Postcard from Angkor
Sunrise, temples, trees and the perfect hotel
If you’re expecting the usual wine and restaurant recommendations I’m travelling in south-east Asia at the moment so Eat This. Drink That has temporarily turned into a travelogue. Which will hopefully be of use if you’re thinking of going yourself or inspire you to if you aren’t … Back in the UK later this week, hopefully not too jet-lagged to post a Friday 5 . . .
It’s 5.30 am in the morning and we’re sitting on a wall waiting for the sun to rise over Angkor Wat.
The light creeps in gradually, streaks of pink suffusing the sky, mirrored in the water below.
Suddenly a fireball of a sun edges over the horizon, so bright it hurts your eyes, setting the whole sky aflame
Then it’s over, the colour fading as fast as it exploded.
We walk around for an hour before the crowds appear, blown away by the architecture and the soft morning light. Barring the palm trees, the vast expanse of grass around the site has a curiously English look to it like an 18th century landscape painting.
Angkor was undoubtedly going to be the highlight of the trip but I had no idea how vast it was - 400 square kilometres in total.
Angkor Wat (above), which dates from the 12th century, is only one of the many temples and temple complexes on the site, the other familiar name being Angkor Thom, whose entrance is even more iconic.
