I thought the temples of Angkor Wat, outside the town of Siem Reap in Cambodia deserved their own blog entry due to their absolute beauty and the many, many photos I took.
In brief, Angkor means "holy city" but has come to refer to the capital of the Khmer Empire between the 9th -14th centuries. At the kingdom's greatest strength, Angkor was home to 1 million people ( at the same time, London England had 50,000). All that remains of this great capital are the many brick and stone temples. Many other dwellings were made of wood, but these have been lost to
time. The temples are both Hindu and Buddhist depending on the era they were constructed. Many are well preserved or reconstructed and others have been reclaimed by the forest. Fortunately, war left Angkor mostly untouched and allows for thousands of tourists to visit each year.
I had a wonderful two days exploring some of the temples. Seeing the famous Angkor Wat and Bayon temple were amazing, but I most enjoyed exploring the ruins without anyone else around! My trip has been full of peaceful moments, I'm glad I was able to find more in Cambodia.
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| Bayon Temple - 37 towers with faces in 4 cardinal directions |
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| Bayon Temple |
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| Baphuon Temple - only recently opened to the public. Restoration was halted during the Khmer Rouge period and all documents lost. They had a hectare full of blocks - a giant puzzle to piece together with no instructions |
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| Elephant Terrace |
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| I love taking pics through windows! |
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| Sandstone sculpture on the Terrace of Lepers |
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| Thommanom Temple |
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| Another view from Thommanom |
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| Climbing the stairs at Ta Keo |
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| Gorgeous Forest Temple - Ta Prohm |
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| Loved the forest reclaiming the temples! |
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| Ta Prohm - made famous in Tomb Raider |
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| Me at Angkor Wat! |
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| Angkor Wat - the national symbol of Cambodia. View seeing all 5 towers! |
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| Wandering the temples - many monks there! |
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| My driver Nit - making our way to the next temple |
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| Looking at the storm rolling in from Angkor Wat |
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| Stunning Banteay Srey temple - red sandstone and immaculate carvings! |
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| Lost my patience several times with the chinese tour bus tourists. Do you really need 7 ridiculous poses? and then the next person does the same thing! |
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| Ta Som in the rain! |
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| Hiding the from rain at Ta Som |
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| Ta Prohm - loved all the green moss |
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| Ta Prohm |
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| May have stalked these monks. I just loved the orange with the stone |
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| Went back to Angkor Wat for some shots in the sunlight |
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| Beautiful Angkor Wat! |
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One of my fav temples - Preah Khan. Another forest temple. It was a massive complex that you could just get lost in. I found myself walking through quiet corridors, coming upon beautiful views! It may have been raining, but low season is peaceful!
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Glad to see you made it to Cambodia as well!! Have really enjoyed reading about you SE Asia adventures. Can't wait for the Aussie updates!! PS I REALLY hope after all those tourists that you took an obnoxious pose or two as well hahah
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