Ta Prohm was our last temple stop before we went back to our hotel to have lunch and freshen up. It was already 10:30 am and Mike and I were both a little tired and hungry as we've been up since 3:30am (Read: Angkor Wat Siem Reap Cambodia and Bayon Temple Angkor Thom Siem Reap Cambodia)

Ta Prohm was the temple I was most excited about as it is most popular for the huge trees going out of the ruins. Some scenes from Tomb Raider were shot here while Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) roamed around the jungle temple.

How to go to Ta Prohm
Almost all the hotels in Siem Reap offer tours/transportation going to the temples, in our case our hotel offers two options - via van or via tuk-tuk, we chose the latter as we wanted to try riding the local transportation plus it is way cheaper than renting a van as we are just two. 

Read: La Rose Blanche Boutique Hotel Siem Reap Cambodia

Because Mike and I wanted to finish all the temple exploration in one day, we availed of the following:

Sunrise in Angkor Wat
Small Tour -  Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm
Sunset at Phnom Bankeng

The entire tour costs $25 (Php 1,200++) only, included on this fare are side trips going back to our hotel, going to Blossom Cafe and Cuisine Wat Damnak so it was really a good deal. I told you it's cheap here.

Temple map from www.canbypublicaitons.com

This ticket is the entrance fee for all the temples in Angkor Archeological Park.

Printed ticket with our photo and date of entry

Entrance to Ta Prohm with Jayavarman's face

Pathway going to the main temple

Temple Run

Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple that was built during the 12th century dedicated to the mother of King Jayavarman VII. After the fall of the Khmer empire the temple was abandoned, leaving it to the jungle to take over.

Piles of carved stones from the ruined temple

Since the temple was located in a jungle, huge trees are densely seen everywhere that filtered the sunlight and provided a welcome shade to the visitors . The atmospheric mood all throughout the temple gave a mythical feel. It was pleasantly different which added charm to the already famous temple.

Filtered sunlight and welcome shade bring an atmospheric feel

Mythical <3

One of the first trees we saw

They say that Ta Prohm was in the same condition in which it was found. After it was neglected, the conservation team left the trees as is since the trees were Ta Prohm's distinct feature out of all the rest in the Angkor Archeological Park. The unexplainable trees growing out of the ruins and the surrounding jungle make it one of Angkor's most visited temple.

Great trees tower above Ta Prohm

How can the roots grew from this sandstone?

Tourists are only allowed to stay at certain areas

Got to have a photo here!

And then suddenly this pretty butterfly came out of nowhere <3

The roots are firmly attached to the structure itself slowly crushing it. Good thing it was being restored and conserved to help preserve the ruins.

Our tuk-tuk driver was also our photographer

Good thing, we can touch this tree!

At the middle of the temple we were introduced to another iconic tree. This one looks different because of the smaller strand of roots that cover the building making it picturesque.

This tree is quite popular

Surreal

Angelina Jolie shot a few scenes from the movie Tomb Raider and I think this tree was part of a scene with Lara Croft.

Nature vs Man Made Art

There are 39 towers at Ta Prohm connected by numerous galleries although visitors are not allowed to walk or climb due to the possible harm it could do to both the temple and the visitors.

Stone playground turned jungle

We are just a mere speck in the marvelous scheme of the world

Ta Prohm you are amazing <3

of course a #ChaMikiss