The final vacation day

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Today marks the last official day of vacation. We spent it in Cambodia and a full day it was. Rick was a little under the weather so he held off on the morning activities, and a good thing he did. This morning it was nearly 90 F with the THI heading to 105F which it hit at 2 PM.



The morning was devoted to temples. We toured 4 more temples build by the same King, which they call King #7. He built more than 11 huge temple complexes during his reign, some large and some small. The first he built for his mother. That was huge with many towers and shrines to the Buddah. He was a king that tried to mesh Hinduism with Buddhism, let's say it was a struggle; the people were OK with the blending but the Hindu priests, not so much. You see in Hinduism, the Gods, therefore the priests, own everything. In Buddhism the people own everything. The Hindu priests were not on board with giving up their privileges when the king combined the two religions. So,soon as the king was dead, the Hindu protests rebelled and cut out everything Buddah in the temples in favor of Vishnu. The people now were not happy and so came the rebellion. Basically a revolt of the people who wanted equality. Sound familiar?



In any event the temples were beautiful and similar in design and construction to Angkor Wat, only smaller. The Royal Terraces, comprising of the Terrace of the Elephants to the South and the Terrace of the Leper King to the North, form the Eastern boundary of the Royal Palace grounds.



They face the parade grounds where processions, parades and other events were held. The King would watch the events standing on the Elephant terrace, which he also used as an audience hall to listen to the complaints and problems of the citizens of Angkor.



Both terraces contain extensive sculptings of Devatas, Apsaras, mythological animals and demons. The Elephants terrace and the Leper King terrace were restored during the 1990’s and 2000’s by the EFEO.



The Terrace of the Elephants

The Elephants terrace was built by King Jayavarman VII at the end of the 12th century. The terrace stretches out over a length of more than 300 meters. The terrace is named for the sculptures in high relief of elephants and their mahouts. At several sections large elephant heads protrude out from the wall, their very long trunks forming pillars extending to the ground, similar to those of the gates of Angkor Thom.



The terrace was used as an audience hall and for public ceremonies. The King appeared daily on the Elephants terrace to listen to the complaints and problems of the citizens of his Kingdom. The parade grounds in front of the terrace were used as the scene for several festivals, games, processions and parades of the Khmer army were watched by the King from the Elephants terrace.



The Elephants terrace consists of inner and outer sections. The inner sections were built first and later became buried under the soil during construction of the outer sections. The well preserved inner walls contain numerous carvings of Apsaras, warriors and animals like multi headed horses. The Northern end of the outside walls contains carvings of sports, such as Polo games, wrestlers and chariot racing. The Central section of the terrace contains carvings of Garudas, Kinnarees and elephants engaged in a hunt, as well as depictions of the Buddha.



One temple was called the Bayon temple. The Bayon was the state temple of King Jayavarman VII, built at the end of the 12th century. It is a mountain temple built to represent Mount Meru, the center of the universe in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.



The King had the temple constructed in the center of Angkor Thom, capital city of the Khmer empire. Four roads from the four entrance gopuras of Angkor Thom lead directly to the temple.



Unlike most Khmer temples, the Bayon is not surrounded by a moat and walls with gopura entrance gates. Archaeologists believe that instead the moat and walls of Angkor Thom served as the temple’s line of defense.

The Bayon is best known for the mysterious faces on its many towers. Due to its many alterations over time, the structure is of a very complicated design and has a cluttered feel, with the many towers and other structures cramping the monument. The Bayon has three enclosures. We climbed all the way to the top for a spectacular view.



The next two temples were built very early and they were very interesting. Take Prohm was under attack from the Kapok Tree. This tree has huge roots that were growing directly into the walls and foundations of the temple comlex. The trees were very tall and the roots could be several hundred feet in length and as big as your leg. The tree obviously could do some damage to the walls and the temples showed many stages of collapse. The heritage foundation of India was tasked with restoring this ancient wonder.



Our temple tour complete, we headed back to the hotel to see if Rick was feeling better. The travelers were concerned and they wanted to see if we could get Rick out for the afternoon plans. He did feel much better and decided to join us for lunch and the afternoon activities. Lunch was served French style, meaning the food placement was beautiful to behold, but there was not much of it. Our guide told the servers if we wanted more food bring it which they did. A very satisfying meal and now we were refreshed and fortified for the afternoon.



It was still very hot but we were Don with temples. Our first stop after lunch was to Lake Tonlé Sap refers to a seasonally inundated freshwater lake, the Tonlé Sap Lake and an attached river, the 120 km (75 mi) long Tonlé Sap River, that connects the lake to the Mekong River. They form the central part of a complex hydrological system, situated in the 12,876 km2 (4,971 sq mi) Cambodian floodplain covered with a mosaic of natural and agricultural habitats that the Mekong replenishes with water and sediments annually. The central plain formation is the result of millions of years of Mekong alluvial deposition and discharge. From a geological perspective, the Tonlé Sap Lake and Tonlé Sap River are a current freeze-frame representation of the slowly, but ever shifting Lower Mekong Basin. Annual fluctuation of the Mekong's water volume, supplemented by the Asian monsoon regime causes the unique flow reversal of the Tonle Sap. The lake is said to be home to 300 species of fish, countless poisonous snakes, crocodiles, birds and of course insects. It is also the home to over 1000 locals that live directly on the lake.



We boarded our boat and took a scenic 2 hour cruise. We came upon one of several villages that dot the lake. The village is actually a cluster of boats, boat houses and buildings built directly on floating platforms. The people who live here rarely go on land except for supplies. The lake supplies all their needs and they basically live in this floating village. We stopped at one of the floating platforms for a look at crocodiles which they capture and fatten up in small pens for their hides and meat. The people are very poor. We say many naked children's playing and frolicking among the floating structures. They appeared happy and so we let them be.



After the Lake excursion we headed to the final event , an Ox cart ride. here we were paired up and climbed into the flat bottom of a cart drawn by two young Oxen. Our driver took us on a journey back in time to a simpler life. At one time this was the main mode of transportation in the area, that is unless you owned an elephant!



The ride was slow, bumpy but fun. All too soon it came to and end and we headed back to the hotel Meridian, tired, sweaty but most of all hungry. On Saturday the hotel hosts an interesting event called Food Factory. This was interesting in that you bought tickets in advance, each ticket was valued at $2 and then you walked around many tables and bought your dinner from people cooking the food right in front of you. It was a delight.



I had a salad, some pasta carbonera, a fresh hamburger slider, a skewer of teriyaki chicken with Bar B Que sauce. It was all delicious and cost a total of $6. To this feast I added $2 for beer and dined in the A/C along with Rick, Richard, George, Denise, Jean and John. Following dinner we had fresh cooked donuts and ice cream with coconut. All told, I spent $20 for both Rick and I! A perfect way to end a perfect day.



Tomorrow we are on our own for the morning. We need to depart the hotel by 2 PM for the flight back to Bangkok and preparations for home on Monday. I really enjoyed the bulk of the vacation. The Cambodian sights were the highlight for me, as I always wanted to go to Angkor Wat and now I have. I am really looking forward to coming home and seeing my wife and family again. I miss them dearly, but I do have some really cool gifts to share when I get home



Photos

1 - 2 Temple of the 4 faces

3 - 4 Kapok tree and temple

5 - 6 Lake excursion

7 - 8 Oxen Ride

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Comments

[Phil Farina]

Tonle Sap Cambodia
On our last day in Cambodia, we were taking a cruise on the largest freshwater lake ,Tonele Sap, in Cambodia. There are 1000 families living on floating homes on the lake. This photo of some children swimming in front of their floating home exemplified the happiness and freedom of these people. They may be poor, but they were unaware that they were poor, so they were happy.

[Jeanne S. Dumond]

Wrong page
Phil, went to your final day in Cambodia. Not sure what happened. Tried it twice.