There are 200 or so gigantic faces on all the towers of the Bayon Temple

We stayed at the Sofitel Royal Angkor.   The grounds are gorgeous, the rooms luxurious, the food spectacular and the staff warm and efficient.  There is nothing not to like. There are countless luxury hotels in Siem Reap. 

After lunch we went go to the ticket station to have our pictures taken for our three day pass (dear God, they need to get better cameras, the photos are hideous!) and head out to Angkor Thom to see the Bayon Temple. This temple is spectacular. Hundreds of huge carved faces with subtle, mysterious smiles. When you walk up to the temple from the gate, the towers look a bit like a big jumble.  As you get closer, the faces emerge and it is magical. I love photography and I was in heaven at Bayon. As we left Bayon is was near sunset and there were so many buses in the parking lot our bus couldn't get out for quite a while. Seems that there is a hill where some guide book says has a great view of Angkor Wat at sunset.  I don't know if that is true or not as I would never go to any hill where there were 400 people. 

Take a minute and enjoy my pictures from the fascinating Bayon Temple of Angkor Thom.

The Elephant Terrace and the Royal Palace Enclosure  of the huge city of Angkor Thom are quite wonderful. The elephant carvings are spectacular and whimsical.   It is getting very warm.  It is around 11 AM and the temperature must be near 95 degrees and humid. Toasty. However, the skies are perfectly clear and it is a perfect day for taking photographs.  Most go back to their hotel pool for the mid day, so if you can stand oppressive heat, mid day is a great time to have the temples to yourself.