Angkor What?? Siem Reap, Cambodia

I'm sure some of you may be asking that question, but simply, Angkor Wat is the largest temple ruins in the world - The Mother of all Temples! But not just one temple, a huge selection of ruins, temples, palaces, monuments, etc all around the same area. The whole area was built starting in the 800's and continued on until the 1400's.
So, we had flown to Siem Reap so that we wouldn't spend Michelle's birthday on the second day of a very long bus journey. Instead, we started her birthday with this - sunrise at Angkor Wat. To say that this place is impressive would be a major understatement!! This picture is of the main Angkor Wat.
The temple itself has many towers, and climbing up to the upper levels is a dangerous task as the stairs are worn and exceptionally steep (60 degrees or so). The carvings and bas-reliefs on the pillars and walls are stunning and still mostly in very good shape!
The water in the foreground is a manmade pond and the whole temple is surrounded by a huge moat that is about 3km long by 3km wide. I can't believe the effort it would take to even dig out these moats, let alone carry huge stones around to build the temple, and then carve out intricate pictures all over the pillars and walls. WOW! I guess the only downfall is the popularity of the place. It is attracting plenty of tourists these days, but even so, we were able to find areas that we could have to ourselves. All in all, a great start to Michelle's birthday. *Stub