It's Ancient History
Siem Reap, Cambodia
April 20, 2009
We are going to try to make up some ground today since I was so stupid to get sick in such an amazing place!!
We were up at 6 am. I had most of my omelet, toast, 1 piece of fruit and a croissant (they are very good here). Bill had an omelet, bacon and croissant.
It was just after 7 am when we met Mr Som and took the tuk tuk to Angkor Wat. This place is enormous and absolutely incredible. It is the busiest temple and the most restored. We went at a good time. We missed most of the sunrise crowd and beat the tour buses crowd. It was a bit
busy while we were there, but we felt like we had some space and could go at our own pace. The bas-reliefs were incredible. The book that we bought a couple of days ago, Ancient Angkor, was very good at explaining the details of the reliefs. The upper part of the temple is closed. There is scaffolding on the 2 main towers, so that was a bit disappointing.
Angkor Wat means city pagoda and is the largest religious monuments in the world. It was built during the 12th century (1113 - 1150) by King Suryavarman II. It represents the Hindu universe
with the 5 peaks of Mount Meru. It has around 600 m of bas-relief and almost 2,000 apsaras. It is surrounded by a large moat which represents the mythical oceans surrounding the earth.
To enter the temple you have to cross the moat then through a gopura that has three crumbling towers. Nearby there is a restored statue of Vishnu. Then you walked down a 350 m causeway. Along this section there are some shops set up, but it is far enough away from the causeway that no one is trying to sell anything to us.
We walked all the way around the Gallery of Bas-Relief which is amazing. Each 1/2 of a wall tells a story and the book gives some good details to look for. We had fun finding all the things that the book pointed out. The stories are: the Battle of Kurukshetra, the Procession of Suryavarman II, the Judgement of Yama - Heavens and Hells, the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, Vishnu's Victory over the Asuras, Krishna's Victory over the Asura Bana, and the Battle of Lanka. The corners of the pavilions also have carvings of battles, gods, victories, festivals, life, death,.... I really found this very fascinating.
Inside of the galleries there are cloisters, libraries, galleries and towers. The Cruciform Cloister has 4 basins (pools). We spent some time exploring in here, but had spent most of our time in the outer galleries.
Around the site we have seen some great lions, nagas, apsaras,.... We spent more time here than we had planned, but we really enjoyed exploring Angkor Wat. Next, Som took us to Preah Khan which is one of Bill's favourites. He describes it as a good place to play hide 'n seek. We were able to take some really good pictures here. Preah Khan was built in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII and was one of his largest projects. It was a temple, a city and a Buddhist university. This temple was dedicated to his father and the statue of Bodhisattva Lokesvara was made in the image of his father.
A moat had been built around Preah Khan. The walkway to the temple is lined with boundary stones with Garuda on the base. There is a terrace with lions and a naga balustrade. Near the East gopura there is a Hall of Dancers, with apsaras, which is flanked by a library and another
building. Beyond this there is a 2nd and 3rd enclosure with many buildings, towers and a central sanctuary. It really is a maze in there. There are several good Garudas, nagas and lions around this site.
After visiting the temple I broken down and bought some bracelets from a young girl, who should be in school at this time of day, 5 for $1.
Som took us to Restaurant No 9 near Neak Pean. I ordered the fish and mango salad and Bill ordered a chicken sandwich with Anchor beer. I had one bite of my salad and then lost my appetite. Oh, I was feeling better, it was just because I spotted 3 live ants in my salad. I initially picked them out and killed them and was going to eat more, but I saw 2 more. I stopped looking after that and did not eat my salad. Bill was kind enough to share his chicken with me. I did not eat the baguette because it was stale.
After our "lunch" we walked to Neak Pean which was built during the 12th century by
Jayavarman VII. This is a really unique temple which is in the shape of a cross. The temple is on an island that has 2 nagas at the base. The water in the island used to feed the four outer ponds through the mouths of statues. One is a human, one is lion, one is an horse, one is an elephant. The other interesting feature is an unfinished statue of the horse, Balaha - one of the incarnations of Bodhisattva Lokesvara, in the main pond. It was not the most interesting temple, but one of
the most unique.
On the way back to the main road I purchased a mango to eat. It was so good and so fresh and sweet. Much better than ants in my salad! We took a picture of the lady who sold me the mango
carving a pineapple.
Som took us to Ta Som next. This temple was built by King Jayavarman VII during the 12th and 13th centuries. This small temple is like Ta Prohm. It may have been called "The Jewel
of Propitious White Elephant". There is a tree growing out of the East entrance face tower. There are elephants and lions at this temple. Bill likes the elephants and I like the lions, so there is something for everyone to enjoy here! It is in more of a ruined state than some and
was fun to explore.
Our next stop was Pre Rup built in the 10th century by King Rajendravarman; it served as his state temple. Just inside the Eastern gopura there are 3 towers on either side. Through the next gopura there is a cistern, 2 libraries and long galleries. The temple is pyramid shaped and has 3 sets of stairs which are guarded by lions. From the top of the temple we can see the very
tops of Angkor Wat and East Mebon. There are statues of various Hindu gods here - Vishnu, Shiva, Lakshmi,... This temple is surrounded by cows, real ones, not Nandis.
The next temple, Banteay Kdei was built by King Jayavarman VII during the 12th and 13th centuries. We enjoyed exploring this fairly large temple. It was disappointing that it was under reconstruction though and there was scaffolding. There are some really good apsaras on the halls of dancers. You can also find some good devatas at this site. The East gopura is the best preserved face tower here.
At 2:30 we took a break and went back to the hotel for a swim. I replied to some emails and relaxed for a bit.
At 4:30 Som took us to the Rolous Group which is located SE of Siem Reap. The temples are the first site of ancient Khmer civilization. These temples were built by King Indravarman I in the late 9th century. We went to Bakong first. There was a bus load of French tourists, so it was quite busy. This is the first significant temple mountain and has the five tiers to represent Mount Meru. It had been dedicated to Shiva.
The causeway that crossed the moat (with water, many no longer do) has nagas, flowers and trees. This is currently an operating monestary. The inner part of the temple has a pyramid shaped temple which is surrounded by towers. There are statues of Nandis, lions and elephants here. On the 4th tier there is one tiny section of bas-relief that is in good conditon. It depicts the asuras osing a battle. At the top there are guardian dvarapalas and devatas. The lintels are considered to be some of the finest Khmer art. The sun was starting to go down and I think we were able to get some neat pictures.
Preah Ko was the first temple built. It has 6 brick towers that are not symmetrical. Bill was excited when Som told us that there was a ""secret cow here. Actually he said "sacred cow, so Bill was
disappointed that we did not have to hunt for it. I really liked the 3 sets of lions that guarded the towers. There are 3 sacred cows (nandi), not just one!
The last temple we visited was Lo Lei, it was also one of the smallest and least impressive. We snapped a couple of photos and left.
Overall the temples have been incredible and we have really enjoyed exploring them and learning about the history and religion of the Khmer people. We were glad that the sellers seem to have guidelines and adhere to them (unlike Bagan), so we were not pursued or harassed very much. I am sure that the large volume of tourism helps the situation. I would advise that you always eat in town. We did not have good luck with eating near the temples. Another great tip is to ask your tuk tuk driver for a cooler. Som had one filled with ice for us, so we were able to stay cool all day long.
Som recommended Koulen II for dinner. It is a buffet with a tradional Khmer show. It was $12 each. He said he would get VIP seats for us and he was not kidding. We sat at a table by urselves at the corner of the stage. Everyone else sat at long banquet tables.
We samples some stir fry, fried prawn cakes, spring rolls, some traditional dishes, fish amok, fruit, salads and dessert - mostly Chinese stuff with jelly-like stuff in it and something like a tamarind
square.
The first 1/2 hour of the show was just traditional music. The next hour was traditional youth dancers. They danced in couples or as a group of 12. Bill and I were making fun of the fat tourist guy running around with his camcorder which was the size of a TV camera. He kept climbing the stairs by the stage to film the dancers and musicians by our table. Bill tried to video him, but amazingly he was able to hide behind a post on the other side of the stage. We were also being rude when another lady was taping by our table. I am sure that both of them will be able to hear us when they watch the video at home!
Som took us home and we said our goodbyes. He will pick us up for the bus if he does not have other customers tomorrow. I ran up to the room and got some things for his children - glow sticks, stickers and bubbles. He was thrilled that they were from Canada.
I did some work on the internet and then went to bed. It has been a long day, I am still wiped out and not 100% yet.