Cambodia 2 *Angkor Temples* 23rd May

We woke up early and found a Tuk Tuk to take us around the Angkor Archeological Park. Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north of Siem Reap.

The ‘Angkor Archeological Park’ includes temples such as Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm (the temple made famous in the ‘Tomb Raider’ movie)

First stop was the main entrance building where we purchased our entrance tickets. Hiroki bought a one day pass as he was leaving for Japan the next afternoon, however I purchased the 3 day pass. This allowed me to get in to the park for any 3 days within the next 7 days. The pass used to have to be used on consecutive days but this rule was changed.

7am – 11am Angkor Wat “The Temple City”

We started off at Angkor Wat and I was immediately awed by the size of the temple and once inside, the magnificent detail of all the inscriptions. The mind just boggles to think that all of this was built in the 12th century without modern technology and machinery. I read that it took approximately between 30 to 35 years to build, and one person from each family in and around the kingdom had to help in the transport of the sandstone from the quarry of Phnom (mountain ) Kulen which is 55 km to the northeast from Angkor. Methods of transport included floating many of the stones on the river and and the use of thousands of elephants (4000-6000). I can’t imagine that it only took that long. The temple was magnificent.

It is also the largest religious monument in the world.

Our first glimpse of Angkor Wat. The moat symbolises crossing from Earth to heaven to Mt. Meru

The second causeway for Angkor Wat temple, it is 350m long and 8 metres wide and joins the entrance to the main temple building.

Looking back from the temple to the main entrance

Looking toward the temple from the end of the second causeway. Behind me you can see the ‘Grand Terrace’ where ritual dance was probably performed during processions and displays.

The sheer size was amazing!

The walls (niches) of the entry towers are decorated with very beautiful motifs including the Apsaras

There are more than 2000 carved all over the temple complex.

Every single Apsara is unique with the intricate carvings displaying different combinations of headdresses, belts and 37 different hairstyles to check out!

You can tell I was fascinated by these gorgeous ladies!

It’s hard to imagine these carvings are still in this good a condition.

The lower gallery, the celebrated gallery of bas-reliefs.

Was this carved first then elevated to this level, or made at this height? Is it one piece of stone, or small blocks fitted together?

The attention to detail on every surface was magnificent.

The stairs to the upper gallery of the temple were quite a hike, and especially tough in the heat.

11:15am – 2 pm Central Angkor Thom

Then on to ‘Central Angkor Thom’ including Bayon, Baphuon and the Terrace of the Elephants.

Bayon (11:30-12:40)

“Of all the Angkor temples, it was the Bayon, at the centre of Angkor Thom, which most confounded the archaeologists.

The Bayon bas-reliefs are less stylised and more deeply incised than those of Angkor Wat, and although often quite crude in execution and simplistic in form, they provide a source of documentation which is remarkable, both for the care taken in the representation of the smallest detail and for the qualities of observation which they show – and it is practically the only source we have that gives an idea of the customs and conditions of life in ancient Cambodia.” (http://www.theangkorguide.com/)

Baphuon

And the Terrace of the Elephants

2pm – 3pm Lunch

After spending hours perusing these areas our Tuk Tuk driver suggested to us to have lunch at a nearby tented area, however we were hot and sticky and tired and wanted to go back to Siem Reap for a freshen up at our hotel before continuing on into the afternoon. Also, we weren’t sure if this was a scam with highly inflated prices. In the end, the Tuk Tuk driver won and ultimately we realised this was the best decision. Lunch was delicious, reasonable and it saved us a lot of time.

Before moving onto Ta Prohm we saw a couple more temples along the way.

3:30pm – 5pm Ta Prohm

We saved ‘Ta Prohm’ for the afternoon as it was the shadiest temple therefore the best to be at for the hottest part of the day. This was the temple I was most looking forward to. It showcases what happened to many of the temples during their neglected years and how the jungle overtook and ruined the temples as it fought back for its territory. While the other temples were once again cleared, this temple was left as is, to showcase the effect the neglect had on the temples. The huge problem now being that Ta Prohm is disintegrating under the weight of the regrowth. To interfere or not… That is the question..

Evident crumbling of parts of the temple

Corridors lined with rubble

It was tough to see ruins lying everywhere

A rare chance to get a photo of this tree without anybody in front.

BANTEAY KDEI (The Citadel of Chambers)

Then onto Banteay Kdei. This seemed like a really long temple and unlike Ta Prohm, this temple has been cleared of the jungle growth, however it hasn’t been restored yet.

5pm – 6pm Bayon

We decided to finish the day back at Bayon, and offered our Tuk Tuk driver another $5 on top of the $12 we had negotiated for the day to stay until the temple closed at 6pm. Considering we had started out about 6:30 am, it would be a 12hr working day for him for a pay of US$17. Bayon was quite empty by this time, so we climbed a huge pile of rubble that was piled up against the wall and sat and took in the atmosphere in peace as the temple was pretty much deserted and managed to get good shots and videos with nobody around.