Angkor Wat
Simply an amazing place. Angkor Wat is said to be the largest religious structure in the world. Built out of sandstone from 1113- 1140, Angkor Wat was a devotion to the Hindu deity Vishnu and is oriented in a westward direction and is surrounded by a moat 190m wide.
Around the outside of the central complex is a series of Bas relief’s which are to be followed in a counter clockwise manner. These are really quite amazing as they give descriptions of epic events, for example Vishnu Conquers the Demons.
Angkor Wat is just one of the many temples at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are perhaps hundreds more, some of which still are likely hidden in the surrounding jungle. Angkor Thom is the next central temple and has many of the “famous” temples you may have seen photographs of (Bayon, Elephant Terrace and Terrace of the Leper King to name a few). Many more temples are in this general area, but you may also travel 20km or more to visit other sights. One of our favorite is Banteay Srei, about 16km NE from the main temples. Banteay Srei is considered by many as the “jewel in the crown” of Khmer art. Built in the late 10th century as a Hindu temple devoted to Shiva. This temple is of a much smaller scale in both size of site and size of the actual temple. I would say it has a very feminine feel, very delicate and intricate.
We began our exploration of Angkor in the early afternoon of our first full day in Siem Reap. We began with a small loop that included Sra Srang, Banteay Kdei, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and concluded at Bayon in Angkor Thom for sunset. We hired a tuk tuk to take us around to the various temples as the distance between them is too great and the heat is a bit exhausting. Tim was impressed by the enormity of the temples. Jeff and I were saddened by some of the changes we saw, mainly the restoration of Ta Prohm. This particular temple had been “left” to the jungle and was most famous for the large trees growing in and on the temples and walls, but now is being restored. I do see why they are doing this but also miss the primitive feel having the jungle in the temples brings.
We begin day 2 with sunrise at Angkor Wat, with many other tourists who made the journey to the site by 5:30am. We watched the sun rise over the temple and then entered through the north east entrance to show Tim some of the Bas relief’s, one of which we have framed in our dining room (he recognized it when we showed it to him) We followed around the outside complex for a short while before entering into the central temple complex. We made our way to the third story of the central tower and enjoyed a beautiful view and a fabulous view. We spent around 3 hours this morning exploring this amazing temple.
One short stop at Bayon to walk from Baphoun through the Elephant Terrace thru to the Terrace of the Leper King before we head out to Kbal Spaen and its waterfall and stone carvings. We made this plan as to be able to have a break from the heat and a swim in the pools of the waterfall but alas there was not enough water! Only enough water was coming over the falls to get our heads wet to cool off. We were able to see all the amazing stone carvings and Lingas in the river bed. Off to Banteay Srei we go. They were restoring this site on our visit 5 years ago, so now we see it completely restored and it is as beautiful as we remember. Back now to the main temple area and a visit to Preah Kahn which was used mostly for “learning” perhaps an equivalent to university. This temple is in a reasonable state of restoration as they are doing “work” on it all the time. It’s really quite nice and we could likely spend hours exploring here but time is getting short and the sun shall set soon. We quickly head back to Angkor Wat to get a last few photographs as the sun sinks into the western horizon.
We are exhausted! Oh but it is St Patrick’s Day and that calls for a visit to the local Irish pub, Molly Malones for a Guinness. As many of you know I do not drink beer, so for Tim and I it was just to celebrate the day and we were joined by (Emily and George) friends we have met along our travels.
We finished our long day of walking at the temples with a very ticklish fish foot massage. Yes you read that correctly, the fish “massage” our feet, okay they actually are nibbling at our feet, eating off the dead skin!
~Karen~
Simply an amazing place. Angkor Wat is said to be the largest religious structure in the world. Built out of sandstone from 1113- 1140, Angkor Wat was a devotion to the Hindu deity Vishnu and is oriented in a westward direction and is surrounded by a moat 190m wide.
Around the outside of the central complex is a series of Bas relief’s which are to be followed in a counter clockwise manner. These are really quite amazing as they give descriptions of epic events, for example Vishnu Conquers the Demons.
Angkor Wat is just one of the many temples at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are perhaps hundreds more, some of which still are likely hidden in the surrounding jungle. Angkor Thom is the next central temple and has many of the “famous” temples you may have seen photographs of (Bayon, Elephant Terrace and Terrace of the Leper King to name a few). Many more temples are in this general area, but you may also travel 20km or more to visit other sights. One of our favorite is Banteay Srei, about 16km NE from the main temples. Banteay Srei is considered by many as the “jewel in the crown” of Khmer art. Built in the late 10th century as a Hindu temple devoted to Shiva. This temple is of a much smaller scale in both size of site and size of the actual temple. I would say it has a very feminine feel, very delicate and intricate.
We began our exploration of Angkor in the early afternoon of our first full day in Siem Reap. We began with a small loop that included Sra Srang, Banteay Kdei, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and concluded at Bayon in Angkor Thom for sunset. We hired a tuk tuk to take us around to the various temples as the distance between them is too great and the heat is a bit exhausting. Tim was impressed by the enormity of the temples. Jeff and I were saddened by some of the changes we saw, mainly the restoration of Ta Prohm. This particular temple had been “left” to the jungle and was most famous for the large trees growing in and on the temples and walls, but now is being restored. I do see why they are doing this but also miss the primitive feel having the jungle in the temples brings.
We begin day 2 with sunrise at Angkor Wat, with many other tourists who made the journey to the site by 5:30am. We watched the sun rise over the temple and then entered through the north east entrance to show Tim some of the Bas relief’s, one of which we have framed in our dining room (he recognized it when we showed it to him) We followed around the outside complex for a short while before entering into the central temple complex. We made our way to the third story of the central tower and enjoyed a beautiful view and a fabulous view. We spent around 3 hours this morning exploring this amazing temple.
One short stop at Bayon to walk from Baphoun through the Elephant Terrace thru to the Terrace of the Leper King before we head out to Kbal Spaen and its waterfall and stone carvings. We made this plan as to be able to have a break from the heat and a swim in the pools of the waterfall but alas there was not enough water! Only enough water was coming over the falls to get our heads wet to cool off. We were able to see all the amazing stone carvings and Lingas in the river bed. Off to Banteay Srei we go. They were restoring this site on our visit 5 years ago, so now we see it completely restored and it is as beautiful as we remember. Back now to the main temple area and a visit to Preah Kahn which was used mostly for “learning” perhaps an equivalent to university. This temple is in a reasonable state of restoration as they are doing “work” on it all the time. It’s really quite nice and we could likely spend hours exploring here but time is getting short and the sun shall set soon. We quickly head back to Angkor Wat to get a last few photographs as the sun sinks into the western horizon.
We are exhausted! Oh but it is St Patrick’s Day and that calls for a visit to the local Irish pub, Molly Malones for a Guinness. As many of you know I do not drink beer, so for Tim and I it was just to celebrate the day and we were joined by (Emily and George) friends we have met along our travels.
We finished our long day of walking at the temples with a very ticklish fish foot massage. Yes you read that correctly, the fish “massage” our feet, okay they actually are nibbling at our feet, eating off the dead skin!
~Karen~
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