The tour began at the grand South Gate into the last capital of the Khmer empire, the ancient city of Angkor Thom, which is home to the first four destinations, the first of which was the Bayon Temple. An impressive structure and as with all the temples we visited, was surrounded by a moat. This temple was built 800 years ago by the Buddhist king Jayavarman VII. It took 20 years to build and has incredible carvings of everyday life in Cambodia in the 12th century. Another defining feature of this grand structure are the four sided towers which depict Buddha, Brahma, Siva and Vishnu. Interestingly this king brought together the Hindu and Buddhist followers in the one temple.
We continued on foot to the Baphuon temple, which was built 1000 years ago and was an equally impressive structure. This temple had us climbing extremely steep stairs (more like a ladder than stairs) to view the top levels and enjoy the extensive view of the grounds. A highlight of the day was eating morning tea at the top of the temple while enjoying the amazing view and a gentle breeze. The temple was commissioned by a Hindu king, Yudityavaraman II, and took 10 years to build.
Site number three was the Elephant Terraces which were used as training facilities for the armies and also for praying. The carvings on the terrace span 350m consisting of many, many elephants which are considered good luck.
Preah Khan was built by king Jayavarman VII for his father. It took 5 years to build and was completed in 1191.
After a short bus ride, our next stop was the much anticipated Ta Prohm temple which was the site for the movie Tomb Raider. Now this was certainly a temple with a difference. The tree roots of Kapok and Strangler Figs were interwoven into the walls and doorways. King Jayavarman VII built this temple as a gift for his Mother. It took only five years to complete. Fantastic photo opportunities were around every corner and as some in our group showed their inner Angelina.
Lunch was a delightful four course meal in air conditioned comfort of Crystal Restaurant!
After lunch, we headed back to Angkor Wat built by king Suryavaraman II who reigned from 1113-52. This structure is massive! It is surrounded by a 190m wide moat and forms a giant rectangle (1.3km x 1.5km). Just to be in a 1000 year old temple and imagine the 100's of 1000's of people in so many eras to pass through this temple is utterly mind blowing, let alone the man power required to create it in the first place.
All the temples were built using stone blocks transported from Siem Reap over 40km away. No trucks, no cranes just people, elephants and rafts! The enormity of the task is hard to comprehend especially at Angkor Wat. This temple took 40 years to complete. It has five main towers. The central tower is the holy tower and is surrounded by the four corner towers representing the elements, earth, fire, wind and water. The wall carvings are in such pristine condition in some parts you would think they were only completed recently.
As we were concluding our time at Angkor Wat, the breeze picked up a bit and you could tell that we were going to get some welcome relief from the heat with some rain. It managed to hold off until we returned to the hotel when it bucketed down while many of our group were enjoying some time in the pool. Our guide explained to us that humidity in Cambodia normally sits around 90 - 95%, which explains the discomfort that we felt throughout the day.
After a bit of shoe shopping for some, we were off to dinner and a cultural show at Por Cuisine. We enjoyed a four course meal while also watching some examples of traditional Cambodian dance.
Tomorrow will have us on our road trip to Phnom Penh.
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