November 30, 2007. Siem Reap, Cambodia.

(notes from my journal)

We woke up and got ready fairly early because Dara, our guide, was at the hotel at 7:30 AM. We exchanged introductions and we were off in a green Toyota Camry.

Our first stop was the ticket center, run by the Sokha Hotel Group (and they make it quite clear on the ticket). You can buy various types of tickets to see the temples: $20 for 1 day. $40 for 3 days and $60 for a weeks’ worth of entry. We opted for the three day pass.

Before I start a drivel on each temple, here is the list of temples we saw in the morning:

  • Angkor Thom
    • Bayon
    • Baphuon
    • Phimeanakas
    • Preah Pali Lai
    • Terrace of Leper King
    • Terrace of Elephants

The tickets are checked fairly regularly, even at remote temples. We then started driving towards Angkor Thom. However, along the way, we saw Angkor Wat! After so many years of waiting, we finally saw it! Our excitement knew no bounds and we knew that the next three days are going to be absolutely thrilling – and they were!

We then continued our journey to Angkor Thom through the forest (at least it looked like a forest). We entered through the famous Angkor Thom south-entrance gate. The sides of the bridge that leads up to this gate has a depiction of the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan) with the gods and the demons on either side, tugging a naga (snake). A lot of the heads of the gods and demons have been stolen/broken off and most of the ones you see today are replicas. Angkor Thom was surrounded by a moat, but today it’s a green patch of water. So green that we could barely tell it exists!

Bayon

Our first stop was the Bayon temple. Anyone who has read even a bit about Angkor knows the Bayon. We had read raves about it and it was spectacular! From afar it looks like a pile of stones, but as you keep getting closer, slowly the faces appear and disappear. We entered the Bayon from the east side. Along the way, Dara explained the reliefs on the wall, that depicted scenes from the daily life of people who lived in those times – wars against Siamese and Cham, celebrations, feasts, new life etc.

The architecture of the temple was completely designed by the king himself. This is quite commendable because the king did not only have to build these magnificent temples, but also take care of the day to day administration of his kingdom, fight wars, advance agriculture (by building a proper canal system and reservoirs) and attend to his many wives and children – Superman!

We got inside the temple and saw a lot of images of ascetics on the wall. But… wait, there was something weird about them. At that moment, Dara popped a question

Dara: When was the computer invented?
Me: 1940’s.
Dara: And Photoshop?
Me: Late 80’s
Dara: OK, now turn around and see my Photoshop.

On closer inspection, the ascetics were modified carvings on the wall, of what had initially been Buddha carvings. The Buddha legs are supposed to be flat and the face simple, but the ascetic had a bunch of hair tied on his head, a beard and his legs were elevated. The reason for this was that the temple was originally built by Jayavarman VII, who was a Buddhist. However, his son, Jayavarman VIII was a Hindu and went about changing Buddha images to look like Hindu images.

This was one of the firsts of many of Dara’s funny quips!

We walked around the Bayon being fascinated by the many faces and taking photos of the faces with varying light falling on them.

Baphuon

After the Bayon, we walked by the Baphuon. It was being restored, and hence we could not go inside. By the Baphuon we saw some monks smoking cigarettes and talking on cell phones! Are they allowed to do that?!? Dara said, yes! I was slightly taken aback since I did not think it was quite allowed. Later, Dara told me that nowadays, people do not take Buddhism as seriously so all these “modern amenities” are adopted my monks as well (although the whole idea of becoming a monk is to give up these amenities).

Phimeanakas

Walking , we arrived at the Phimeanakas. This temple is mostly a ruin, but there are wooden steps to help you go up if the Khmer style steps are too hard. I chose the Khmer steps for now. It was fun but, I knew I was going to tire of them soon :) We went up the temple, took a few photos, sat in one of the many windows and just admired the view for a while.

Preah Pali Lai

We then walked past Preah Pali Lai. This temple is a almost taken over by trees and it even had three trees on its steps. Tree leaves have fallen and not been cleared so we could not go in. While walking past this temple, we saw a green snake slither away! Suddenly, another couple came running to Dara saying that they saw a brown snake. Uh, two snake sightings in less than a minute.

Terrace of the Leper King

We walked past many large Buddha statues that were old, but were put together using concrete and were still in use today. There were even some monk cottages close by.

Next, we arrived at the Terrace of the Leper King. There are many stories on why this terrace was built. I had read that legend has it that the king who built it (Jayavarman VII) must have had leprosy and hence he built this temple to appease the Gods. However, no where in this temple is a figure of a person with any diseases, but only bas reliefs and a statue of Yama – God of Death and Justice on the terrace itself. This statue is almost in a perfect form. Dara mentioned that he thinks that instead of being a leprosy monument, this was more likely a court house, where justice was served and it made more sense than the leprosy theory. This terrace has two walls and in between these walls is a walkable area with a lot of bas reliefs of Yama with his consorts and his army. At almost every corner is the image of a multi-headed serpent.

Terrace of Elephants

Right next to the Terrace of the Leper King is the Terrace of the Elephants. While there is not much on the terrace itself, but standing on the field, slightly away from the wall, we saw lovely structures on the wall.

Opposite the terraces are 12 towers and a playground (where Dara said he brings his family on days’ he does not work to have a picnic). The towers were used to tie ropes and have acrobats perform acts on those ropes.

It was nearing lunchtime and we were all famished. It was also getting a bit hot. We headed to the car (that had driven around to be positioned right in front of the terrace of the elephants) and drove back to our hotel.

This post is a part of the Thailand, Laos and Cambodia 2007 itinerary