We have spent the last few days cycling our way through temple Heaven. Actually these are Buddhist temples so I guess that would be temple Nirvana! Actually, again, to our surprise, the majority of temples in this area were originally built as Hindu temples but were converted soon after to Buddhist... Who knew!?!
Although the town of Siem Reap is known as the home of the Angkor Wat temple complex, or complexes as we discovered, it's actually 6 kilometers north of town. Not a problem, now that I have 2 good feet. Our guesthouse came with free bicycles, so that was our mode of transport for the past few days.
Angkor Wat
The first temple we chose to visit comes as no surprise. Angkor Wat. As I mentioned above, Angkor Wat was originally built as a Hindu Temple in the first half of the 12th century (circa 1125). The place is absolutely huge! It's actually the largest religious monument in the world. It is a really stunning piece of work. Like all ancient monuments, it leaves you in wondering of how it was built without modern tools. Clearly they had the engineering figured out! There is even a very large moat around it! Angkor Wat is really the crown jewel of the area, and arguably of all Cambodia (it's on their flag after all), but it is faaar from the only thing to see here.
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| Angkor Wat |
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| Angkor Wat center from inside the temple |
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| Inside the temple |
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| Temple spires from rear |
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| Inner wall |
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| Bridge across the moat. East entrance |
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| Aerial view of Angkor Wat showing most (image from Wikipedia article) |
Click
here if you want to read more about Angkor Wat.
Angkor Thom
After our jaw dropping visit to Angkor Wat we headed a little further north to Angkor Thom. Like Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom has a moat surrounding it, but the latter is much, much larger. Angkor Thom is not really a monument itself, but an ancient city full of monuments. It was the capital of the ancient Khmer Empire. I don't want to, and really can't compare monuments and ruins, but I will say that approaching the Bayon ruin at Angkor Thom is truly impressive. The detail in the carvings, although weathered, is amazing. I was imagining what it must have looked like at the height of the empire, when it was all "
perfect".
The rest of Angkor Thom was truly impressive as well. Not only is it full of temples and statues dedicated to Hindu and Buddhist God's, but there are ancient boulevards like the Terrace of Elephants and water supply reservoirs. These people knew how to live! In their day, they ruled all of what is now Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam.
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| Bayon temple |
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| One of many faces in Bayon temple |
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| More faces |
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| Dy wandering in the recesses of Baton temple |
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| Inside Bayon temple |
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| Baphuon temple, the main temple in Angkor Thom |
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| View from Baphuon temple |
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Climbing down the steep staircase from Baphu
on temple |
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| Phimeanakas temple |
Click
here if you want to read more about Angkor Thom
Ta Prohm
Our next temple on day 1 was a visit to Ta Prohm. Oh that one you say... Yep that one...confused? It's the one where Tomb Raiser was filmed. Still confused? It's a movie with Angelina Jolie. There...cliché but so be it.
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| Angelina Jolie in scene from Tomb Raider |
The beauty of Ta Prohm is the fact that it has been so overrun by mother nature, that any attempt to cut the roots and trees away to rebuild it would just end up in rubble. The result is a really cool landscape of half nature and half ancient ruin. Pretty much a perfect mix in my opinion.
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| Ta Prohm |
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| Inside Ta Prohm. Same spot as scene with Angelina Jolie above. |
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| Doorway with overgrown roots Ta Prohm |
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| Me! |
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| Dy at Ta Prohm |
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| Dy shaking hands with a local. There were people stopped at the side of the road feeding monkeys and they were everywhere. We decided to stop and watch. Of course the monkeys approach us looking for food. This little guy just sat at Dys feet. Dy cautiously reached her hand out and the monkey extended his and lightly grabbed on to her finger. It just sat there hanging on for a bit watching what was going on behind her, almost unaware that it was a persons hand it was hanging on to. It was a really great moment. |
Click
here if you want to read more about Ta Prohm
Banteay Srey and Pre Rup
We were so overwhelmed at the amount of temples and how cool they all are that it was hard to make a decision on where to go on day 2. Out came the map over an early breakfast and lines were drawn, then erased, then redrawn. There is one temple locals have told us was their favorite, Bantey Srey. Of course it's the furthest away. Fourty Kilometers! Well... it's early, let's go for it!
On our way to Bantey Srey, we passed by a few more small temples and rice fields, the odd cow...then..BAM! Pre Rup. Seriously!?! I've never heard of this one either. Wow! And it's right there for the climbing! Seriously, this place is incredible. I mean, many people have heard of Angkor Wat, but someone needs to do some serious marketing!
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| Just biking along the countryside when this ruin just popped into view. |
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| Me having a break on the steps of Pre Rup temple |
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| Pre Rup from above |
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| On the longest stretch of our bike ride |
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| A young farmer and his tools. Off to the next job. |
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| The bike was not quite her size, but she was making it work. She'll grow into it I think! |
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| Banteay Sreay |
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| Banteay Srey |
I think the best things about all of the temples and ruins at Angkor are first of all how many there are, but secondly how accessible they all are. You can almost walk and climb and explore anything you want. Sure that might be a bit dangerous, but there are
some signs telling you to be careful... If you need to be told not to walk of the edge of this towering 5 story temple...well, maybe they figure it's all best governed by Darwin's laws!?
