OMG! It's Really Angkor Wat! And Angkor Thom and the Tree Temple (Ta Prohm)

 Wednesday, March 12, 2025

We're really going to the magical place that brought us here! Starting off with the high point means that if we don't see anything else marvelous it won't matter.  I get up early enough to do my yoga and get ready before Ginger wakes up.  She's such a quick dresser that we are easily downstairs for breakfast in plenty of time to check out the buffet and the egg station, make our choices, and head back up stairs for one last bathroom break before meeting our new guide, Mr Soy (I cant remember his first name, but it has a double hh in it!  And it means "half basket" which is what they use to catch fish!)  and it isn't pronounced like the sauce, but rather like "Sooee".  He's about 38, according to yesterday's fearless leader Chin, quite charming and funny and oh my goodness knowledgeable!!

omelets, scrambled, sunny side??

We have to get our tickets.

Moats surround most of the temples for protection.

Although the king has little power, he does have some 
influence over the military.

It's a short drive to Angkor Wat (Angkor means city) and he fills the time with so much more information. He tells us that 85% of the population is farmers and that the government of Siem Reap has passed regulations to maintain the culture of the city for tourism.  No building can be more than three or four stories tall and there is no manufacturing allowed inside the city. We learn that the several of the dances we saw last night are to be performed for the king and that dance is taught in the schools as directed by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. There are twenty-eight ministries.

Cambodia history is so complex!  I don't think I'll ever get most of it, but the mosst current thing to know is that forty years ago it was Communist, before becoming a constitutional monarchy.  There is a prime minister as well as a king, but the apparent democracy is deceiving because the past prime minister made his son the new P.M. and the old one because the president of the senate.

Many couples have their wedding photos shot here.  He's the groom.

And the bride

We have to stop and get our tickets for the three temples and Ginger and I have to go with Soy because our pictures will be on them! Then we go straight to Angkor Wat, which is actually a huge Hindu-Buddhist complex and is the largest religious monument in the world.  It covers about four hundred acres and was originally Hindu, as was the country when it was built in the 12th century. It is located within the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor and was converted toa Buddhist temple, although it is still the spititual home of the Hindu goddess, Vishnu, she of the eight arms.

There is a one kilometer causeway that leads to the entrance and it is already nearly ninety degrees as we begin our exploration.  It's about 8:30 in the morning and we're glad we didn't wait any longer to begin.  I think I'll let the photos do much of the talking now!

Seven is an important number and is also Soy's birthday!

                                                           

The numbers on the stones of the causeway are from the reconstruction.

This is still an active temple.  People come for holidays and special occasions.

Ginger pointed out that the Mayans use this same form of arch.

Celestial dancers are a common theme.

Vishnu lives here.

The palm trees are gendered and only the females bear the coconuts.

We are only at the entrance!  The long causeway lies ahead!

The obligatory reflection shot

Another wedding couple

Yes, Cambodia has monkeys and elephants and water buffalo.

There are bas reliefs all along the outer walls.  This long series depicts the war between the king and the demon god.  He had stolen the king's beautiful wife as she was asking the king to keep a golden deer as a pet.  The king asked the monkey for help in the war and they eventually defeated the demon god.  But the king was jealous and feared that his wife had been unfaithful so he demanded that she walk through fire!  She had the help of the gods, however, and emerged unscathed, much to everyone's relief!

They used chariots in the war, drawn by horses or water buffalo.

This courtyard is part of the drainage system, flooding during the rainy, or
green season,  April to October.  That's when all the planting and harvesting
occurs.  Fruit must be picked before the heaviest rains because the
added moisture changes the flavor of the fruit.

This column is unusual for having actual writing.

The complex is cruciform and built on three levels.

One view from the third level.

Ducky! Good excuse to stop for a breather!

Yes, it's as high as it looks.  And like the Tampa Theatre, there isn't an elevator!

I've spent most of my life following Ginger up things we have no business climbing!!

Last view

It's about noon when we stop for lunch at Ptes Borann Restaurant for lunch.  It's less than five minutes from the complex.  Did I mention that it's now about 95 degrees? We are having the Khmer Set Menu to share, with spring rolls, fish soup, Pork Caramel, chicken breast with red curry sauce, jasmine steamed rice and a seasonal fruit plate! It's all delicious (not at all spicy) but there is so much of it!  And we ordered fruit shakes as our beverages, one watermelon and one mixed fruit. Between the heat and the exhaustion and the quantities, we do not do justice to the meal and feel pretty guilty about that.  i suppose we could have asked for doggy bags, but that was unseemly and besides, it will be hours before we see our hotel!

Spring rolls

Delicious mixed-fruit shake

So good!  But too much for exhausted, overheated people!

Next stop, the "Tree Temple. It's less than ten minutes away and as we get close it is easy to see why tourists don't use it's real name, Ta Prohm.  It is a much smaller temple and was abandoned for four hundred years, during which Mother Nature moved in and took over. It is recongizable to many as one of the locations in "Lara Croft, Tomb Raider" with Angelina Jolie! Many of the great temples were built by Jayavarman VII  just before the decline of the Khmer empire in the fifteenth century.  He dedicated this temple to his mother.  It believed that there were 10,000 inhabitants here;  but they disappeared and the trees took over.

This was one of several libraries on the grounds.

!!!!

They had to prop up the roots when they removed the stones on which
they rested in order to use them in the reconstruction.  Most sites are worked
on by other countries' archeological teams.

The world's largest jigsaw puzzle!

The signage at all the sites is excellent, even suggesting possible
side trips "visit possible" if you aren't already beat!

My Lara Croft impersonation!

Id forgotten this cool pano trick until Soy used it!

Guardian lion and our own guardian!

All the members of this quartet have been injured by land mines.
They choose to work instead of taking charity.

Time for a break!!  Soy brings us to a little outdoor spot for coconut water and shade.  It's really hard to get out of our air-conditioned chariot!  We have been constantly supplied with ice-cold bottles of water and each time we return to the car there are cold, lemon-scented cloths to wipe away the sweat.  But still, we haven't needed a bathroom once!  The coconuts are hacked open right there and the sweet water really hits the spot; but Ginger is still fading.  Can't say that I blame her!

There's another very short drive to Angkor Thom.  The Bayon temple with fifty-towers, each having the face of the Buddha on all four sides is in the center of the city.  It was the last capital city of the Khmer Empire.  The capital was moved several times prior to this.  The causeway approaching it is lined with demons on one side and soldiers on the other. The temple is named for the Banyan trees.

When Soy was a kid they used the fallen petals to erase the chalkboard!
Now, of course, the have white boards and markers.  He told us that they
have a 97% graduation rate from high school, as stated by UNESCO!

Spirit house

As with all the temples, the outer wall is covered with bas reliefs, but here
they tell the stories of every day life in addition to myths and history.
And these are so beautifully preserved!

See the alligator?

Found a flutterby on a column.

See the two faces, one in profile on the left.

Who's been rode hard and put up wet?

Soldiers guarding the causeway

The Victory Arch

Demons on the other side

Okay, we're toast.  Time for the quick ride back to our home-away-from-home, the Angkor Holiday Hotel. Quick hugs and we retreat to our room to contemplate the evening.  It turns out that showers and a quick nap before dinner sounds good.  Well, actually, the quick nap lasts until around midnight and dinner never became a priority! As did the Ibuprofen! We're both up and doing computer stuff and maybe we'll get another nap before the new day really begins!