Paris is one of those places that is hard not to love. It’s a city adorned with iconic monuments, world class museums, and a gastronomy that would make anyone’s taste buds dance. During the long summer days Paris is buzzing with tourists from around the world eager to drink up the culture, but as the sun sets late in the evening, the lights switch on and the true beauty of city begins to show.
Here is a photo gallery of Paris as the lights began to twinkle and truly dazzled us.
Sun setting over the famed Moulin RougeLa Diva. Feeling Sassy.Evening bottle of wine at with a view of the Eiffel TowerCity of Love. Locks.Pont de Bir-HakeimPont de Bir-HakeimRiver boats passing by the Eiffel Tower.Traffic lights surrounding the Arch de TriumphThe buzz down Champs-Élysées.Store fronts. Galleries LafayetteThe calm around Musée d’OrsayPalais Garnier opera houseMagical Fontaine des Mers.Obélisque de LouxorFrench Flag in lights.Reflections. Musée du LouvreMusée du LouvrePyramide du LouvreStreet lamps with warm light.Napoleon. Colonne Vendôme.Illuminated bridge underbelly. Bridge details.Cathédrale Notre-Dame de ParisHeadless. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.Paris Town Hall in all it’s glory.Town hall water feature up close. Vintage metro entrance. Time to head home.Long night in Paris.
The Angkor temple complex is massive. To be exact, it is the largest religious complex in the world. When we first thought of Angkor, we only thought of the quintessential image of Angkor Wat, but to our surprise, there was so much more. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the largest religious monument in the world and easily provides 2-3 days of exploring!
We wanted to share some of our favorite spots from our couple of days exploring the Ancient City of Angkor.
1. Angkor Wat
This is the quintessential image when you think of Angkor Wat, which makes sense because this is the temple named Angkor. We got up at 4am in order to get the the temple for the sunrise. We were so excited to get a front row seat to see such a wonderful site.
Angkor at sunrise was picturesque.A lot of people show up to sunrise! We were so glad we got there early.We came back later in the afternoon. It was the perfect selfie lighting in front of the lake. Beautiful details. We could look at the bas reliefs for hours.
2. Bayon
We call this the temple of faces. There are 54 towers around this temple, all with 4-sided bodhisattva faces as the tower top, representing the divine observation of Cambodia’s four directions. It was for sure a temple that got even more interesting as we took a closer look.
From afar it’s hard to tell there are 216 bodhisattva faces. Up close bodhisattvaNo matter where you stand, someone is looking at you.
3. Ta Prohm
The ruins of Ta Prohm was one of our favorites. It is known as the “tree temple” because it is covered in Knia trees which have overtaken the temple ruins. This is what was so attractive to us. Everywhere we looked was a photo op we did not want to miss. We can see why parts of Tomb Raider was filmed here.
Knia tree growing over the temple.Kevin between the Knia tree roots.Is this a stegosaurus? This Knia tree was insane!
4. East Mebon
Our tuk-tuk driver, Mr. Chee, called this the Elephant Temple. We loved it because #elephants! This temple is not very big, but the guardian elephants scattered throughout the temple are impressive and make it worth a look. Additionally, we noticed the stairs were huge and found out this is because ceremonies with elephants would happen here and elephants have a big step.
Khmer style symmetrical architecture.Very large steps!One of the guardian elephants.
5. Neak Poan
Neak Poan was fascinating! First, we took a stroll across a huge lake to get to the Buddhist temple. The mirror lake was perfectly still and you could see every reflection. The clouds felt like there were all around us. Once you get across the lake, you get to see a quaint Buddhist temple sitting in the middle of a smaller mirror lake. Scerene indeed.
Kevin in front of the mirror lake.Stump and cloud reflections.Buddhist temple in the central pond.
6. Preah Khan
Because Preah Khan is located at the far end of the Angkor complex there were almost no tourists when we were there. This nearly forgotten temple is tucked away in the jungle and reminded us a lot of Ta Prohm. We took our time and got up close and personal with this temple.
Overgrown knia treeBrad through the window.Kevin exploring the small corridors.
7. Terrace of the Elephants & Leper King
When the Khmer armies came back from battle victorious, the terrace of the elephants was where the celebration would happen. The large scale carvings of elephants were unreal. Just past the elephant terrace we came to the Terrace of the Leper King. It is said this is where the king’s concubines lived. What was impressive to us was the entire structure, both inside and out, donned intricate carvings, mostly of women.
Terrace of the Elephants.Terrace of the Leper KingTerrace of the Leper King carvings.
8. Ta Som
The far end of Ta Som was the East gate. From the front it looks like a normal ruined gate, but one we passed through to the other side, we noticed it was completely covered in a knia tree. Tucked underneath the tree roots was such a wonderful carving.
Run-down looking gate.Carvings hiding under the knia tree.Knia covering the entire gate.
9. Royal Palace of Phimeanakas
The Royal Palace was another part of Angkor that seems to be overlooked by most tourists. It was the perfect spot for a rest. The palace is not overly impressive compared to many of the other more notable spots in Angkor, but once we made it to the top and looked down, we appreciated what the Royal Palace was in its hay-day.
The doorways at the top.Column remnants.Corridors around the Royal Palace.
There were so many more structures, temples, and ruins around the Angkor temple complex than shown in this post. It would be nearly impossible to write one post covering every nook and cranny. Angkor was full of surprises at every turn and we are so happy to have encountered this ancient Khmer civilization up close.
We are two en route for more detailed travel encounters.
At the end of days of exploring, our feet were rightfully filthy!
One of the best feelings in the world is a plane coming in for a landing. It doesn’t matter if it is in a new place to explore or an old favorite, the excitement of knowing we are about to experience new things is thrilling! When going through some of our photos, we realized we had captured moments from our view in the window seat of an airplane. Here are some of our favorites!
This was a shot taken of the coastline of Australia as we took off from Cairns. Taken in 2017This was our snapshot of Dubai from above at night. We could feel the life of the city even from up here! Taken in 2016Flying into Norway was breathtaking from above. We love the little towns that dot the lakes across the country. Taken in 2016A pic from our decent into the Maldives. All of the islands were unique shapes and beautiful. Taken in 2016 This was from our flight from London back to the United states when we flew over Greenland. It’s the closest we have been to this country and it makes us want to go one day! Taken in 2012While there are none of the iconic building of Singapore in this photo, we love how the boast fill the port of the island city-state. Taken in 2017 A photo we took of the clouds descending over the rocky mountains on our flight from Dallas to Seattle as we headed to get married in 2013.
We are two en route for more airplane window wanderlust
Singapore is one of those great Modern Asian Cities full of tall buildings with fantastic architecture, gigantic malls around every corner and lights on everything when the sun goes down. Singapore is equally as beautiful during the day as it is at night. Which do you prefer?
Both day and night were spectacular to see, however, to us the night takes the win! What do you think?
twoenroute 