Stunning Angkor Wat Visit Checks Temples off Bucket List

Days 80-81, 2026 Grand World Voyage

Wednesday and Thursday, March 25-26, 2026; Siem Reap, Cambodia.

When my alarm went off at 4 a.m., I wasn’t happy. But you can’t sleep in if you want to see a spectacular sunrise at the largest religious complex in the world.

We joined hundreds of other tourists at Angkor Wat, a massive five-tower temple in northwest Cambodia.

The pre-dawn sky gradually lightened to an orange/coral color behind the 900-year-old vast complex. Eventually, a sliver of sun peaked over the walls, quickly growing in intensity. Finally, the sun’s reflection hit the pond at our feet.

The process took long enough for me to sketch a silhouette for later painting.

Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple by the Khmer king Survavarman II in just 30 years in the early 12^th century. Massive sandstone blocks were floated on rafts from quarries more than 30 miles away, and construction involved an estimated 300,000 workers and 6,000 elephants. Two hundred years later, it transformed into a Buddhist temple, as it remains today. After our sunrise visit, we walked to a nearby temple for blessings from a monk.

Early the previous day, we left the Volendam in Singapore to fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia’s fifth largest city. After visiting a water well project funded in part by our visit through our travel agency, Cruise Specialists, we spent the afternoon exploring Angkor Wat.

The outer walls of the first two (of five) levels are covered in extensive bas-reliefs, and we went up and down countless two- and three-step crossings to examine those on just one side. They detailed life, wars, deaths and expectations of the hereafter. I was glad I brought a collapsible walking stick, as there were no handrails.

By the time we arrived inside the second level, I decided I to sit and sketch while some in the group climbed the long staircase to the third level. I never know when a sense of vertigo will hit.

That night we enjoyed a Cambodian shadow puppet show during dinner at our hotel. I retired early knowing that 4 a.m. would be there before I knew it.

On day two, after the sunrise visit, the monk’s blessing and a mid-morning full breakfast back at the hotel, we toured four of the 70-ish other temples discovered (so far) in the Angkor Archeological Park that covers more than 150 square miles.

We visited the Bayon, a temple at the center of Angkor Thom, once the capital city of the Khmer Empire whose population might have reached 150,000 at its peak. Bayon is probably best known for the faces carved on each of the four sides of its many towers, as well as its extensive bas reliefs. We particularly enjoyed the depiction warning against falling from a boat, lest you be eaten by a crocodile.

Next, we traipsed up and down more steps through the passageways of Preah Khan, a temple with a long center walkway. I wish I remembered more of its distinguishing details, but even though we had a great lunch break, I was nearing temple-exhaustion stage.

I perked up a bit for our last temple, Ta Prohm, also known in modern culture as the Tomb Raider Temple due to its role in the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie. During its centuries of abandonment to the forest, trees grew from its walls and chambers, with roots snaking throughout the complex. Today it can be hard to get photos due to the many tourists posing for those Instagram-worthy selfies.

After a well-earned late-afternoon rest at our hotel, a troupe of Cambodian dancers entertained us during dinner.

While it was two days of temple overload, Angkor Wat was an incredible experience. I’ve only scratched the surface in describing our visit, but I think Lonely Planet summed up my experience best:

“Angkor Wat has the epic proportions of the Great Wall of China, the detail and intricacy of the Taj Mahal and the symbolism and symmetry of the Great Pyramid at Giza – all rolled into one.”

I’ve yet to visit the Taj Mahal, but I can confer to the comparisons with China’s Great Wall and Egypt’s Great Pyramid.