sunrise
Sunrises. They are probably my favourite natural phenomenons. A new day, a new beginning, a fresh start. Each time I think about how the sun never fails to rise, and how fortunate it is to have the chance to be better to be more each day, I get a warm feeling in my heart.
There's something spiritual to sunrises, won't you agree?
One of the famous touristy things to do when visiting Siem Reap Cambodia is to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. As much as you might dislike doing touristy things, I think sunrises are never too touristy. There is no good enough reason to pass watching a beautiful sunrise.
We left our hotel around 5 am in the morning and headed for the temple; our driver came later than expected, which was such a bummer, as it started to get bright as we were heading to the temple.
I was so worried that i'd miss the opportunity to see the sunset.
NOTE: DO NOT Leave the viewing of the sunset to your last day of visit.I thought I was being logical for doing so, especially since the last day in Cambodia was a short one (I had an early afternoon flight), but bear in mind that sometimes things happen, and don't go as planned, so always have 1 back up day!
In my previous post: 3 Famous Temples in 1 Day, I mentioned how the mornings and nights were really cloudy but the afternoons are crazy hot. Thankfully, despite the cloudy mornings, we still got to see a pretty decent sunrise.
The good thing about watching the sunrise when I was there (early may) was the lack of tourists. Since it was during a non-peak tourist season, we did not have to squeeze with tons of people just to catch a glimpse of the sunrise.
After the sunrise, we headed back to our hotel for some breakfast. The tranquility of the Angkor Wat temple and its surroundings is just amazing at 6 or 7 am in the morning. Calm and beautiful.
The opportunity to witness sights like these is the reason why traveling is such an important part of me, it really does bring balance and centralisation to soul.
Sunrise Over Angkor Wat
17 June 2016 Angkor Wat Basin, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia
In a previous post, I mentioned about regretting the decision of staying up in the north of Bali. Though very inaccessible, the North of Bali offers its own charm. Its a lot quieter, the long drives through the narrow roads (not if you get carsick), passing by loads of agricultural fields and rice padis along the way were always fun. But the biggest perk of staying in the north is having the opportunity to head out to Lovina Beach to watch the Sunrise in an open sea, and if you're lucky, see wild dolphins.
By far it was the BEST sunrise i've seen. The experience was incredible I think neither words nor pictures can justify.
We woke up at 4am, took a bus to the beach and hopped in (literally because it was a hole) a really small motorised boat (4 people in a row), and sailed out to the open sea. After 10 mins, you start to see the sky turn from grey to blue, on the right shades of pink, yellow and orange start infusing into the sky while on the other side it remains blue with the clouds being increasingly visible due to the sun rays.
It was the most beautiful sight EVER. It was one of those cliché moments where you feel all your problems melt away as you stare into the vast sky and realise how small you are - partly due to the fact you're on a small boat splashing about in the massive sea. Amazing and indescribable.
We were lucky enough to spot several wild dolphins jumping up above the waters.
The dolphins didn't come up to the surface too often because the boats were practically chasing them. It was quite sad. At the sight of a dolphin, the swarm of boats will speed towards that particular area, and that would mean chasing the dolphins away. We caught sight of the dolphins towards the end of the session when most of the boats left and our was just floating along the waters with the engine turned off.
This dolphin spotting thing really depends on your luck. Sometimes people don't get to see any wild dolphins, sometimes people get to see them jumping up really high. I'd say, pay to see the sunrise from the middle of the sea, let the dolphins be and don't make your boat drivers chase them.
Not only does the sun rise early in Bali, the sun sets pretty early as well. Watching the sunrise from our rooms everyday was a treat in itself, but we were never in one place long enough to watch the sunset, apart from an evening at the Tanah Lot Temple.
We got there at about 5 and roamed around the area before heading towards the beach to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, being one of the most touristy locations, it was MAD CROWDED. But we had a fun time climbing up the rocks to get a decent photograph and walking in the waters as the waves crashed up the shore.
Bali definitely has one of the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets i've seen. Unfortunately, it was quite cloudy the day we were at Tanah Lot Temple - the sunset would have been a lot better had it been less cloudy.
Still, I would say the sun rises and sun sets in bali are a MUST SEE.
If you're one of those people who need loads of sleep, get someone to force you awake to watch the sunrise at 5am in Bali. You would not regret!
Hope you liked the photos! I'm definitely missing clear skies and gorgeous sunrises/sunsets in rainy London (but london has its own charm, so I'm not complaining!)
Missing Asia | Bali - Catching Sunrises Chasing Susets
13 October 2014 Bali, Indonesia
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