Temples of Siem Reap

This morning we visited a few more temples of Siem Reap. Our first stop of the day was Tonle Om Gate.  This is the southern gate to Angkor Thom and dates back to the 12th century...Siem Reap was definitely undergoing a lot of construction in the 12th century...much like most of the places in Vietnam and Cambodia today.

Next stop was Banyon Temple at Angkor Thom which was the last capital of the Khmer Empire.  Some of the highlights of Banyon Temple are the giant smiling face towers and reliefs throughout the complex.

Our final stop of the morning was Ta Prohm...a Buddhist monestary built in the in the late 12th century but after the fall of the Khmer empire in the 15th century it was deserted until UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage site in 1992.  For fans Lara Croft Tomb Raider, it may look familar as it was featured in the movie.

Our Viking Tour Director, Ut

Not only are our guides a wealth of local information, they
also teach us all sorts of photog tricks. The pic above uses the
panoramic feature in vertical going super slow while the pic below
uses the panoramic feature in horizontal going super slow.

After a very exhausting morning, we finally headed back to the hotel for lunch and an option afternoon at a Viking sponsored school.  Honestly, we were pretty much done as it was so very hot and were just not feeling great.  We enjoyed an afternoon relaxing in our room and took another trip to the spa.