Day 243 (February 20): Angkor Wat
On one hand, coming to Siem Reap and visiting Angkor Wat is merely one stop on this odyssey. On the other hand, it is immediately obvious why a person would travel halfway around the world just to see this one place. To put this in perspective, it is one mile in between the east gate (shown in the picture above) and the west (shown in the pictures below). It is surrounded by a manmade moat that is about 200 meters (2 football fields) across and 5 kilometers long. Dug by hand in the 12th century! Our Visit I want to explain that we were picked up by our guide at 8am and driven to the visitor center to pick up our passes. We arrived at about 9am and it was already sweltering. We entered through the eastern gate, traced some galleries/corridors along the north edge and then entered the main/central area. Children are not allowed to visit the higher levels so our guide generously watched all six kids while we climbed to the top. Once reunited, we reached the west side b...