pack as I'm off home tonight.
Thanks for reading!