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Published: December 4th 2006
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Hello Flokes. This is going to be a bit of a marathon blog becuase we did so much at Angkor and there is so much interesting history. So your probably thinking Ángkor what?'. HAving been in SE Asia for a few months it's hard to belive that anyone doesn't know what Angork Wat is. However, I have to admit that before I came here I was vaugly aware of some ruins somewhere in Cambodia that might be worth checking out but hadn't got a clue what they where.
It turns out that Angkor is a huge area that is home to propably hundereds of amazing temples and ruins most of which are 1000-1500 years old. They were built by Khmer Kings of the Angkor period. What makes them particularly interesting to me is that all temples are Hindu and Buddhist. ''Hindu in Cambodia? you think. I lie not. The Indian influence, that can still be felt today, was very strong in Cambodia a few thousand years ago. This has to trade routes and what not that meant a large number of Indians, including lots of priests, ended up in Cambodia (or Kamboja as Indians called it then).
For various
reasons Angkor was abandoned and the capital moved to Phnom Phenn. The ruins where then redscovered by french about 150 years ago. It must have been amazing crashing through the jungle and sudenly finding fairy tale ruins looming out of the trees. The french then set about clearing the jungle and putting some of the temples back together and generally restoring them.
Angkor is very expensive for foriegers (40 USD for 3 days) but free for nationals. You also have to hire a tuk tuk or some other form of transport so all in all it was way over our budget. However sitting on a beach for three days helps to save money so we did manage not to overspend too much.
On our first day we went to the famous Angkor Wat. This is probably the biggest temple in the area and is very impressive. You see what happened was each king would buils thier own temple. However, they all wantted to buils more impressive ones than the last king. Angkor Wat was the last one built hence why it is biggest and most intricatly decorated. It's hard to describe really. It's huge and has an outer
wall annd several inner walls and a huge moat. Inside the main area there are cunningly placed pools that are in just the right place to catch the relefction on the main towers. The teowers actually look a lot bigger from a distance beacuase they are on the top of about four stories. The steps up to the main sactury right at the top are very steep indeed. Going up is ok as you can't see anything but the step infront of you. However, when i reached the top and looked around the adrenaline started pumping and my heart started going and I felt dizzy and hung on to the door way...... we luckly found an easier way down.
A major featuer of Angkor Wat are the wall carvings a bas-reliefs. The carvings are mainly of heavenly nymphs and are amazingly well preserved. The bas-relifes show various hindu stroies from the ramayana and other mythology like the churning of the ocean of milk. The latter was really cool and constited of a giant tug of war using a naga (mythical many headed serpant) with all the gods on one side and all the demonds on the other. They are
all attempting to gain the elixer of life to make them imortal and are having a bit fight about it until Indra (i think it was him) said 'hey dudes, we should all like work together for the common good man'. They did and gianed imortality and made a three headed elephant along the way. Like a true geek I had to go round the whole thing, guide book in hand, feeling terribly clever when I spotted a god or and episode I recognised. Sam sat outside and waited......
It's so dam hot at Angkor we were tottaly knackered by miday so we headed off for an outlying group of temples called the Rolous group. These were lovely and quiet. There are hundereds of people at Angkor Wat all the time but we were the only people in some of these temples. They are still set right in the jungle which makes them very atmospheric.
Day two started with an argument with the tuk tuk driver which resulted in him buggering off but we then got a much better and nicer driver who charged us less. We started out with Ankor Thom which was a royal city. The
gates are great with huge faces carved above the gate way and gods and demonds holding nagas flank the raod. The first place we went was Bayon which is definatly my favourite temple of the whole lot. It is famous for the giant Buddha faces carved into the towers and above the gates. Bayon is also quite small which means you can explore it well without collapsing. Inside is a labyrinth of small passages which are really fun to explore.
After that we saw the rest of Angkor Thom and were about to leave when our driver pointed out some other ruins hidden in the trees. These were proper untouched ruins with no one else in sight. It was very exciting exploring them all by ourselves.
That day we whatched sunset from a mountin temple on top of a hill. We shared this spot with serveral hundered other tourists but it was still good. Seeing all those people staring at the sky in the orange light i hal expected ti see people holding 'welcome to earth' and 'beam me up' signs. After that we went to the guest house, which was run by a very nice family with
a baby, eat and collapsed into bed.
Day three we stated with Pear Rup which was apparently used for funerals. This one was mostly made from brick and was great to see in the early moring light as it's very grand. Then we went out to a temple 30 odd kilometers away. Bantreay Seri was a lovely little temple with amazing carvings. The stone is pink which makes it even prettier. Unfortuatly we ended up here at miday on a very hot day (34 in the shade at midday) so we ended up just sitting in the shade and admiring it. After a bumy ride back (the roads suck in cambodia) we visited some other temples including a tiny one that is set in the middle of what amount to swiming baths. The shrine is on a base of coiled serpents which i liked.
We rounded off our time at Angkor with Preh Karn which apparently featuered in a toom raider film. It was great to see this one as the sun was going down. It is still overgrown and trees have sprouted out of the walls. It is full of tumbled passages and is great for exploring
and letting ones imagination run wild. It was like walking into Narnia and finding a ruined magical palace. A great end to a great trip.
We saw lots of other temples i haven't mentioned and the great thing is that every one is different and individual and they are all interesting. It was well worth the time and effort to go.
Photos - some are here but others are coming. Batteries ran out so photos are on Sam's camera.
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anonymous
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Dearest Jennifer:-) Sorry I haven't been in touch.. It's partly because your update emails go to my hotmail address, which I invariably forget to check, and partly because I've been rather busy.. which is an odd feeling! As I think I may have mentioned I'm working in a fairtrade clothes shop, doing voluntary work training, and yoga! Anyhoo, I'm going to have a good read through your entries, and comment again soon. Hope your having the most fabulous of fabulous times. Loving you loads! Dorothy xXx