Today is the day for Angkor Wat. We started out early to try to beat the crowds.
Angkor Wat is the largest temple complex in the world. Originally constructed between 1113 and 1150 as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, it gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II, possibly as his funerary temple. The temple is the pinnacle of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become the symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag. It is classified as a mountain temple because it has three tiers. The temple we had seen the day before, the temple of Banteay Srei, is a flat temple, all on one level. We visited all three tiers. There were many Hindu stories depicted in the bas-relief friezes on the first level. We had to wait in line for about a half an hour to go up very steep steps to the top level. It was beautiful and somewhat overwhelming because it was so big and there were so many people there. Here are some pictures.
After exploring Angkor Wat we went to a home hosted lunch in a local village. At the house, we met a very nice woman, her aunt, and her 7 year old nephew. The woman was married but her husband was off working, so we didn’t meet him. Her 2 year daughter was there when we arrived, but she wasn’t too sure about us so the woman’s brother came to get her. Her parents also lived in the house. (Married couples usually live with the wife’s parents. Also the groom’s family has to pay a dowry. Interestingly the older the woman the lower the dowry. No comment.) The woman worked in town selling souvenirs and her husband drove a taxi. We had a delicious lunch and Handed out the presents we brought from home. I had made a felted bowl for fruit which the nephew promptly put on his head as a hat. Ann gave them apple butter which they tasted. The little boy made a face. Oh well, we tried.
After lunch we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. We had two temples to visit this afternoon. First, Ta Prohm Temple, built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries by King Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery and university. When it was discovered in 1860, much of it had collapsed. Recently some of it has been rebuilt. It’s unique because the trees have grown over and into it. The movie Tomb Raider was filmed there.
The next temple was Bayon Temple which also built by King Jayavarman VII. The Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple has two sets of bas-reliefs, which present a combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes.
After visiting the temples we went back to Angkor Wat to sit along the moat and have some wine and local appetizers as we watched the sunset. The wine was ginseng wine and it was awful. The appetizers were frogs’ legs (the French learned to eat frogs’ legs from the Cambodians), snake jerky, water buffalo jerky, and peanuts. I thought the frogs’ legs were good! A nice 12 year old boy named Dara was trying to sell us postcards and he continued to hang around even after it was clear that no one was going to bite. He told us he wants to be a policeman at Angkor Wat when he grows up. We all gave him a dollar without taking any post cards and told him to stay in school.
We had dinner at the Siem Reap Brewery. Afterward everyone went back to the hotel except Vuhta, Dan, Judy and me. We were off to the night market. We started by walking Pub Street which had lots of restaurants and bars. Then we walked into the night market which had lots of souvenirs. We weren’t there very long. Looking forward to bed, we took a remork back to the hotel for a well deserved nights sleep.
