Sunrise Illusion of Angkor Wat October 2019
Missing the beautiful sunrise in Angkor Wat forever !
( Sunrise illusion of Angkor Wat )
Because it is lovely a world-class illusion as acclaimed by guidebooks and by experienced people.
I felt the sunrise scene was like a stage show with a plenty of tourists. However, it is just a miserable experience without sun, so it might be a risky tourist spot. The weather forecast check in the previous day is absolutely our minimum duty prior to visit sunrise at Angkor Wat.
If you are looking to watch the sunrise in the rainy season, or if you have a hard time watching the sunrise during an organized tour, you may be unlucky to hit rain or cloudy. I hope you to come back here definitely just to catch clear day for the sunrise alone. I believe Angkor Wat will appear as it is for a couple of decades.
( Dawn at Angkor Wat main entrance )
I woke up early at 4 a.m. and headed to the ruin by paying an extra fee for hired tuk-tuk. I arrived at the entrance of Angkor Wat at around 5:15 a.m. The eastern sky was getting lighter and brighter like a famous starting sentence of a Japanese classic essay named Makurano-So-Shi ( Essay of court lady chat in late 10 century ). Describing “ the best minutes of spring is early dawn of which sky colour changing from dark purple to whiter second by second. "
Upon walked together a large number of tourists towards the panoramic banks of the pond, I decided to stay at my preferable viewpoint enough for observing the sunrise scene. On that day, the pond on the left side was under construction, so I went to the right side pond.
( Black Angkor Wat with flashing lights by visitors' smartphone )
The flashing lights of visitors' smartphone walking around the pond were like a firefly flying. The air was a little cool even at the end of October. I imagined the temperature was probably around 25 ° C. It was just warm with short sleeve.
The shadows of the five towers of Angkor Wat emerged clearly against the background of the sky turning to bright purple hues from deep purple. Many tourists, almost silently, watched the sunrise show, focusing on the eastern sky which grew brighter every moment.
( Inverted Angkor Wat )
The time passend slowly only with the shutter sound of the camera echoed. " Inverted Angkor Wat " was reflected without any fluctuation on the surface of the pond. There was no wind on the day, and the water lilies and weeds in the pond were off the pond centre, so I was lucky that nothing disturbed the water surface in that timing.
( Tourist from all over the world at Angkor Wat sunrise )
( A silhouette of Angkor Wat at sunrise )
The sky colour changed from purple to orange as the sun approached the horizon. The sun was behind the building, so Angkor Wat floated in a dark gray silhouette. The atmosphere has changed from mysterious to romantic. When the sun rose between the buildings, the illusion has disappeard and it remained only the mood of early morning.
Angkor Wat is built exactly along the east-westaxis, so on two equinox days, the sun rises directly above the main tower, creating a stunning sunrise landscape. On such a day, at the same time as opening the gate at 5:00 a.m. , you will run into and keep a good position for the best opprotunity of sunrise. I would like to read a travel journal challenging such ultimate sunrise experience.
( Looking back to morning Angkor Wat )
Half hour later, the buzz of people increased, everyone got a little tired of standing up. I decided to go back to the hotel once, and slowly headed towards the exit, looking back at Angkor Wat repeatedly.
Reported on February 2020 End