Temples of Angkor

After my roadtrip from north to south through Vietnam in 2013 I had the intention to visit the Angkor complex. For this no better starting point than Siem Reap so I took a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap.

Directly after my arrival I start with a visit to the local market where I was brought by a tuk-tuk. Here as well an intense and overwhelming experience in terms of scents, noises and impressions. I see again exotic fruits unknown to me, tailors working at sewing machines, a hairdresser but my most surprisingly discovery is a seller of huge icecubes. I wonder how people take this home in this heat and what could rest of it.

After a night in the Heritage Suites Hotel I am ready for my tour along a part of the Angkor temples. The whole complex is so enormous that one need an ocean of time to see everything. Because my time is limited I will confine myself to the main ones.  

Next morning Mister Prahn, my guide, is ready to lead me around and we start in Angkor Thom. Here we see influences of the Hinduism in the architecture and in parts built in a later period the Buddhism is more present. The heart of the ancient city Angkor Thom is formed by the richly decorated Bayon temple. This part is the one with the 54 mysterious stone face towers; to be exact there are 200. Than mister Prahn shows me the terraces of The Elephants and the Leper King. The first also called because from that place the king Jayavarman VII had the best view on his victorious returning army. The second is called to the Leper King because the statue was found without fingers and toes so it was believed the king had leprosy.

In the afternoon I have all the time to visit the most impressive part of the whole complex; Angkor Wat, world's largest religious complex with an area of 162ha. Who doesn't know the iconic view of the silhouet with the lotus bud shape towers. If the ponds are filled with water it is a fantastic and photogenic view with reflections of this all in the water surface; a guarantee for some amazing pictures.   

Original the Angkor Wat temple was built as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu. It is considered as a highlight of the Khmer culture and is the main symbol of Cambodja. It is as well the most important tourist attraction of the country and depicted on the national flag of Cambodja.

I stroll around and admire galeries of which the walls are decorated with bas-reliefs full of dancing figures, terraces, gates and richly decorated windows. Other decorations I find in mytical figures such as snakes with the head of a lion and other strange animals and creations. To symbolize the difficulty to enter the kingdom there are very steep stairs, nowadays closed as in the past several accidents happened with tourists fell down.

The next morning Mister Prahn is present again to show me the Bantaey Srei dedicated to the Hindugod Shiva. It is considered as one of the most beautiful temples of the whole complex and it is hiding a treasure of detailed drawings and stone carvings. The name Bantaey Srei means 'temple of the women'. It is believed that the drawings can only be made by women's hands because of the many details. The bas-reliefs show Hindu stories and are, after hundreds of years, still well preserved.

Further I bring a visit to the Bantaey Samre. This temple is named to the Samre, an ancient people of Indochina similar to the Khmer. The Samre temple, just as Bantaey Srei, is built in sandstone. The word Bantaey means 'citadel' in Khmer so we can say in this case The Citadel of the Samre.

I end my visit with the most photogenic of all; Ta Prohm. To reach this one we drive along a road through several rural villages where scenes of daily life are visible. We make a few stops and istantly the car is surrounded by curious kids. I see women preparing ricepaper, an old man is making palm sugar liquid. A bit further I notice a woman working on a ricefield  while her little child is watching from and end... Life as it is on the banks of Lake Tonlé Sap.

And than, before I know, I walk around in a decor of ancient ruins overgrown with the roots of the kapok trees. It looks like the trees are stragling the walls and buildings. This location became world famous thanks to the film of Lara Croft - Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie in the lead role.  The photogenic scenes of trees growing out of the ruins in combination with the atmosphere in this jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples.  Today, it is one of the most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region. For me this one is without doubt my favorite.

Too soon my time in Siem Reap is over and I have to leave to airport. It was a small extra in combination with my Vietnam trip.