Angkor Wat and the temples

I have seen photos of Angkor Wat so had some idea of what I was going to see but no picture can prepare you for the reality. Adjectives to describe the experience, the beauty and sheer scale of things are lacking but I will do my best.

To start with, our Tuc Tuc driver, Hat, said the best time to see Angkor Wat was first thing in the morning so I was mentally preparing myself for an early start of about 8am, well it is a holiday! The reality was somewhat different, he said he would pick us up at 5.15 to see the sunrise over the temple. After doing a quick rethink we agreed this was a good idea. It really was amazing. Crossing the moat to get to the main gate was an experience alone, the moat was the size of a small lake and the first of what we kept remarking on as extreme engineering.

Despite there being several hundred other stalwarts who had also got up at this ungodly hour, it was peaceful and serene and a magical experience. Overnight it had rained and the sun reflecting on the few remaining clouds just added to the experience. After about an hour of just standing and wondering at the beauty of the exterior of the temple, and taking loads of photos we crossed the enormous outer area, and entered the temple.

The temple complex is vast and covers an area of 400 square kilometers and has 200 monuments, I was unprepared for the size and complexity of the site. It is remarkably well preserved considering that much of the building dates back to the seventh century. It was possible to walk round the whole of the temple, go inside most of the rooms and climb the steps to the top of the temple tower. This was my initiation into stairs and steps in all the monuments. To say they are steep is an understatement, some of them are virtually vertical. I think they must all have had very small feet too, as the depth of the step is really narrow, so much so that in some cases it was easier to 'climb' down backwards - inelegant but necessary. Not only was it steep and small but in places some of the stone had broken away so it was a bit scary, but worth it every time.

The picture (left) may give you some idea of the steepness of the steps

The steps at Angkor Wat and also other temples were as steep, if not steeper, at times. Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu and most of the Bas relief around the temple tells the stories, and depicts the characters from Hindu mythology. There are numerous aspara carvings, who were again mythological celestial nymphs, these carvings replicated in just about all the temples. In the 12th Century, Buddhism became the Cambodian main religion and it was then that Buddhist features appeared in the Temples. It is interesting that in most cases the Hindu carvings have been preserved and maintained. Angkor Wat is a must for any traveller to Asia.

This was not the end of our day of temples for we then visited the group at Angkor Thom and Bayon, another vast complex and from where the picture of the scary face above was taken. We ended this first day at the temple at Ta Prohm, which is where 'Tomb Raider' was partly filmed. (Angelina Jolie is very popular here!). Despite the fact that they have had to construct wooden walkways through the temple you still have the feeling that it is still partly absorbed by the jungle. For me, this has to be the most atmospheric of all the temples and we felt absorbed into the history and atmosphere of the buildings.







By the end of two days of visiting temples we were beginning to get 'templed out'. There are two main 'temple circuits' the inner and the outer. We have visited all of the inner and most of the outer circuits with Angkor Wat the most famous and well preserved of them all. What was so impressive to me was the hugeness of everything and the state of preservation of most of the carvings, some looking so well preserved that they could have been tens of years old rather than hundreds. One essential for the visit is a good reliable Tuc Tuc driver and we were very lucky with Hat (we have his phone number if you are thinking of visiting Siem Reap). The temples are far apart but there are a couple of short cuts to some of them which Hat knew about. He was also a bit of a guide in that he knew some of the background and history and so could prepare us for things to look out for. We did not have a guide at any of the temples but we did quite a bit of reading beforehand and eavesdropped on the guides of other visitors. The benefit of not having a guide was we were able to go at our own pace, spend time exploring and sit and take in the views when the fancy took us. It was an experience to treasure for the rest of our lives. We have loads of pictures but hope these give you a taste of what we saw.



(Remember you can click on the thumbnail pictures for a better view)