Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat

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Monday July 9

Today begins our tour of the Angkor Complex. We met our guide, Phat, and driver at the hotel at 8:30 AM. The overall park area is huge and contains many temple areas. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the history of the Khmer Empire. The earliest temple was started about 790AD and the last built in 1327AD. The Khmer Empire then faded out. At one point the Khmer ruled the area of what is now Cambodia,parts of Thailand (Siam), Laos, and VietNam.

The first stop was Angkor Thom. This complex was built in the late 12th century and was one of the largest Khmer cities, covering 9 sq. km., and had a population of one million. It was surrounded by a wall and moat. We entered through the South Gate and proceeded to Bayon, which is the main temple. It is huge - it took our guide about 1 hour to walk us through and hit the highlights. We also visited the site of the main royal palace, Elephant Terrace, and Leper-King Terrace. The wooden structures of the palace, and others, were gone a long time ago - all that remains is the stone. Phat told us that Bayon and some other structures were covered with gold leaf or gold paint. That must have been amazing. This all took about 2.5 hours, so we were taken back to the hotel. It was sunny and incredibly hot - very little shade at the temples.

We cooled off a bit in the room and then headed to the old market for lunch. Thy, the tuk-tuk driver that hangs by the hotel picked us up. We wanted Khmer style food and at his suggestion we went to a little place on restaurant street called … Khmer Kitchen. All the restaurants are café style that open to the side walk - very charming but still hot. The wait staff always pointed fans at the westerners to cool us off.

We resumed our temple tour at 3:00 PM with Angkor Wat. Whatever you have heard, read, or seen is an understatement - it is positively stunning! It is huge - the largest religious structure in the world, and considered to be one of the architectural masterpieces of all time - dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It consists of a moat around all four sides, an exterior wall, and three interior levels. It is in remarkably good condition, as it was one of the last temples built in the early 12th century. The bas relief carvings on the gallery walls are amazing in detail and quality. They continue around all 4 sides of the first level gallery, over 600 meters in length and 2 meters high - they are a running story of Hindu mythology. The incredible part of “touring” the temples is you do not just look - you climb, walk, and crawl all over them! Phat was excellent in leading us through a route that hit all the high points, pointed out great camera angles, and kept us away from the large crowds. Whenever possible, he kept us in the shade - it was bright sun and very hot & humid. The sweat just poured off us!

We went back to the hotel about 5:00 PM to clean-up and rest for a while. We headed over to the restaurant area of the Old Market about 8:00 PM and had dinner at the Amok Café, a place we had seen the night before. Amok is a Khmer style of stew, that is eaten over rice - it was great. Food in Cambodia is a real bargain - appetizer, dinner and drinks for the two of us about $12.00.

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Comments

[Ian]

Ha!
Nice hat, Mom!!!