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One of the highlights on our trip to Cambodia was the temple of Angkor Wat. The History of this Khmer temple was literally written all over it's walls. Angkor Wat was created as a Hindu temple despite that it is now populated by Buddhist Monks Angkor Wat

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Not only from the writings, engravings & pictures but also from the Scars left on the buildings. Here are some photos of Bullet holes remaining from a time when the Khmer Rouge occupied Angkor Wat 

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Every part of the temple seemed to be covered with Engravings

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Hundreds of stories line the walls. The details permanently etched into the stone were quite incredible to see.

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Lots of this artwork has been lucky to survive vandalism, theft and pure carelessness. The picture below shows where tourist keep touching scriptures on the walls for luck which will be eventually worn away.

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Many of the statues where beheaded and smuggled overseas. This was still occuring as late as the 1980's

Angkor Wat-13 Holes are left in the walls where gold and jewels once were.

Angkor Wat-8 One of the main statues in the entrance was also beheaded but the head was recovered and the statue was restored

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In fact a lot of the temple was in the process of restoration.

Angkor Wat-19 The size of this place was staggering. Here are one of the pools inside the walls

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There was many buildings along with the temples. This building below was a Library.

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According to our guide, there was once a Jewel atop the tallest point the size of a coconut that would catch the light. This would have been a sight to see.

Angkor WatThis photo is one of the default must do's when photographing Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat-25 May Tourist visit Angkor Wat each day and seeing the scale of the size, history, details and craftsmanship of this place it's not hard to understand why.

Tourists at Angkor WatThousands of Tourist visit this magnificent Temple every day. Angkor Wat really is a wonder to see.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to explore this wonder and would suggest it to anyone that has half a chance of going to do the same.

Till next time

Trav