Its very difficult to describe Angkor Wat. Everyone has seen pictures of the soaring towers. Seen that scene in Tomb Raider. Well forget that, its way better.
We got to Siem Reap by bus from 4000 Islands in southern Loas without too much difficulty. (You pay $2 for stamp today, overtime price. You pay one dollar, desk fund. I kid you not!) We stopped for one night along the way in Kampong Cham, nothing to report.
We were ambushed on arrival by a Tuktuk driver who took us to a guesthouse, which turned out to be OK. We were on the top floor so it was quiet, decent price, there was a TV, and you could throw intruders over the balcony into the pool full of 2+ metre Salt Water Crocodiles below. All the mod cons.
Our driver (he was our driver at this point) took us out to the star attraction. Angkor Wat is an amazing structure. Its scale is vast - its the biggest religous structure in the world. The moat around the outside is 70m across. You have to walk 200m from the outer wall to get to the central structure. The intricacies of the carvings are just mind blowing. The Bas Relief that rings the outer wall is just fantastic. Its about 500m long and the carvings are so beautifully realised. The inner section where the famous towers reside is beyond my limited vocabulary for accolades. We spent an hour and a half there as the light faded and it wasn't nearly enough time.
The next morning we hit the place hard. After getting there early, we went to the second most famous structure, Bayon. This is a tower complex that consists of 50 towers, most with 4 faces looking malevolently down upon you. Its just as intricate and awe inspiring as Angkor Wat is. It sits in the centre of the ancient walled Capitol of Angkor Thom. This area contains some amazing ruins, including Baphuon (which is a sand pile supporting sandstone walls, taken apart before the Khmer Rouge, who lost the plans, only now are they completing the jigsaw puzzle). Also the Elephant Terrace, which is a 300m long structure of Elephant motifs that Khmer grand parades were held in front of. The Terrace of the Leper King, which is thought to be the burial place of kings. Phimeanakas, which is a pyramid with very step steps and a great view. And Preah Palilay, another great pyramid where the steps are very slippery and Greg came a cropper, crashing his foot and head and banging the camera (which was in my hand, no Tash I didn't break the camera!)(tash- how did it get that big dent then??).
After lunch we went to a couple of places that are separate from the main temple complex. Preah Khan was where the king who resided in the famous Bayon stayed before his crown jewel was completed. Its a sprawing ruin with grounds that are just magic the walk around. So many places to explore. Then we headed to the famous Ta Phrom. This is where Angelina Jolie fell through the earth. It gets a lot of tourists who like to be photographed at that spot. The best thing in my opinion is the massive trees that grow through and over the structure. Another self contained ruin in the vane of the two previous is Banteay Kdei. We finished our day as the sun went down (unfortunately behind the clouds) on top of Phnom Bakeng, which is situated at the top of the only hill in the immediate region.
We ended the day very tired, but very happy. From here we head down to the capitol.
No comments:
Post a Comment