Angkor Wat continued

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So today was another Visit Angkor Wat day. (notice the absence of hilarious pun today, following numerous customer complaints yesterday).

The passes they sell are either for 1, 3 or 7 days, I took the three day one. Yesterday I cycled my way around the temples by myself, and today got a guide in order to get some more insight into what this complex is about.

Angkor Wat is not one monument, but actually a whole bunch of monuments from the Angor era, which spanned accross 4 centuries. There are around 80 temples in the Siem Reap area alone. This means there are a lot of temples to visit, though the most famous one is the one called Angor Wat and which is the one shown on all the pictures.

I really enjoyed cycling around them yesterday as you need to pick out a few and then turn up not knowing at all what to expect as they can be of various size, state of preservation, age, etc.

Angor was thus a Khmer empire, and the ruins today are just the remnants of a whole town, which contained up to 1 million people at the time (when London only had 50 000!). Only the temples remain as they were made of stone, the houses, public building etc were of more fragile material like wood and have all diseappeared.

A few notes on the biggest temples:

- Angkor Wat, the main temple, is truly astounding. It took me a while to figure what is what, (or Wat is Wat, haha) but was impressed by the sheer size and ornamentation of the whole complex. I was amused by the steep steps required to climb to the top, as they are mega steep, and all the tourists were freaking out. Wouahahah. Also there is an amazing bas-relief (wall with a whole story scultped into it) around the base of the temple, and which tells amazing tales like past battles, or depecting heaven and hell (and I can tell you, the way hell is depicted there makes me think we should all be Very Afraid of the after life if we misbehave).

- Ta Prohm: this is known as the Tomb Raider temple. First because the movie was filmed here and the ruin used as inspiration for the game. Second because nature has totally taken over the temple, with trees growing every where and projecting an eerie green shade, so that you really feel like you are in a video game trying to uncover some mysterious secret in the ruins (if you ignore the 325 tourists standing in each room with you).

- Bayon: a very spectacular temple with 54 towers with faces carved on each side.

There are many more, but I think it's better the pictures speak for themselves here..

(In case you wonder why I look so hot and sweaty on the pictures is because it was super hot!!).

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Photos

Angkor Wat - Steps
The steep Steps which freaked us all out

Sunset
Sunset from the top of the temples

Ta-Prohm
No no, you are mistaken, this is not Angelina Jolie, but me. But the ressemblance is striking, huh!!

Bayon - Faces
The kiss of the buddha

Fashion
The fashion police arrested this woman