Sam and Jack Play Indiana Jones (Angkor Temple Complex, Siem Reap, Cambodia).

Today we went to the Angkor temple complex located in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Angkor temple complex is a series of temples dispersed throughout the jungle just north of the Siem Reap town center. The temples are relics of the ancient Angkor Kingdom which existed from approximately 800 AD to 1400 AD. There are over 200 temples spread across the province, but the most popular temples are Angkor Wat (widely believed to be the largest religious building on earth), Bayon (which is adorned with 216 large smiling faces), and Ta Prohm (the “Tomb Raider temple”). At its height, Angkor had 1 million inhabitants – at its apex, Angkor Wat was the center of the largest and most powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia.

As luck would have it we just happened to come to Cambodia during the Khmer New Year (which coincides with the Thai water festival holiday of Songkran and also the Lao New Year and the Myanmar New Year). To beat the New Year crowds and extreme heat we decided we would do sunrise at Angkor and hit as many temples as we could before the heat set in. This meant we all had to wake up at 4am. That’s right, 4am…

4am wake up call. No one would budge. Finally, in a desperate attempt to get people moving, I yelled “it’s Christmas! and Santa came!” – still nothing.

“4am! If you need someone to wake up at 4am… I am YOUR GIRL! I can also do 12am, 2am, 3am…”

I had some doubts about getting up at 4am. Getting three kids out the door is a rough task even at a good hour but I really wanted to see Angkor at sunrise. Things went pretty smoothly and we made it out the door with relative ease (the hotel even packed a little breakfast for us). I am really glad we got up early. Although the boys were grouchy initially, we subdued them with Kung Fu Panda on the way to the first stop (thank you, iPad) and were perfectly fine by the time we got to Angkor. The sunset was fantastic and we definitely beat the crowds (but not the heat…it is impossible to beat the heat).

Trying (and failing) to beat the heat with coconut ice cream pops.

Look closely. Stegosaurus. If there is a dinosaur we.will.find.it!

If your going to go to Angkor with kids I recommend going early and bringing lots of sunscreen, floppy hats, and an umbrella (umbrellas aren’t allowed in the temples but you can use one on the long walks between temples). We got a tour with an air conditioned van vice a tuk tuk which gave Anna and the boys some time to cool down between stops (but you will still do a lot of walking). We had initially thought of bringing a stoller but opted for the baby bjorn and toddler back pack instead. These were good options. The interior of the temples are all steps and broken stone.

Angkor Wat: