I showed up at 5AM thinking I'd get my Instagram shot and leave. Another temple complex, another sunrise chase. But standing there as the light hit those thousand-year-old stones—something shifted. The tour groups hadn't arrived yet. Just me, the guide who'd seen this ten thousand times, and these faces carved into towers that somehow still held secrets. I'd been temple-hopping across Southeast Asia for weeks, checking boxes. Cynical about the hype. But Angkor didn't care about my travel fatigue or Instagram strategy. The roots growing through Ta Prohm weren't performing for anyone. The bas-reliefs at Bayon weren't trying to be profound. They just were. I stayed until noon, missing my bus to Phnom Penh. Some places earn their reputation the hard way—by breaking through your defenses when you're not looking. #Travel #AngkorWat #TravelMoments