Angkor Wat and Temples

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Feeling much worse for wear I woke to get dressed for our tour. We are doing a temple tour today which includes the incredible Angkor Wat and the temple that was used for the filing of Tomb Raider.

Angkor Wat is a Hindu, then subsequently Buddhist temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide. Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and devatas.

The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203 acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace.

We also visited several other temples, all spectacular in their own right and got some really good photos. When discovered, Angkor was covered in jungle, had tigers roaming around inside it, poisonous snakes and birds and was around 3 foot deep in bird excrement. The French did a great job of restoring it to the state it is in today. During lunch Louise turned and jumped off the wall as a monkey had appeared behind her. It stole our lunch and I made a move to get it back but it's opened it mouth wide and bared its teeth so I retreated quickly. It then proceeded to eat our fruit, crisps, trying a bit of each before dis guarding it for something else.

The other temples we visited were either restored or similar to the states they were found in and covered in trees which was interesting as it allowed you to appreciate how difficult it is to restore them.

By the end of the day we had walked a lot of distance, done a lot of climbing and sweated a lot. We went back to the hostel and had a brief rest. Louise and I went our for an Indian meal and then got an early night.

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