Khmer Temples, Cambodia 2013
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Entrance to Angkor Wat
First View of Angkor Wat

We arrived in Siem Reap, the town closest to the Temples, in the afternoon. We thought the best way to deal with our jetlag was to do something, so we hired a tuk-tuk (a motorcycle rickshaw) driver and headed 4 miles north of Siem Reap to get our first glimpse of Angkor Wat. It's the largest of the temples: it covers 500 acres and is surrounded by a 600-foot wide moat. Built in the early 12th century, it took 30 years to construct.


WSunrise at Angkor Wat
Sunrise at Angkor Wat

We returned to Angkor Wat a couple days later, this time arriving before dawn so we could watch the sunrise. Angkor Wat is an expression of Khmer art at its highest point of development and this view of the five towers reflecting in the lotus pond at dawn was truly magical. It's difficult to get a sense of the scale from the outside but it's massive: the towers reach a height of 213 feet!


Crowd Gathered for Sunrise, Angkor Wat
Crowd Gathered for Sunrise, Angkor Wat

Just so you don't think that part of the magic must have been that we had the whole place to ourselves while we watched the sunrise, here's a shot looking back to the place from where I took the previous photo. Don't miss seeing the beautiful lotus flowers growing in the pond!


Detailed Carvings, Angkor Wat
Detailed Carvings, Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is a disorienting series of elevated towers, covered galleries, chambers, porches and courtyards all covered in exquisite carvings. Stone balusters were turned like wood and further carved - no detail was left undone!


Female Divinities, Angkor Wat
Female Divinities, Angkor Wat

Each level had beautiful relief carvings of the female divinities and Apsaras, the celestial nymphs born from the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, one of the most famous episodes in the ancient Hindu texts.


Sanskrit Inscription, Angkor Wat
Sanskrit Inscription, Angkor Wat

There is very little documentation about the temples and this is one of the rare Khmer or Sanskit (I can't tell which it is) inscriptions found at Angkor Wat that helped researchers determine when it was constructed.


Bayon, Angkor Thom
Bayon, Angkor Thom

Our second day was spent touring the ancient city of Angkor Thom, 1 mile north of Angkor Wat and built 100 years later. The Temple of the Bayon is in the exact center of the city and Buddhism was the religion at this time. Over 200 large faces are carved on 54 towers. There is much debate over what the faces represent: some think they are the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, others think they are images of King Jayarvarman VII and signify the omnipresence of the king. Whatever they are, they were visually captivating and everywhere!


Narrative Carving, Bayon, Angkor Thom
Narrative Carving, Bayon, Angkor Thom

The hundreds of feet of outer galleries surrounding the inner temple are covered in bas reliefs. The scenes are unique in the Angkor region as they depict events from daily life at the time. Shown here is the naval battle of 1177 between the Khmers and the Chams (from nearby southern Vietnam). Bodies are shown thrown overboard, sometimes eaten by crocodiles (you can see a crocodile above, waiting to eat some unfortunate warrior).


Steep stairs - Be careful
Be careful

The temples of Angkor are pyramid temples, symbolizing the mythical Mt. Meru, a sacred mountain in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology considered to be the center of the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. Reaching the top is a metaphor for reaching Nirvana and the steps are very steep to remind people how difficult it is to reach enlightenment. We often climbed at a 70 degree angle on narrow deteriorating stone steps. The Cambodians have constructed wooden staircases with handrails at some of the more popular temples like the one shown here.


Ta Prohm (aka the Jungle Temple)
Ta Prohm (aka the Jungle Temple)

Largely left untouched by archeologists, the natural state of Ta Prohm allowed us to experience the temple much in the way the early explorers must have. The temple is held in a stranglehold of trees, their giant roots weaving their way throughout, reminding us of the power of nature to reclaim her land. And for anyone who saw the movie Tomb Raider (not me!), yep, this was one of the temples where Angela Jolie was filmed.


Beng Mealea
Beng Mealea

We took a whole day to travel 50 miles from Siem Reap to see this remote temple. Built earlier than Angkor Wat (late 11th to early 12th century), it covers 267 acres. Beng Mealea is in even more poor condition than Ta Prohm due to the forces of nature, lack of maintenance and vandalism but that's also its charm. Wooden ramps and stairs allow you to explore most of it. Adding to the adventure of visiting this site was the fact that although international de-mining activities have removed many of the land mines planted in Cambodia during the warfare that raged from 1970 to 1998, some still remain and straying off of established paths in remote sites like Beng Mealea is strongly discouraged.


Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei

We spent the better portion of another day going to another remote site, Banteay Srei. Also known as "Citadel of the Women", it is one of the smallest temples and was built in the second half of the 10th century. The temple was built from a hard pink sandstone that enabled the technique of sandalwood carving, and it's remarkably well preserved. This Hindu temple was not built in the pyramid style but rather is a series of shrines dedicated to Shiva. Every surface is covered with decorative designs of foliage, animals and divinities.


Ta Som
Ta Som

Ta Som was built at the end of the 12th century by the same king who built Angkor Thom and the Bayon. Located in a more remote site, the natural setting and semi-ruinous state made it an adventure to explore. It was my mom's idea to take a trip to Vietnam and Angkor Wat and what a great idea it was! She was an easy travel companion and kept up with us every step of the way - up and down hundreds of feet of hard to climb stone staircases in 90 degree heat. As Rob aptly told her: "you've set a really high bar for Linda when she's 78 years old!" Here I am with my mom, under a large ficus tree whose roots have engulfed (and damaged) the east entrance of Ta Som.


Map of Temples in Cambodia
Temples of Angkor Map

For those of you who enjoy maps, here's one of the temples of Angkor within 6 miles of Siem Reap (Beng Mealea and Banteay Srei are not on this map as they are further out.) To get a sense of the dense jungle coverage and to explore even further, click here in google maps.