Trips

Sun., 10/19/14 – Siem Reap
        We headed by bus to Angkor Wat at 7:15 AM to try to beat the heat of the day.  Angkor Wat is the ancient temple built between 1113 of 1150 and is the reason most people visit Cambodia - including us. 
        Angkor Wat is the symbol of Cambodia and is the temple in the center of its red and blue flag.  It is the largest religious monument in the world.  There is still a moat 5.6 km long and 200 yards wide around the outside. Of the four gates we entered the East gate and exited by the west or main gate to avoid some of the crowds and to have the sun at our backs for pictures.
            Angkor Wat is built by stone on stone with no mortar or interlocking pieces.  It was built under the reign of King Suryavarman II and it is estimated to have used around 200,000 people and 400 elephants to build.  It was originally dedicated to Vishnu and later to Buddha.  The carvings on the outer stone walls depict stories of the greatness of the king.  We looked at soldiers awaiting orders from the king, a procession of the queen and princesses, battles, victorious soldiers marching into Vietnam, the king on his throne and generals on elephants.  All are intricately carved with iron chisels.  There are many depictions of Naga and the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.  There are at least 1850 Aspera (dancers) with different costumes and 36 different hairstyles around the complex.
        The second level of the temple once had many statues of Buddha.  Many were destroyed or stolen or moved to museums.  The third level was only for the high priests.

        Many views of Angkor Wat are presented below, mostly without captions.

Structure inside the east gate	Local resident
Asperas (dancers)	Aspera (dancers)
East side
Map of the grounds
Our group	Us
Colonnade	Corbelled ceiling of outer gallery
The reliefs which follow are amazing
	Churning the Sea of Milk
An inner courtyard	Steep stairs to the Temple's third level, originally only for the high priests
Holding on coming down	Getting up was a struggle
Finely carved Asperas
	Looking west toward the main entrance from the third level
Buddha	Young monk
Amazing detail	Shrine
Next we visited Ta Prohm Temple, the Jungle Temple. Unlike most of the Angkorian temples, this one has been left in much the same condition in which it was found and the surrounding jungle has grown over and through it.  Ta Prohm is the temple used in “The Tomb Raiders” movie.  There were many monkeys running around outside, which really added to the feeling of the jungle.  We entered through a gate (gopura) with large faces carved on each of the four cardinal points and three-headed elephants at each corner. We looked at the ruins of the two libraries just past the entrance.  Stele with writings carved on them were found inside the libraries.  We walked through the remains of the temple with impressive Sprung trees and tree roots growing around and through the walls and roofs.  The trees are now supporting the structures and will not be cleared.  The inner walls are spotted with holes where precious gems were dug out and stolen.
	Monkeys along the road

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