Temple Time

Today has been a day of cultural immersion, historical insight and burgeoning friendships.

We visited one of the seven man-made Wonders of the World – Angkor Wat (city temple), and also the amazing Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom temples, with the Green Gecko young adults.

Fun Facts about the temples:

• Located in the Siem Reap province of Cambodia this UNESCO World Heritage site was once the centre of the Khmer empire that ruled Southeast Asia until its fall. The city was then reclaimed by the jungle and found by western explorers in the 1800s, and after extensive restoration in the 20th century, Angkor Wat opened for tourists from around the world to explore.
• Angkor extends over 400 square kilometres and consists of more than 1000 temples!
• From the 9th to 15th century, Angkor was the centre of the Khmer Kingdom.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

At lunch, each CGGS student sat with, and got to know, the lives and future aspirations of a Gecko student. Despite a rainy start and 100% humidity today, the students showed curiosity and resilience and there was still laughter and chatter. We even had some entertaining karaoke on the bus – certainly a very instantaneous and hilarious icebreaker. We were all very tired when we arrived back at the hotel mid-afternoon and took a few hours to chill in the pool and shower before dinner.

Here are some student reflections from today – Bel and Eloise had this to say:

Visiting the temples was an amazing experience and we loved being able to share this with our new Gecko friends. Getting to know their stories and having fun through jokes, allowed us to form new friendships, and we hope that these will grow throughout our trip and at home. The temples were absolutely breathtaking and definitely worth the walk through the heat! We are looking forward to what other experiences tomorrow will bring!

Bel and Eloise