The Temples

Well, this was the day we were most looking forward to prior to coming to Cambodia, and Siem Reap. The Temples… Angkor Wat is thought of as one of the modern day wonders of the world….Taprohm temple (Tomb Raider temple, where the movie was shot), a beautiful temple bound by massive roots of huge silver trees. Lisa and I starred at the trees at length, closely inspecting them, they really looked as if they had been spray painted silver…but they hadn’t, they were very cool. It was scorching hot, really really hot! We were well prepared with a cooler filled with 12 bottles of water on ice…. the 4 of us went through almost all of them. All in all, we did very well visiting 6 temples. Word to the wise (incase anyone reading this is planning a visit to the temples), end the tour of temples with Angkor Wat, don’t start there. We employed this strategy, and I think it payed off big time. Tour bus after tour bus show up in the morning, eager to see Angkor Wat, so thats there first temple, then they go clockwise from temple to temple with no escape from the heard. We (ambitiously) decided we could make 6 temples, so we started at Banteay Kdei. It was completed around the end of the 12th century. We went counter clockwise from there, exploring 4 of the 6 temples relatively unimpeded by the heard.
These temples, some of which were built in the 11th century, are astonishing. Massive statues and structures built and constructed by hand. Tunnels, corridors, steps, walls all right in the middle of the jungle. I’m afraid I still have not done the appropriate amount of historical research about them, but I can now tell you first hand, they are majestic. Birds, and wildlife flood your audio senses, while excitement and truly unreal visuals await you around every corner. The delight drove even little Isabel to want to continue, and continue (of course, she was on my shoulders a lot of the time). Never once, no matter how hot or tired we were, did either of the girls ask to go “home”.

Angkor Wat!!!
We were operating on fumes when it was finally time to see Angkor Wat. But skipping it wasn’t even a consideration. It is HUGE! The largest religious monument on earth, Angkor Wat must be 10,000 Meters square?? Just a guess… Approaching the front entrance with large moats on either side of the walkway/bridge, you get closer and closer to the walled city. Once through the entrance there’s another long walk to the main part of the temple with 3 prominent “peaks” or towers.. These 3 towers are what you might find featured in many of the postcards of the temple. Inside the endless corridors of the temple are carvings on the walls, still very clearly etched. Along the corridors every few meters was a statue of buddha. Ellie asked “Dad, why don’t they have heads?”. Turns out that in the 1980’s art thieves from Thailand lopped off the heads…this made Ellie a little sad (for about 10sec). As we made it to the very back, we took a deep breath, agreed on how awesome it was, and decided that finally we were satisfied with our intake of the temples….Of course Isabel decided that she had walked far enough, and that it was time for me to carry her all the way back to our tuk-tuk…back through the temple….through the courtyard….over the walkway/bridge….in 40 degree heat….”it’s okay daddie, we can have a popsicle when we get back to the tuk-tuk”….I agreed 🙂