Wanderlust: Khmer, I Wanna Show You Something

Angkor is a sprawling (approximately 400 sq miles) series of ruins from the Khmer empire, which ruled from the early 9th century until the final sacking by the Thais in the mid-15th century. It is also the primary reason for a visit to Siem Reap, and for many, the primary reason for a visit to Cambodia.

I was expecting to spend my first day at Angkor alone, but had the good fortune of meeting a Dutch girl named Meriam, at breakfast, who became my traveling companion for the day. We started out at Angkor Wat, which is the most famous of the ruins and is also considered to be the largest religious structure in the world. The image below probably looks familiar to most.

In order to enter the complex, one must pass through numerous corridors and gates; therefore, this is a very easy place to take doorway/corridor photos. I am warning you now that this will not be the last...

Past the inital entrance and corridors, you find what is probably my favorite thing about this particular temple complex. There is a series of four symmetrically-laid pools, which have an indoor/outdoor feeling to them. The corridor between the pools is covered, but the pools themselves are open to the sky. I think I like it so much because it is easy to picture what it must have been like when it was in use. Of course, this is a temple, so I assume these were probably used more for ritual bathing than recreational swimming, but it is still interesting to imagine.
After more rings of corridors, you reach the inner-most structure at Angkor Wat. The central prangs (towers) of this building are meant to represent the five peaks of Mt. Meru, which in Hinduism is the center of the universe and home of dieties. It is believed that the multiple galleries and levels of the complex leading up to this structure represent the oceans, the land, and the mountains. (To give you a sense of scale, look for Meriam in the lower left corner of the picture.)

I think I have mentioned before that I seem to be traveling in the off-season, but at a site as well-known as this, I expected swarms of people, regardless of the season. Well, here is a picture of me in front of Angkor Wat with no people around. Granted, it was during the heat of the day, but I was still surprised, pleasantly so, since this is such a cool place to have to yourself.

Next, we headed for Angkor Thom (meaning "Big City"), which is the last capital of the Khmer empire. It is basically a walled city, but all that remains inside that wall are religious buildings, since stone construction was reserved for the gods. The stone endured the test of time (for the most part), but any non-religious buildings, which would have been made of biodegradable materials, are long gone. The tower in the picture below is one of the five gates used to enter the city. If you look closely, you can see a tuk-tuk coming through the tunnel in the opposite direction. If you can't see it, get a bigger monitor. :)

The most popular temple in Angkor Thom is the Bayon, which at inital glance looks like plain old piles of rocks...

...but if you look closely, you can see faces carved into the towers, facing in each of the four cardinal directions.

Interestingly, all of the faces are of the same person. The belief is that they are meant to represent one of the gods, but the face is modelled after King Jayavarman VII, who commissioned the construction. Whether it was the king or the artist that chose the shape of the face is unknown, but it comes across as a temple to the king himself.

I warned you there would be more doorway photos... All of Angkor is surrounded by jungle, so the drives from one site to another are down these lovely country lanes.

Before we left the Bayon, we decided that a little bit of climbing was in order. After all, how often are you allowed to climb on a national monument like this? Meriam was the guinea pig for this one. It's not hard to climb if you climb sideways (or have tiny feet) and don't mind very tall and slanted steps with no railing. I know a few folks that would find it scary, but it's actually a lot of fun.

Our next stop was Baphuon, which is just next door. It was built in the mid-11th century as a temple to Shiva, but was later converted to a Buddhist temple, as were most others at Angkor. The temple was quite large, with three levels and many towers, but the structure had almost completely collapsed by the time the "modern world" had found it. Having been "discovered" by the French in the 1860's, restoration work at Angkor has been conducted on and off since the 1960s. This temple was one of the first that the French began restoring, so you might wonder about the piles of stones littering the grounds. Well, this one has a sad story...

The French carefully took the temple apart, brick by brick and numbered the huge stones, recording their location. Unfortunately, the Khmer Rouge arrived and, during their seige, destroyed the paper records. So the stones are all still marked with their serial numbers, but no one knows where to put them. Sadly, it has been impossible to refit all of the original stones, so some of the structure has to be created from scratch, using new stones. Below, you can see a worker carving a new brick. So, in a weird and sad way, I have actually seen Angkor being constructed.

Next door to Baphuon is Phimeanakas, built during the late 10th century. The stone stairs here were really tall and worn, so a wooden staircase has been added at the back of the temple to make the climb easier. Meriam and I agreed that climbing the stone steps was not only more fun and authentic, but also that it was funny to climb the stone steps right next to the wooden ones, as though we didn't see these new stairs. It got a laugh out of an Australian couple, so mission accomplished.

In front of this building sits the Terrace of the Elephants, which was attached to the palace behind and was used as a viewing platform for the king during public ceremonies and audiences. The platform had a structure on top of it, but it was constructed of organic materials and is now long gone. All that remains of the terrace is the platform.

The Terrace is named for the animals adorning the base, like this carving...

...and this sculpture.

Next to the Terrace of the Elephants is the Terrace of the Leper King, which is covered in intricate carvings.

There is a wall surrounding this platform, which forms a passageway around the structure. Even the inside of this corridor, which cannot be seen when passing the terrace, is covered in detailed carvings, like this one...

The day was wearing on and a thunderstorm was imminent, so we took in two more temples just outside of Angkor Thom, which were fortunately across the street from one another. The first is Chau Say Tevoda, which, as you can see from the reds and blues in the photo below has largely been reconstructed with new materials.

Across the way is the equally small Thommanon, where a group of crafty and persistent children tried to sell us bracelets and flutes that we did not want. We managed to escape without purchase.