Feeling
slightly better, we tackled the temples on the second day since it involved lots
of walking and stairs. We hired our usual tuk tuk driver, an adorable 20 year
old by the name of Kaun, who did not continue with school so that he could help support his parents with his 4 other siblings. We needed to plan our route out beforehand so we chose the
small loop which hit 3 main temples. At the ticket booth there are options for
3 and 7 day passes which gives you a sense of just how many temples there are.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is the most famous temple of them all and the largest religious monument in the world. It was first built as a Hindi temple (later changed to Buddist) by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12 century which at the time would have been the capital of Khmer Empire. |
| Angkor Wat with it's impressive entrance bridge and moat. The masses of tourists were intense but our guide Tay led through the least crowded route which I could have hugged him for. |
Ta Prohm
Unlike most of the temples, Ta Prohm has been left in the condition in that it was found with trees growing out of the ruins and jungle surroundings. It also become popular after Tomb Raider was filmed here. So it's alternative name seems to be the 'Angelia Jolie temple'. |
| The famous tree. I actually sent my grandmother a postcard of this exact tree a month ago. |
Bayon
The most distinctive feature of Bayon are the stone faces. 216 to be exact. Some say the faces represent the current King at the time, where others Bodhisattva of compassion. This could quite possibly be my favourite of the three. |
| The detail and way they were constructed is just amazing. |
 |
| Just for kicks, here is a less scary monkey. |
No comments:
Post a Comment