384167 5 Location 505084 I must admit that I completely underestimated what I would experience and see at Angkor. That goes for the entire country of Cambodia! The scale and number of temple ruins is vast, and it amazes me that we are able to walk through these artifacts to the degree that we can. When people (especially us westerners) here about Angkor Wat, they tend to think about one image of one of the largest temples in the area. Others might thing about the jungle covered and decaying temple that was used for the set of the Laura Croft (played by Angelina Jolie) movie. That movie helped put Angkor Wat on the map in recent years as the major tourist attraction and source of income for residents of Siem Reap. Our group of 6 was very fortunate and grateful to be led by a professional local tour guide Mr. Chan Lay for the 2 long days in the park. We were able to see 7 of the major temples. There are many many more, and several in other nearby parts are not even open to the public. Mr. Lay mixed up the tour with some other excursions including a visit to the Cambodian Landmine Museum and a local palm sugar maker. "Angkor" literally means "Capital City" or "Holy City". "Khmer" refers to the dominant ethnic group in modern and ancient Camodia. In its modern usage, "Angkor" has come to refer to the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed in the area of Cambodia between the 9th and 12th centuries AD, as well as to the empire itself. The temple ruins in the area of Siem Reap are the remnants of the Angkorian capitals, and represent the pinnacle of the ancient Khmer architecture, art, and civilization. At its height, the Age of Angkor was a time when the capital area contained more than a million people, when Khmer kings constructed vast waterworks and grand temples, and when Angkor's military, economic and cultural dominance held sway over the area of modern Cambodia as well as much of Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. On our first day, we started out at Hindu temple Pre Rup which was constructed in the late 10th century AD under King Rajendravearman II. The temple soars out of the ground architecturally and artistically like a temple-mountain. It has spectacular views of the surrounding countryside from the top two levels. There are 3 levels to most temples: lower for hell, middle for earth, and upper for heaven. This temple is important as it was constructed of local stones and brick. Later temples were primarily carved and built out of local quarried lava rock and sandstone. On that day, we had beautiful blue skies with sweltering tropical heat and humidity. As I huffed and puffed my way to the top (heaven) of the temple, I thought for a fleeting minute "What have I gotten myself into... YES, what have I gotten myself into?" I took one look around at the temple I was standing on and the countryside that I could see in the distance and realized how lucky I am and that these experiences be worth all the sweat. We next visited Banteay Srey, which is also Hindu and constructed in the 10th century AD. Its namesake loosely translates to "citadel of the women," but this is a modern name that probably refers to the delicate rose colored stone and beauty of the carvings. This temple contains some of the most densely covered walls of intricate carvings of any Angkorian temple. The scale of this temple is smaller than some of the others and its color is unique, as it is constructed of a pink limestone. We took a break to visit a family that makes palm sugar. From what I could gather the process is very similar to making maple syrup. Sap is collected from the tree, boiled down in a cauldron and converted to a brownish sugar or sugar candy. The operation is small and run by a family that lives on a modest traditional Khmer farm. Adorable children were playing in the dirt, running around, and posing for the camera while the mother and father demonstrated the sugar making process and showed us products sold at the roadside stand. Afterwards, we had lunch at a local Khmer style outdoor restaurant and visited the Landmine Museum (see write-up). The final temple that I visited on the first day was by far my favorite: Ta Prohm. Best known in modern day for its role as the set of the Laura Croft film, this Buddhist temple was constructed in mid 12th century AD by Jayavaram VII. The monastic complex is only partially cleared of the jungle overgrowth, and there are massive fig and silk cotton trees growing from the towers and corridors. It's mysterious and beautiful, and I found myself exploring inside buildings and around the premises for hours. Ta Prohm was originally constructed as a Buddhist monastery and was enormously wealthy for its time with control over some 3000 villages in the Empire. There are a few rooms within the temple that were lined with gold and gem at one time. Today you only see the holes where the gems of rubies, sapphires and emeralds. The next day was an EARLY and long day. We woke up around 4:00 AM for a 4:40 AM departure to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. The sunrise was so-so and the day was very long. By 9 AM, I thought it was 5 PM...jet lag all over again. However, the day turned out to be full of more amazing experiences and sites. Angkor Wat is all around amazing. It's a Hindu temple constructed in the early to mid 12th century AD. It is a massive tiered pyramid crowned by 5 towers. This is the centerpiece temple that everyone sees or thinks of when they here Angkor Wat. Kind of like Cindarella's castle at the Magic Kingdom of Disney World. The temple is surrounded by a huge mote and the walls contain magnificent carvings depicting stories from Hindu mythology. Since the 14th century, Angkor Wat has been used as a Buddhist temple. In one of the inner temples, I received a blessing for good fortune from a Buddhist monk. He was very old, hunched over, cataract filled eyes. He had me kneel and handed me incense to pay homage to the Buddha image. Meanwhile he chanted in a raspy voice and tied a red strand around my wrist. Definitely an interesting experience! We wrapped up the day with another spectacular collection of temples at Angkor Thom, including the Elephant Terrace, Leper King, Phimeanakas, and one of the greatest state temples Bayan. Angkor Thom is a 3 sq km walled and moted royal city and was the last capital of the Angkorian empire. Bayan is by far the most spectacular of this group. There are these giant stone faces that represent classic Khmer art and architecture. 2008-07-05T00:31:52-07:00 1220542497 2008-07-02T17:00:00-07:00 0 16 200808 7265490 384167 0 188063 0.0 2008-06-29T17:00:00-07:00 Published 0.0 2008-07-05T01:50:29-07:00 113944 0