Now in Siem Reap, we get up before dawn and head out to the jewel of the Angkor Temples, Angkor Wat. This magnificent temple is generally recognized as the highest achievement of Khmer temple architecture and is the largest religious building in the world.
The dawn is beautiful and misty as you can see by the picture to the left. Many wonderful photos were taken as you will see if you look at my albums. There were not too many people in the early morning so it was really mystical and enjoyable.
Tragically during the Khmer Rouge regime, all of the Cambodians who were working on the restoration of the Angkor temples were murdered as they were considered guilty of being intellectuals. There are even bullet holes in the walls of Angkor Wat as the temples were used as hiding places and storage facilities. There were land mines everywhere and still are throughout Cambodia.
We had a great guide who walked us through the galleries and up to all the many levels--what a spectacular building--amazing. Only one person has provided a first-hand account of the civilization of Angkor, the Chinese envoy, Zhou Daguan, who visited Angkor in 1296-97 and wrote A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People. For those of you going to Angkor Temples, buy this book and read it on the plane. We spent an hour or so at the temple in the early hours of the morning and then returned for two hours at sunset. The photo opportunities at both end of the day are simply wonderful.
We stayed at the Sofitel Royal Angkor.The grounds are gorgeous, the rooms luxurious, the food spectacular and the staff warm and efficient.There is nothing not to like. There are countless luxury hotels in Siem Reap.
After lunch we went go to the ticket station to have our pictures taken for our three day pass (dear God, they need to get better cameras, the photos are hideous!) and head out to Angkor Thom to see the Bayon Temple. This temple is spectacular. Hundreds of huge carved faces with subtle, mysterious smiles. When you walk up to the temple from the gate, the towers look a bit like a big jumble. As you get closer, the faces emerge and it is magical. I love photography and I was in heaven at Bayon. As we left Bayon is was near sunset and there were so many buses in the parking lot our bus couldn't get out for quite a while. Seems that there is a hill where some guide book says has a great view of Angkor Wat at sunset. I don't know if that is true or not as I would never go to any hill where there were 400 people.
The Elephant Terrace and the Royal Palace Enclosure of the huge city of Angkor Thom are quite wonderful. The elephant carvings are spectacular and whimsical. It is getting very warm. It is around 11 AM and the temperature must be near 95 degrees and humid. Toasty. However, the skies are perfectly clear and it is a perfect day for taking photographs. Most go back to their hotel pool for the mid day, so if you can stand oppressive heat, mid day is a great time to have the temples to yourself.
0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | Posted by Patricia Pomerleau on Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Ta Prohm is the one temple that has been left essentially as it was "rediscoved" at the end of the 19th century by the French. Huge fig, banyan, and kapok trees have grown thoughout the temple monuments, their roots often splitting open sculptures and walls to surreal effect.
This temple is where movies such as "Tomb Raider" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" were filmed. You just keep walking through and saying "amazing" and "can you believe this?"
This photo album may be my favorite. It is made up of photos throughout the trip that show the spirit of the people of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. I have also included some funny photos that didn't work anywhere else.
I have pictures of girlfriends, moms, children and some particularly poignant and amusing moments.
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