The central sites of Angkor are officially split up into two routes consisting of the Small Circuit Angkor and the Grand Circuit Angkor. We opted to visit today The Grand Circuit Angkor with a tuk-tuk. The Grand Circuit was, in fact, an extension of the shorter Small Circuit loop, taking in a few more temples.
The Big Circuit portrayed the rich variety of architecture found in Angkor Archaeological Park. Few visitors opted for this tour preferring the shorter version which contains the big three Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm.
Today, we hired the services of a tuk-tuk driver to explore the Grand Circuit of Angkor, the remains of the Khmer Empire. To have enough time and avoid the crowd, we began early by a sunrise over Angkor Wat.
We crawled out of bed at 4:30 to join hundreds for the sunrise over Angkor Wat, the symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag in 1850. We weren’t disappointed. The scenery was out of the world. Once we had our fill of the sunrise, we explored the largest religious monument in the world while the temperatures were still low and the crowd minimum.
The Angkor Wat Temple
Preah Kahn, one of the largest complexes at Angkor, was just a bit further out. The site was lost in a jungle and full of endless corridors to explore. There was no crowd. We were probably too early for the bus full of Chinese tourists.
The Preah Khan Temple
The delicate Neak Prean, a tiny gem of a temple surrounded by pools of water was next on the list.
The Neak Pean Temple
We drove to the moated temple, Ta Som.
The Ta Som Temple
The East Mebon featuring elephant statues carved out of a single block of stone was our last stop for the day. There we concluded the Grand Circuit Angkor.