Earache amongst the beauty

Angkor Wat in the moments just before the sunrise

After a flurry of sunset shots in recent postings, here's a few sunrise views from a recent visit to Angkor, where I joined the thousands of mainly Asian tourists who had got up early to watch the sun rising from behind the scaffolding-clad towers of Angkor Wat. The western tourists arrived in their one's and two's whilst the Japanese and Koreans arrived by the busload, or fleet of buses, chattering away incessantly and taking photos of everything that moved, and didn't move. Obvious tip of the day - if you are looking for a quiet sunrise, don't go to Angkor Wat, or at least take earplugs.

The morning sun makes its first appearance above the treeline

A slight shift of position and the sun's position also changes

Another shift and the sun drops behind the towers for this photo of the reflection in the north pool

My final shot of the sun and the pool reflection as it rises between two of Angkor Wat's towers

A last look back as I leave the inner courtyard of Angkor Wat

There is so much decoration on the walls of Angkor Wat that it's easy to overlook some of the beautiful artwork that adorns the temple. At the north gate of the west gopura there are some fantastic tapestry carvings worth looking at. This warrior with a conical hat is just one example.

This figure is almost Greco-Roman in appearance in my view. The hairstyle is very unusual. It could be an asura holding a club but doesn't look fierce enough.

I think this is a male figure standing on a dancing horse but I could be wrong

This beautifully carved devata has been savagely hacked