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If I am being completely honest, if it were not for the existence of Angkor, I would not be in South East Asia, with the exception of Burma. Although it is not a good thing, I have never really had an interest in visiting this part of the world, but Angkor is one of those places that I had heard everybody rave about and I have been drawn here for years. I have been very pleasantly surprised by Vietnam and Cambodia and so without Angkor, at the end of my trip I will still be glad that I came and visited this part of Asia. But even so, there I came here with a whole lot of expectations and I could only hope that it would live up to them.

As a bit of background for those who don't know, Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer empire, that ruled the major part of Cambodia, Laos, southern Vietnam and parts of Thailand between the 9th and 12th centuries. Over this period, the Khmer kings built a massive city and went on a temple building binge like the Pharaohs of Egypt. Late in the period he city itself was enclosed by walls, three kilometers long on each side and a good ten meters high. Outside the walls a moat, thirty or so meters wide was dug, creating a huge defensive obstacle for any invaders. Inside the walls rose temples and palaces, supported by the over one million people that lived here. Just outside the walls are the dozens of temples that the earlier kings had thrown up. In the intervening years, through invasions by both humans and nature, most of the temples crumbled, only to be restored over the last fifty years or so.

We arrived in the town of Siem Reap late in the afternoon from Tonle Sap Lake and so we headed down to the very nice central part of town for dinner. The main tourist area is located between the Old Market and Night Market, with the accurately named Pub Street being reminiscent of Khao San Road in Bangkok. I actually prefer Pub Street to Khao San, as it really is just lined with bars and restaurants, rather than t-shirt sellers. In a sign of the times, the cheaper places were absolutely heaving with diners and drinkers, while the more upscale places, and there are plenty, were almost empty. Since an early rise was planned for the next morning we called it a day early and I took a long time to get to sleep, in anticipation of the next day.

In a slight change of style for this blog I will just list out each of the temples I visited and give thoughts and impressions. They are listed in the chronological order in which I visited them.

Baksei Chamkrong
Several people in the group wanted to ride elephants into the walled city and so while they did that I headed off to this nearby temple. Built in a pyramid shape, it was glowing a wonderful golden colour in the morning light. It is well worth climbing the steeps stairs to the top for the intricate lintel and still legible Sanskrit writing on the doors.

Bayan
Built inside the walls of the city, and one of the last to be erected, the Buddhist temple of Bayan is absolutely amazing and I knew that even though this was the first temple I visited in Angkor, this temple alone made the trip worthwhile. We arrived here at about 9am, which was a bit late as far as I was concerned, the place was already overrun with tour groups and the good light for photography was already gone. That didn't stop me from taking a bunch of photos, including a 30 photo set of an entire wall of friezes showing the king going to war. Stitched together in Photoshop it looks amazing. While the highly restored panels on the south and east sides were mobbed, the north and west sides were almost abandoned and so I really enjoyed having this area to myself for a while. The most distinctive part of the temple are the towers, each of which have four huge faces of the king carved into them, each representing one if his aspects (like compassion, wisdom etc). While I found them very hard to photograph, it was fun to try to find various silhouettes and angles to use to make an interesting composition. You can climb right up to the upper platform here and get eye to eye with many of the crumbling faces. Though this place si amazing during the day, it is even better in the morning. On out third and last morning here three of us took a tuk-tuk in from town to watch the sunrise. Where Angkor Wat (see below) is surrounded, with good reason, by tourists watching the sunrise, here there were just the three of us and three others. There are not many times that you can walk around a world class ruin by the light of the full moon and have the place to yourself. It is big enough that we could each sit in an alcove by ourselves, sit silently and watch and listen as the sun illuminated the sky and the jungle awoke. If you have two mornings in Siem Reap, this should be where you spend the second. Just note that the gates to the walled city open at 5.30am, so no need to get here before then. Also, the first tour group showed up at 7.22am so that is how long you have the relative solitude.

Baphuon
A short walk through the jungle (which is just really underneath the tall trees, as all the scrub as been removed from the tourist areas) is Baphuon. There is not a whole lot to see here as the entire place is under scaffolding for reconstruction. Reconstruction started here back in the 1960s, at which point many of the stones were numbered and removed, to allow for repairs to the foundations to be made. Then thirty odd years of war came and the numbers wore off and the plans of how to put the jigsaw back together were lost. D'oh. So now the original stones lie around in piles everywhere and new stone blocks are being used in the rebuilding.

Phimeanakas
The claim to fame of this place is that it was where the king came to worship every day and and it is the tallest place in Angkor that you can climb. Not that you can see much as many of the surrounding trees are taller. You can see down to where the king's four hundred concubines swam in an Olympic sized swimming pool, which is why I reckon he climbed up here each evening.

The Terrace of the Leper King and The Terrace of the Elephants
Just in front of the previous two temples, these two terraces form one side of what was once a large arena. The terraces stand about eight or nine feet high and act as a long platform from which royalty used to watch sports in the large open area in front. As the name suggests, the Terrace of the Elephant King contains one long mural of elephants. Some of the elephants are being ridden by humans and in others they are tossing buffalo, deer and crocodiles up in the air with their trunks. The Terrace of the Leper King has a huge outward facing wall that is covered in very weathered faces, all of which were different. There is a small opening in the side of the platform, which is easy to miss, and inside, in much better condition, are hundreds of carvings of the king and his well endowed concubines and wives. By the time we got here it was after noon and since these walls are east facing, it was pointless taking photos. Brooke, Anthony and I came here straight from the Angkor Wat sunrise the next day and the walls were glowing golden. And we had the place to ourselves for fifteen minutes, which everyone else in town had breakfast. Grab a banana or two and eat them next to a secluded reflecting pool on the other side of the open field, by the South Kleangs.

Ta Prohm
After lunch we ventured outside the walled city for the first time, to Ta Prohm, or as it is more commonly known here, the Tomb Raider temple. It is here that the the trees grow out of temples and send huge roots down the sides of buildings. Nearly every photo that you have seen of this place is in black and white, or sepia, and with good reason, it is bloody hard to take a good picture. The light here is almost always wrong, with half the photo in bright sunlight and the other half in deep shadow. And to be fair the colors of the brown roots and gray stone are not that vibrant. Although it is a spectacular ruin (and it is a ruin, most of it has collapsed and is currently under restoration) I was a little disappointed. With the Tomb Raider name, I was expecting a couple of rooms with sweet carvings inside, but this is not the case. In fact, this is probably my biggest disappointment at Angkor, nearly all the insides of the buildings are bare stone and quite boring. While I am thinking about restoration, most of the projects here are being sponsored by one international government or another. I don't have a real problem if Australia or Germany or Canada want to pay to improve a temple in Cambodia, but India is footing the bill here and I have a big problem with that. I have first hand knowledge that there are plenty of places of cultural significance in India that could do with a few dollars (not to mention an education, healthcare or infrastructure system that need every dollar that they can get). There is a small Buddha head here that is being crushed by a root, but it is easily missed, and the one in Ayuthaya, Thailand is a thousand times better.

Preah Khan
I cannot believe that we were not watted out yet and that should tell you how truly amazing this place is. Just north of Ta Prohm is Preah Khan, which was once a home to over one thousand monks. Where the other temples are oddly shaped, this one is in a very regular shape, enabling you to see right to the other side of the temple, through dozens of archways. Though the ceilings are long since gone, many of the walls still stand and many have interesting carvings, probably some of the best in the area. Given how close together the walls are, I would guess that this was a very dark place to live and study. There is also an amazing tree growing out of a wall at one entrance to the temple. Though I couldn't get a decent shot as the sun was right in my eyes, in the morning sun this would be, I think, the best site for such a photo anywhere here, as there are no metal supporting beams to be seen and the windows are framed by the roots perfectly.

Angkor Wat
Now it is time for the big one, Angkor Wat, reputedly the largest temple in the world. It is pretty big, I will give it that. And it is surrounded by a square wall that measures 1.3km by 1.5km, with a very wide moat around that. Looking back on it, the way in which I saw the Wat was perfect and I highly recommend that if you come here that you do the same. Firstly, about a kilometer to the west of the entrance is a “hot air” balloon, which for $15 per person, will take you up about 100 meters, for ten minutes or so (make sure you do it in the afternoon, as the sun is at your back). The balloon is tied to the ground with a steel cable, which is simply unwound to let you up and then wound back down. The view is amazing and it really gives a great view of the Wat and a feeling for just how large it is. There are two other amazing things to note while you are up here. The first is that even though the massive walled city is on a kilometer or so to the north, you can make out nothing except a corner of the moat from the sky, so dense is the forest. The second is the huge, water filled West Baray. The digging of several barays (basically massive man made lakes) was what enables Angkor to become as big and important as it was. The dry season makes this land completely arid (now is the end of the dry season and everything is covered in a thin film of dust) but by being able to capture water during the wet season, they were able to water crops and people year round. Anyhoo, back on the ground the others in the group decided to head back to the hotel for a nap and a visit the next day, but I headed straight in. By this time it was nearly 4.30pm and the crowds were starting to thin out and head to the favored sunset points. Thus by five I had much of the place almost to myself (I even managed to get one photo at the back of the temple with two monks being the only people in it). After walking around the lower level and checking out the amazing friezes I sat behind the eastern gate and watched the sun set behind the Wat. Not the most amazing scene, as you have to sit too close to the building to get the full sunset effect, but still great. It also helps when Mother Nature puts on what was probably the best sunset that I have ever seen. You just had to be there. Not 10 hours later I was here again, joined by the rest of the group to watch a beautiful sunrise, reflected in one of the pools. There are hundreds of tourists here, so get in early to get a good spot. It was also the full moon and so I have photos of sunrise, sunset, the day and the full dark. Sweet. The downside of the day photo is that the entire middle of the front of the building is under reconstruction and covered in blue and green tarps. A real letdown. As is one of the better friezes, but what are you going to do? It is also possible to climb to the top of the Wat, for a great view of the surroundings and well worth it. As good as this place is, I much preferred Bayon. The Way is nice, but not in the best state of repair and in itself not one of the best Buddhist temples I have seen. The friezes are certainly on a par with Bayon (and much longer) but walking around them I felt like I was walking in a colonnade at a university or church complex in Europe or New England. Not bad, just nothing special. Maybe I am getting too hard to please in my old age.

Banteay Srey
Straight after the sunrise we drove 37km out to the small Hindu temple of Banteay Srey, or the Ladies' Temple. Although much smaller than any of the temples that we had visited so far, it has by far the best and most intricate carvings anywhere in the region. Although overrun with tourists, it was well worth the forty five minute drive each way. I especially liked some of the nagas on the corners of the buildings. There are also a couple of statue here, which is almost unique in Angkor. This lack of statues is my other great disappointment with the city. I am not sure if they are all in the new National Museum in downtown Siem Reap or have been stolen or destroyed, but either way I wish they were still here.

Pre Rup
Last but not least, the temple of Pre Rup. This is one of the earliest temple built in Angkor and the only one that we saw that was constructed in brick and mortar (in fact the rest of the temples didn't use mortar at all, just the gravity of heave stones. It is in remarkably good condition, though pretty much all the ornamentation, with the exception of some broken lions and naga statues, is long gone. The main reason to visit this temple, for it is a fair way out of the way, is that it is set amongst rice paddies and thus from the top platform affords the best view of the sunset anywhere in the area. Gareth, Becky and I had headed out, though we were sorely tempted to stay in the hotel and sleep and we were well rewarded. Apart from the sight of a group of monks walking around and sightseeing, a cloud that looked exactly like a dragon sat in front of the setting sun, making it look like a golden heart. A prefect way to end a perfect day.

One last thing of note. Between Bayon and the South Gate (the main entrance to the walled city) runs a dead straight road, which is flanked by tall trees and inhabited by monkeys. On our last morning here, after watching the sunrise at Bayon, Brooke, Anthony and I decided to walk back to the South Gate to meet our tuk-tuk driver. I was walking alone when I saw these monkeys near the road. One looked heavily pregnant, so I gave her a wide berth. When I got right to the South Gate there was another monkey, so fat that I realized that the first one I saw wasn't pregnant, it was just hugely obese and the teats were in fact moobs. The monkey at the gate was so fat it could hardly stand and was eating a donut while tourists threw more food at it, that just bounced off. Pray for Mojo. OK if you don't get that reference, Google it.

Before I go, I will leave you with one word of advice. Actually two. Firstly, if you are going to get up to watch a sunrise at 4.30am, don't have a strictly liquid dinner of eight beers and stay out until midnight. Secondly, Angkor Wat is still an active place of worship and should be treated as such. We had been asked by our guide to dress respectfully and we had all done so. The Russian girl that we saw walking in wearing, as Zoe would say, a pelmet, was one thing but what the Scandinavian girl who had decided to go with the thin, white t-shirt and no bra (and who has subsequently sweated through it, making it look as though she had come straight from a wet t-shit competition) was thinking when she got up in the morning, I have no idea.

I could easily spend another couple of days here. There are at least a half dozen very good temples that I didn't get to see. I would also love to go to the museum and see if any of the missing statues are inside. I am happy in the knowledge that I couldn't have physically seen anything more in my two and a half days here and I leave happy, knowing that Angkor was everything that it was billed to be, and more.

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