After spending a day lounging in the hostel and wandering around Siem Reap city, I started out early on Thursday morning with my tuk tuk driver to discover the Wonder of the World that is the Angkor Wat temple complex. At his advice, we decided to leave the actual Angkor Wat temple until last, and took off to a few of the smaller ones to begin with. I have to say, with the help of a guide book borrowed from the hostel, its not hard to be wowed by these amazing structures.
Just a fews tip for anyone who is reading this and planning to go to Angkor Wat. Bring water, nab a guide book from somewhere, or even better an actual guide. Also wear comfortable shoes (the Khmer's didnt think ahead to flip flips when building their steps), and don't wear skimpy clothes. These are temples in Asia, and respect is a big thing, so cover your shoulders and wear clothes that go below your knee. If you go in your short shorts and strap top, expect to get nasty comments from passing by locals and be refused entry to some temples.
First, a slight bit of history to just get the idea of what Angkor Wat is. The city of temples were built in the 12th century, and spanned a number of Kings before they were completed. Angkor Wat itself is built on an island surrounded by a moat, and represents the structure of the universe as they believed it to be at the time. The temples were originally Hindu, but as Buddhism grew in the country, the temples were altered to the Buddhist religion. It was captured by the jungle after it was abandoned and was reconstructed and rebuilt in the 2000s.
Now that speedy gonzales history lesson is done,onto the temples. The first stop was Bayon, which is a maze of stone columns with faces on all four sides. From the outside it looks absolutely amazing and so impressive. On this temple, as with majority of temples in the complex, there are magnificent carvings showing old Indian stories and legends. The detail on these are incredible, although can be pretty repetitive. There is a LOT of wars between armies that all look exactly the same. Still though, the sheer scale and detail of the carvings are incredible.
Next I asked the driver to take a little detour from the main road and head off the the little visited Ta Nei. The book I had recommended a visit, but I didnt realise how little visited it was. Ten minutes of rickety driving down a dirt track led us to this tiny ruined temple in the middle of the forest, and I was the only person there! It was amazing. Bar a few props on the remaining walls, the temple remained as it was found, and is clearly a part of the nature of the jungle now. There was no sound of cars or people, only birds and lizards. Amazing.
After this we were back to the crowds and what seems like millions of Asian tourists with millions of cameras. We headed off to one of the most famous temples; Ta Phrom. This temple was purposely left covered in jungle trees and in ruins to show people how the temples were found. It was made famous by the Tomb Raider series where Lara Croft fights her way through a temple overgrown with trees. It was stunning I have to say. I managed to escape the tour groups for a while as I looked around the outer area of the temple while the tours focus inside the maze of fallen walls and trees within the temple.
Finally, we headed to the world famous Angkor Wat. This place is incredible. Its fully restored and the carvings are so clear, and with a guide book its easy enough to follow them and the stories that go with them. The thought alone that such a massive structure was built with no mechanical help. It was built with the sheer physical power of thousands of workers. Its high arched roofs give it a really elegant look compared to many of the temples before it, and the sheer length of the front building creates a 'wow' from everyone who sees it. Many of the statues are still in a ruin from the Khmer sack of the temples during the 1970s, but the feel of the place is still there. I went back this morning to view the sun rise behind the temple, and it was stunning (sorry no pics of that yet. I am too lazy to leave my hammock and climb down two flights of stairs to get the camera lead).
So tonight I say goodbye to Siem Reap and take a 6.5 hour overnight bus to the capital Phnom Penh. Here I plan on seeing a good bit about the terror of the Khmer Rouge era, and also get my visa for Vietnam sorted to I can head off across another border next week.
Sawatdiikha.
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