I have done both now, about a year apart, and I cannot decide which one actually moved me more.
Angkor Wat at 5am with five hundred other people holding their phones up, but when the sun hit the towers it still got me. Ha Long Bay was the opposite, just our little boat, mist on the water, completely silent.
Angkor felt grand and historic, Ha Long felt personal. A different kind of awe entirely.
If you could only do one sunrise in Southeast Asia, which would you pick? I keep flip flopping.
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Ha Long, because of the silence you described. I cried a little on our boat and I am not even embarrassed about it. Angkor was impressive the way a museum is impressive. Different organs.
Replying to Camille Moreau
Replying to Tom Campbell @Tom Campbell The two hundred meters left tip is exactly the kind of thing I wish I had known. We were in the main scrum like everyone else. Maybe that is why Angkor felt less personal for me, I never escaped the crowd.
Replying to Ron BK
Replying to Ron BK @Ron BK Ha, the main scrum is brutal. Next time try the small library pond on the left side instead, same reflection, a tenth of the people. I would still pick Angkor for the sunrise itself though. Ha Long wins on every other hour of the day.
Angkor for me, and it is not close. Ha Long is beautiful but it is scenery, Angkor at sunrise felt like time travel. Yes there is a crowd, but walk two hundred meters left of the main pond and you get the same reflection with a tenth of the people. Nobody tells you that part.