A few months ago, I reached out to a good friend, who had visited Cambodia last year, for travel advice. He gave me a recommendation for a tour guide to Angkor Wat…Hum Choern.
I reached out to Hum Choern and expressed interest in having him act as our tour guide. Since no plans were set for our schedule at that time, I informed him that I would let him know exact dates when we had everything confirmed.
Once our flights had been booked, I reached out to him, once again, however, I was disappointed to find that he was not available on the dates that we would be there…he would be in Phnon Penh. He gave me another tour guide’s name, however, after attempting to reach her, I was still unsuccessful the day before we were to arrive in Siem Reap.
Assuming that I could hire someone once we reached Siem Reap, I wasn’t very worried, however, my main concern, after reading other visitor’s stories, was finding a guide that spoke English well enough to understand.
I decided to contact Hum Choern once more, hoping that he had another recommendation for me. Luckily, he responded immediately with another name, Vannessa Adamas. He contacted her and she immediately sent me a friend request on Facebook, so that we could correspond.
Arrangements were made for Vannessa to meet us at the hotel shortly after our arrival to go over our itinerary.
Bubbly and full of personality, I suspected from our messages the night before, that we would get along, but after meeting her, I was absolutely positive that she was the right fit for me and my companions.
Being that I was there for not only the experience but the photographic opportunities, I had actually checked into taking a photography tour of Angkor Wat on my own. I soon found that Hum Choern had found that she was available and suggested her because of my love of photography.
Vannessa is a very talented photographer. In speaking with her, I found that she spends time at Angkor Wat, on her own, finding the best angles and spots to take the best photographs. The beautiful photos on her iPad confirmed this. This definitely was my girl!
Arrangements were made for Vannessa and our driver to meet us at the hotel at 5:00 am. Our first order of business was sunrise at Angkor Wat.
I never suspected how many people journey to Angkor Wat at this ungodly hour for the sunrise! The lines were amazingly long, however, after posing for a photo for our pass and paying our $20 entrance fee, we were soon headed to the entrance of Angkor Wat.
This was our first encounter…the shadowy spires displaying themselves against the pink glow of the sky. Beautiful beyond words…and so exciting!
We entered the grounds of Angkor Wat and took photo after photo as the morning light slowly invaded the landscape.
I can’t explain how magical it was to stand there and experience the beauty of something that has existed since the 12th century.
After our first encounter with Angkor Wat, Vannessa decided that we would visit Ta Prohm before heading back tour hotel for breakfast, in order to beat the crowds. She was right, there were not very many tourists at this time of morning and we were able to visit and photograph this mysterious place with a minimum of congestion.
With trees growing out of the ruins and the abundance of jungle surrounding the temple, Ta Prohm appears much in the same condition in which it was found.
One of the most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region, UNESCO listed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992 and it was used as a location in the film Tomb Raider.
After a quick trip back to the hotel and a delicious breakfast, it was on to Angkor Thom.
Our first introduction to Angkor Thom was at the south gate. The gate is on the main road from Angkor Wat and has been fully restored, although some of the statues have been replaced by replicas.
Once at the Bayon temple, it is hard not to be impressed, with the formidable walls, massive moat and the huge stone faces keeping watch at each compass point.
Taking a break for a delicious lunch of coconut curry at a local resturant, it was nice to escape the extreme temperatures of the day and prepare ourselves to return to Angkor Wat.
Venturing back across the bridge, our view of Angkor Wat, in the full light of day, was very different than our early morning visit. We walked across the moat, across the sculpted galleries and climbed the steep stairway to the top of the pyramid tower, which represents one of the peaks of Mount Meru.
A lot of walking was involved, but then, there is much to see within the complex.
After exiting the back of the temple, we were met by our driver and returned to our hotel.
A relaxing dip in our rooftop pool and drinks, followed by a beautiful, full sunset completed our day.
Vannessa Adamas can be reached on her Facebook page.
I would like to thank her for taking so many photos for us with our cameras. Spending the day with Vannessa was like spending the day with our own personal photographer as she posed us in many beautiful spots in the temples and photographed myself and my companions.
Visiting Angkor Wat:
1 day ticket-$20, 3 day pass $40, 7 day pass $60
Tour guide, $35 + $10 for sunrise option
Car rental, $25 + $10 for sunrise option
Tuk tuk, $15 + $10 for sunrise option
For more pictures, please see my Facebook page, Snapping the Globe.