CAMBODIA: Angkor Wat and Bayon

Angkor Wat is the main attraction in Siem Reap. It is a HUGE ancient temple built in the 1100s for the king and a city larger than London. Can you see me and the boys in front of the gates?

The main temple with 5 towers.

The boys loved climbing through the doorways and running down the halls. We made activity sheets and checklists to keep them going when they got tired - Go to the Hall of Echos. How many towers does the temple have? Can you find 10 apsaras?

The temples were covered in beautiful intricate carvings and bas reliefs telling stories of battles, daily life, or religion. Influenced by India and sometimes changing from Hindu to Buddhist and back again. The Churning of the Ocean of Milk was a beautiful story of a tug a war between good and evil with a gorgeous relief that was found at several of the temples.

Another huge temple was called Bayon. It has 54 towers each with a huge face carved on them. They think its the face of King JayavarmanVII combined with Buddha. Two hundred faces throughout the whole temple. Can you see the faces on the towers in the picture?

We climbed all over this one. Up super steep stairs, on blocks of fallen bricks. The boys were not picky.

After a hot and sweaty day exploring the temples, dinner and ice cream at the Blue Pumpkin never tasted so good.

And we finally tried the fish spa. $2 for 20 minutes. We did not last that long. A handful of fish nibbling on your feet tickles SO MUCH. But was still surprisingly nice.