World Trip

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Angkor (Is Awesome):Part II

After Bauphon, we pedaled ourselves a little off the beaten path. This was done quite literally, as we took a dirt path that seemed more or less abandoned to reach the eastern side of Angkor Thom.

The eastern gate of Angkor Thom.
On top of the gate.

After spending some time gawking at the massive stone gate, we continued on to see Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is most famous for the large trees that have grown into and around the walls of the temple. Because of this, Ta Prohm has a higher rating on the IJ/TR (Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider) scale than some of the other sites. Of course, there are still has a lot of tourists wandering around. Don’t let the unpopulated photos fool you…

The path to the temple. Technically the eastern side is the entrance but everyone comes from the west.
At the ‘front’ of the temple.
Ta Prohm is famous for its trees growing in/through/around the stone.

More massive piles of jumbled stones.
This is the tree that is on all the postcards and the one everybody poses in front of. I had to wait patiently to get a shot without people.

A relatively complete corridor.

After Ta Phrom was Preah Khan, just north of Angkor Thom. While Ta Phrom has seen some minimal restoration and preservation, Preah Khan is still largely untouched, giving it an even higher IJ/TR rating than Ta Prohm. Some of the jungle has been cut back but the site is mostly a jumble of stones with massive trees curving out of the walls. It felt the least explored of all the sites we visited.

Finally, on the last day, we visited Angkor Wat. We were following the advice of a few people online in saving Angkor Wat for last. Its majesty is so complete, it is said, that seeing it first spoils all the other sites in the Park. I don’t think this is true at all. Angkor Wat is incredible but each temple has its own charm. Seeing one does not take away from any of the others. In fact, we returned to the Bayon for a second time after seeing Angkor Wat just because we enjoyed it so much. Anyway, here’s our Angkor Wat pics.

The bridge to the entrance.
Closer view of the entrance.
Corridor in the external wall. Some cool statues in it.
Just inside the wall, looking southeast-ish.
One of two smaller buildings in the front lawn, called the libraries. This is on the northern side of the main causeway.
Inside the library.
Like other major structures in the region Angkor Wat has carvings depicting important Hindu stories. In this case, they are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Closer view of the carvings. They are very subtle and very detailed.
Carvings on the columns along the corridor.
Carving detail.
This was taken seconds before this monkey charged Marisa, jumped on her bag, and stole her chips. I’m proud to say my first reaction was not to take a picture but to chase him away (not that he paid any attention to me at all).
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The temple at the top of the temple.
View towards the entrance from the uppermost terrace.
Some Buddhas hanging out at the top.
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The line to get back down.
The interior of the front courtyards.
Baths in the front courtyard.

One thing to remember when looking at pictures of these temples is that the huge empty spaces around them were once filled with the structures where people actually lived. Stone was reserved for building the homes of the gods, while people (including the royalty, I think) lived in wooden structures that didn’t survive the passage of time. These were serious cities, too: it’s estimated that Angkor Thom supported about one hundred thousand people at the apex of its population.

To top off the post, here’s a video of us riding past Angkor Wat on our way out of the Park on the last day. There’s some excitement at about 1:30 where I almost take a lady out. Rest assured, everyone was okay.

brian

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