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Published: September 14th 2013
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Angkor Wat
From the inner temple looking over the corner towers of the surrounding two galleries. The grounds, causeway and front gate in the background.
Some observations of Cambodia in general...
The landcape is largely flat with paddy fields often spanning as far as the eye can see. With roads following settlements and settlements following rivers, the Cambodia we saw was very wet with simple but pretty houses perched on stilts to avoid damp. There are wild birds here whereas their presence is sparce everywhere else we have visited and there are also wild monkeys... and probably a hundred other creatures keeping themselves well hidden. The poverty in Cambodia is like nowhere else we have seen and the sweet natured children are particularly upsetting but Cambodia is a fast developing country with the tourist dollar clearly accelerating things.
Next stop was Siem Reap, to see Angkor Wat. The town itself has been sacrificed as a tourist hub servicing the surrounding Angkor area and after travelling through some eerily quiet, dark streets on the outskirts, we were pleased to find the centre buzzing with activity. Aptly named 'Pub Street' is the true tourist core with a few other popular streets trailing from it and a neon sign posted night market in almost every direction after that. The town itself has little to offer during the
Gallery carvings - depiction of 'The Churning of the Ocean of Milk'
The most treasured carving in Angkor Wat. This theme also features at Angkor Thom in statues of God's and Demons along its walkways. day but is fun by night with plenty of places to choose from to eat, drink, dance and sing.
Disappointingly, the minimum 1 days entrance fee to Angkor, the wat 'zone' was 20$- our most expensive tourist attraction yet and icing on the cake was a ban on mopeds to the area so we were hamstrung to hire a tuk tuk for the day - another 13$. The Angkor area, heart of the Khmer Empire, is home to over 100 temples built between the 9th and 15th centuries which now exist in various levels of disrepair. We chose 3 to visit with our tuk tuk driver, who actually was very helpful delivering us to the best vantage points and making some extra stops to photograph other things on the way. 1st, Angkor wat, the largest religious monument in the world and the main attraction. Built in the 12th century, this grand building balances fine detail with bold structure and is worth the 20$ entrance fee on its own. As we approached, a ginormous gate came into view and we knew we were in for a treat. The outer wall is over 1000m by 800m with a causeway drawing you
in over the moat. Through the gate, the causeway continues for another 300m before reaching the outer galleries of temple which, in 8 sections are carved so intricately dipicting historical religious scenes and narratives. The detail is very striking and the accuracy in repeated images is beyond belief. Within the outer square is a further concentric gallery set higher than the first and building up to the inner temple. The galleries have towers at each corner and a host of symbolism amongst the carved pillars to be analysed by enthusiasts as has the inner temple itself. We had a very hairy climb up to the inner temple and it was even worse on the way down... Math had to descend on his bum since the steps were quite narrow. Sitting higher than its surrounds and intriguing visitors with its 9 hundred year Hindu to Buddhist history of tombs, hidden areas and buried treasure, the temple is full of interest and amazingly well preserved.
A short rest in the tuk tuk and our next stop was Wat Thom, set within vast grounds and again within a huge wall and moat. First stop is the bayon, a ruinous cluster of stone monuments which makes for some good scrambling about. The terrace of elephants marks the east side of the huge Phimeanakas temple where another causeway draws your eye to the layered building. Again, the very long history of this area means the layout is very complicated and with buildings built on buildings its hard to work out what is what especially since much of the original buildings would have been wooden and have weathered away. Its hard to imagine the estimated 1 million inhabitants here and how the king would address the public from the pavillion.
Really flagging now we shuffled down the thankfully shaded walkway to our final temple, Angkor Ta Phrom. This temple hasn't been restored in any way but instead has been left for the jungle to engulf it. Roots weave through the rocks and mingle into each other creating a really cool playground. Tomb Raider was filmed here and it really does look like a film set - almost as if it should be plastic.
Exhausted after walking and climbing so many steps in the heat we treated ourselves to a slap up meal. Dt'ray aing - a huge, whole grilled makerel for me and a whole 'red fish' for math plus rice and an appropriately spicey papaya salad. Cambodia's staple food seems to be fish and rice... amok dt'ray, a coconut rich fish curry was my favourite dish. A couple of beers and a walk around some of the markets and that was Cambodia done.
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