The temples of Angkor

Monday morning I hired a motorbike taxi to visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in the morning. We left at 6am, hoping to beat the crowds. But at Angkor Wat that is simply impossible to do. You have to approach the temple on the west side, and according to the guide book 'there is nothing to prepare you for the majesty of Angkor Wat'. But I found that slightly exagerated. To be honest I was not that impressed by Angkor Wat. Yes, it's a big temple, and there are a few beautiful carvings, but I felt a bit let down and I'm not sure why. Maybe I got my hopes up too high after hearing all these wonderful stories. After visiting Angkor Wat we went to the Bayon inside Angkor Thom. The Bayon is probably one of the most interesting temples inside Angkor Complex. The temple has 54 (if I remember correctly) towers with 4 huge buddha faces each. All those faces looking at each other and at you, they're great. After visiting a few other smaller temples inside Angkor Thom I retuned to Siem Reap as my parents would arrive around lunch time.
It was nice seeing them again after being on the road for about 3.5 months. We spent the afternoon in town and decided to rent a car with driver and guide for the next 3 days to see the temples. This was a very nice way to see the temples, and I wouldn't have been able to afford it on my own. It was quite exhausting visiting al those temples. Sometimes it was really hot and sometimes it was raining. And most of those temples were built artificial mountains, which means off course that there is a lot of climbing involved. But after seeing almost all the temples in Angkor I have to say that eventhough Angkor Wat itself didn't really impress me, the whole complex did. It's absolutely worth seeing the temples.
Thursday evening my parents left again, continuing their trip to Phnom Phen. I stayed 1 more day in Siem Reap, so I could visit a few temples again where it was raining the first time.