An early wake up this morning (4:30) to be able to make it to Angkor Wat for sunrise. And it was worth the effort, for two reasons. The first is that Angkor Wat is breath taking, especially with the sun rising behind it, and the second is that we were able to see a number of temples before it got too hot.
Once the run rose above the temple of Angkor Wat, we went inside to explore. It is amazing that the whole area was lost to history and to the forest until it was rediscovered in the 1840s by Henri Mouhot who was looking for butterflies apparently. Angkor Wat temple itself was built in the 12th century, taking 3 decades to build, and survived in remarkable condition all those centuries when it was abandoned in the early 15th century.
There are around 100 temples in around 400 acres. And these templates are actually arranged in the Draco constellation. It probably contributed to the fact that the area was later abandoned as no more temples could have fitted into the constellation. Especially since the ruling kings were expect to build at least 3 temples each during their reign. One for their ancestors, One for religion (Hinduism) and one for themselves - the temple of state (to be buried in). Some kings build more than three.
We only saw a few temples. The main one of Angkor Wat, of course that everybody recognises. Bayon Temple that is amazing with it 4 faces on 54 towers inside the temple. It would have been amazing to see in its original gold leaf. Ta Prohm temple which has been left in it original state with trees growing through it. It was amazing to see how the roots have worked their way around and into the stone slabs.
At this point we were so hot that we returned to the hotel to cool off in the pool. The temperature today reach 42oC and we were sweating buckets by the time we returned to our rooms. Even at night the temperature is still around 35oC. We all had an afternoon nap, in the A/C.
Much later as the sun was lower, we set off again to see one more temple: Pre Rup. This temple is considered to be one of the earliest temples built in Angor Wat Park. It used brick as it main building material, as they had not yet mastered building towers out of stone, as they did with Angkor Wat. They built with brick, and then plastered over the brick. There are small bits of plasters still surviving, with it intricate carvings in the plaster.
Before the sun set, we went down the road to the "Royal baths"( Srah Srong) which essentially was a very big pond (or small lake). According to our guide, it needed to be large to accommodate the king and his whole family, including his 1000 concubines… Mish was a bit dubious about this particular factoid. Regardless, it was a beautiful place to see the sun set.
Once the sun set we headed into town to find some dinner. It turned out to be a table BBQ and all four of us loved it! There some something for each of us, and the flavours we great.
A great way to end our last night in Cambodia. Only issue is that we have a 3:30 wake up in the morning in order to catch our flight to Laos.
Comments
Post a Comment