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Published: February 10th 2007
Make sure to read our previous journal Part 1 first! The email alert was on the fritz and you weren't notified when we posted it. But trust us, Part 1 is well worth a read! Day Three at Angkor
For our third day we started bright and early again and joined hundreds of other visitors for sunrise at Angkor Wat. Most people hung out around the perimeter for a photo from afar, but Jarrod and I ventured inside the temple before we would be bumping shoulders with the tour groups. Angkor Wat is by far the biggest of all the temples and is in good shape because it was never abandoned like most surrounding temples. With the soft morning sun shining on the main temple we enjoyed wandering around while monks and nuns dusted Buddha statues, lit incense and laid offerings of flowers and food at his feet.
After the main attraction we headed 16km out of town to Banteay Srei. Banteay Srei didn’t have the grandeur size of Angkor Wat, but it had the most intricately detailed carvings of all the temples we’d seen. It is an older temple dating to 967AD and beautifully preserved. Most temples you
can climb around and peak in hidden corners, but Bantreay Srei had a roped off path and signs indicating “no touching.” With just a small path to follow and hoards of tour busses, we stayed just long enough to marvel at the detail and complexity of the carvings.
From there we headed to Ta Som and Preah Khan, both overgrown by trees, and encountered more faces like in Bayon (Part 1) on the entrance gates. Preah Khan was another one of our favorite temples as the jungle had taken over areas with trees looming over walls or growing through openings towards the sky. There are mazes of covered corridors with carvings of deities each with a different pose and hairstyle. Preah Khan was an excellent temple to end our tour of the ruins in awe of what was built so many years ago.
Most of the temples at Angkor are dedicated to Hindu gods, mainly Vishnu and Shiva. In ancient days Indian traders would go east to SE Asia with the monsoon winds and stay for six months until the winds changed direction to bring them back home to India. With their extended stays, architecture design, dance style
and parts of the Hindu religion took hold and such temples are often dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva.
“Go to Angkor my friend, to the ruins, to the dreams.”
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owen
non-member comment
Ankor wat
I have always wanted to go there. I hope it was as amazing as it looks.