No, it’s not “the tomb raided by Angelina Jolie”, it’s actually a city of temples build by the ancient kings of Khmer, and one of the most mystical and beautiful places I’ve ever laid eyes on.
We arrived in Siem Reap in the wee hours of the morning, after an eight hour bus ride through narrow and windy roads. We found two tuk-tuks to take us to our hotel, and then made appointments to have them pick us up the next morning for a tour of the temples.
When people say they are going to Angkor Wat, they probably mean they are going to Angkor Archaeological Park, the network of ancient remains that sprawl across lakes and forests in Northern Cambodia for about 400 square kilometers. You can get passes for 1 day, 3 days or 7 days, which includes entrance to not only Angkor Wat, but also all the other temples in the area. We opted for the one day pass, which turned out to be a great idea, since we were so tired by the end of the day we didn’t even bother to go into some of the temples. Although I can imagine that on a less hot day (not sure if that exists in Cambodia), some meditation or solitude in one of the smaller temples would be a very different and nice experience.
The main temple Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II as a state temple and mausoleum. Initially dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the temple was shaped to represent Mount Meru, the mythical center of all physical and spiritual universes and the home of Brahma and other gods. The name Angkor means city, while Wat is Khmer for temple.
The temple is constructed mostly from sandstone, on which bas-relief panes depicting stories from the Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata adorn three rectangular galleries surrounding the central tower.
There are several motifs that are common through all the temples. The most of famous may be Apsara, the celestial nymphs who dance in flight to represent female beauty.
Another common motif is the Naga, the serpent with multiple heads guarding the entrances to many of the temples. In a Cambodian legend, the nāga were a reptilian race of beings who possessed a large empire or kingdom in the Pacific Ocean region. The Nāga King’s daughter married an Indian Brahmana named Kaundinya, and from their union sprang the Cambodian people. Therefore still Cambodians say that they are “Born from the Nāga”. (Excerpt from Wikipedia) FYI, you are definitely NOT supposed to climb up to the serpent to take a picture 😛
The temple ground is huge, and there are official guides that can be hired at the entrance to take you through. Unfortunately we got a guide whose accent was so thick that we eventually ended up making it a game to see who can decipher his words first. If I ever go again, I would take a guide book that explains the history and motifs rather than the official guide (although he did prove to be quite a nice group photographer).
I think we may have gotten a little carried away with the boy band theme…
Another travel tip is that if you are a girl, bring a shirt that covers your shoulders and a long skirt. Other wise you’ll end up scrambling to buy some cheap clothes there that you’ll never wear again. The only place you have to wear it is the top level (the temple itself has three levels), so I wouldn’t suggest wearing it the whole day considering the heat. Like my new outfit?
This is the view from the penthouse.
There are a lot of intricate details in the temple construction that can be overlooked due to its overwhelming grandeur. I personally love the columns.
Each relief can be slightly different than the one before. This is an outline of an Apsara relief in one of the galleries. When King Suryavarman II died, much of Angkor Wat was left unfinished.
There weren’t too many statues in the temple, and most of the ones remained were losing limbs or worse, heads. Somehow that added even more mystique to the atmosphere.
After ousting the Chams who sacked Angkor Wat in 1177, King Jayavarman VII restoring Khmer reign of the region, and decided to build another capital, Angkor Thom, or Great City, next to Angkor Wat.
Unlike most kings before him, King Jayavarman VII was Buddhist (supposedly his wife’s influence!). He not only built his state temple to worship Buddha, but also changed the older temples at Angkor Wat to Buddhist use.
At the center of Angkor Thom is the Bayon temple, known for its magnificent face towers, where the benevolent smiles of Lokesvara, the lord who gazes down at the world, befalls his visitors wherever they turn.
Unlike the perfectly laid out Angkor Wat with its straight lined galleries, walking through the Bayon temple was like navigating a maze, with crevices and narrow passages that are just waiting to be explored.
Yes, we really did all squeeze through these walls.
And its beautiful windows are just the right photo frames!
We wandered here for ages, posing left and right, before heading to our next destination – lunch. The master negotiator Dan managed to get us $1 off each dish, and we enjoyed a comfy lunch while watching these little guys eat stolen pineapples.
After lunch, we headed towards the Tomb Raider Temple, or Ta Prohm, as the world called it before Lara Croft came along. Also built by King Jayavarman VII, this temple was dedicated to his father, and for years was left in the condition it was found in — an ancient ruin in harmony with its jungle settings.
That is, until the Archaeological Survey of India did some work on it in 2010 and restore it to its present glory.
The giant trees that tower over the temple and forced their roots through the stones are silk-cotton trees. Their dominating presence is awe inspiring, and quite a reminder of how powerful nature can be.
Although there were hundreds of tourists roaming around, the place can be quite eerie if you find a quiet corner, where we found the perfect opportunity for a zombie pic.
That was the last great temple on our list, and we spent the rest of the day going to a few smaller temples and having lots of fun swinging through the jungle (ok not really) and taking silly photos (like we didn’t have enough already).
If only statues could speak. Walking through ruins of a glorious time gone by, it makes you wonder what stories may have taken place here, stories that are now forever buried deep in the jungle of vines and stones. It’s a place where you can let your imagination run wild and indulge your sense of adventure.
Not to mention the perfect place for a photo shoot 😛
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