Day 148: Angkor Temples II

'Getting lighter' at Angkor Wat
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We begin the day, once again in the trusty hands of Mr Na our tuk-tuk driver but now acting as quasi guide too having saved the $25 today, with sunrise at Angkor Wat. Big crowds here and we’re a little disappointed with the sunrise (it just got lighter) and in ourselves for yet again forgetting the torch!

Angkor Wat as a building though is stunning, allegedly the largest religious structure in the world. It’s amazing from all angles and the scale of the place is difficult enough to capture with eyes alone, let alone with our compact camera. 8 huge bas reliefs surround the outer corridor depicting battles and religious lore, the intricacy and detail of which are amazing even after all these years.

Angkor What?

Angkor Wat
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The only temple in the region never to have been abandoned, it’s in a much better state than those seen yesterday – although this does make us doubt the French ‘discovery’ of it in the 1850’s, when it was still in use as a wealthy monastery inhabited by monks and slaves (and the Dutch had visited 300 years before)!

Leaving with the throngs of people Mr Na picks us out from the crowd and takes us up to the centre of Angkor Thom, via the south gate and the monkeys just inside. Here we hop on an elephant for a ride around Bayon, the centrepiece of what was the great empire’s capital in the late 12^th and 13^th centuries. Very exciting!

Angkor Wat
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The interior of Bayon is equally fantastic, as we climb more steep stairs (at own risk as the signs frequently remind us) up to the 3^rd level and marvel at the 216 faces (54 four faces of Avalokiteshvara on gothic towers) – it’s said that at any point on the upper levels you will find at least 12 faces staring down at you. We checked, they’re right!

Interestingly nobody knows the exact function or symbolism of the undeniably beautiful building – even now it’s arguably our favourite and it really must have been something to see 700 years ago.

Angkor Wat
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Afterwards we set out on foot to see the other highlights of the huge Angkor Thom site – namely the wonderful Terrace of Elephants; the Terrace of the Leper King and it’s hidden path and internal facade; and Baphuon, the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle – dismantled for preservation in the 1970’s all detailed plans for rebuilding were lost when the Khmer Rouge took over.

Last stop for the day is in the north-west corner of the site at the small, crumbling, slightly tree infested and undeniably charming temple of Preah Palilay.

Angkor Wat
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In the evening we head out for food and a few drinks but return quite early, shattered after 2 early starts and full days on our feet.