Highlights of Cambodia: Angkor Wat Sunrise
By Shweta
Angkor Wat, also known as the “Temple City” is an architectural marvel, built by the king Suryavarman II in the 12th century. It is spread across 500 acres stands today as one of the world’s largest temple structures. Angkor, a prosperous city that was once the royal center of Khmer Dynasty, has seen the rise and fall of several Khmer Empires in its history.
Where is Angkor Wat?
Angkor Wat is about 7 kms from Siem Reap city center and takes approximately 25-30 minutes to commute by local taxis or Tuk-Tuks
When to visit Angkor Wat?
Cambodia being a tropical country gets really hot in the summer months. Oct – Mar is usually the best time to visit Cambodia.
While sunrise is usually the best time to visit Angkor Wat. You can get a day pass and keep coming in and out to visit the various temple complexes across the day
Why is the sunrise so special?
Angkor Wat unlike other temples usually facing the east is one of the only temples aligned to the west. Supposedly built as a funerary temple by the then King Suryavarman II of the Khmer dynasty given its alignment to the west symbolizing Hindu funerary practices, there are many hypotheses on why this was so – You can read more here.
However, being aligned to the west meant the sun rises right behind the five main pillars of the temple. That I think is one of the biggest reasons why this would be the most glorious sunrise ever.
Read More about Angkor Wat History
How do you catch the sunrise?
While you should check the exact time of the sunrise on the day you are planning to visit before-hand. It is usually advisable to go at least an hour before the estimated time of sunrise. The entire experience of watching the colors play around from pitch-black darkness, mild silhouettes to the glorious orange skies in the backdrop of Angkor is nothing short of magic in itself.
We left our hotel at 3.30 AM in the morning and the ticketing office at Angkor Wat was about 20 minutes away by Tuk-Tuk. Since we did not have tickets in advance, we kept a half hour buffer for the same. You could also request the hotel in which you are staying to arrange these passes for you in advance to avoid standing in queue.
Also, considering it is one of the top destinations in Cambodia, be prepared for lots of crowd queuing up to catch the sunrise. So, you need to be a little early if you want to get a good spot to view it in all its glory.
Best View Point
There are of course various angles from where you can view the sunrise. Either sides of the bridge towards Angkor main temple have good views. However, we picked the view from the right side of the bridge across the Lotus Pond. It is swampier, with more mosquitoes but, much less crowded which was enough for a win for me.
While I know, words can do little justice to the marvelous sight in front of our eyes. The sunrise was a beautiful experience for us. From pitch-dark, mosquito-bit travelers with huge DSLRs, tripods, and drones fighting for the same space available to finally witnessing nature’s magic in its true spirit. As the sun rose gradually shimmering behind Angkor Wat, the rays of the sun managed to touch something within us as well. It was resplendent.