Siem Reap, Cambodia - March 20, 2012

Greeting us at Hotel

A family on their motorcyle

Buddhist at local shop

We arrive at the beautiful Sokha (“happiness”) Angkor Hotel; our hotel room has a bathroom the size of our room on the ship, a welcome change.  Our dinner is a delightful mix of local and western food.  After a great night’s sleep and a good breakfast, “Sam” the tour guide arrives and off we go to visit our first temple on the day’s itinerary – Banteay Srei.  “Banteay Srei” loosely translates to “Citadel of Women” or “Citadel of Beauty”, most likely refers to the temple’s relative small size and abundant level of adornment. 

Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei entrancce

Banteay Srei library inside temple

This temple is the furthest away from Siem Reap of those we visit, about 30 kilometers or an hour’s drive.  The sights along the country road are not easy to describe succinctly.  Wooden houses on stilts; women and children outside cooking, bathing, selling food and goods along the road; cows and water buffalo roaming in dry grassy fields that we are told will become lush rice paddies in the upcoming wet season. The fields look like burnt grass over reddish dirt in some areas and just sand-colored dust in others.  There are a few rice paddies, which must be irrigated because they are a verdant green.  There are also clumps trees, mostly clustered along the roadside, along waterways and around the houses.  The fruits of palm, cashew and mango trees are traditional food sources for the Cambodians in this area.

Statues at Banteay Srei

Carvings in Pink Granite

Carvings at Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei Temple

Banteay Srei temple was consecrated in 967 AD as an earthly home for the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu.  It also serves as the site of two libraries.  This temple is notable because it is constructed from very hard, pink sandstone that is difficult to carve, yet in this instance is intricately and richly adorned, a tribute to the tenacity and artisanship of the temple’s builders.  In addition, Banteay Srei is relatively small compared to most other Angkor temples, making it interesting to visit since many the early Khmer architectural concepts and innovations are easily and simultaneously visible, almost as if this temple was a model for the grandeur that was to come thereafter.

As with many of the other sites in and around Angkor, the primary art and artifacts of Banteay Srei were, over time, carted off to Phnom Penh, Britain and/or France.  To the more-recent credit of the West however, much of the basic structure of this and the other temples we visit have been and continue to be restored by France, Switzerland, Japan, Germany and the USA.

Angkor Wat Causeway

After walking and photographing the temple grounds and bussing back to Siem Reap, the next site we visit is Angkor Wat, one of the best known monuments in Asia and probably the best representation of Khmer architecture.  Consecrated in the early 1100’s, Angkor Wat is what is known as a “temple-mountain” and was originally dedicated to Vishnu, one of the three primary Hindu gods.  It is thought to have been built to invite Vishnu to inhabit an earthly sanctuary modeled after his heavenly home.  As the religious preferences changed over time, the temple’s dedication was subsequently changed from Hinduism to Buddhism.  Angkor Wat is known for its classic temple-mountain-pyramidal layout, arranged as four concentric structures, and for encompassing some of the largest bas-reliefs in the world – 520 meters long and 2 meters high – pictorially retelling epic and mystical lore.  Unfortunately much of this temple was permanently disfigured by the communist Khmer Rouge during the middle-to-late 20^th century.  Regardless, it is understandable why this is a World Heritage Site and also considered the world’s largest religious monument

Most of the area temples were built over many years, using materials that had to be transported over great distances using elephants and boats.  Angkor Wat is one of those, thought to have required 30 years and as many as 40 thousand working elephants to complete. It has a main causeway up to it, a moat around it and various other buildings nearby.  There are five towers, with the centermost and tallest designated as Vishnu’s earthly residence.  Today, we find that Vishnu has moved out and Buddha has moved in.

Temple Wall

5 Towers of Angkor Wat

Carvings on Wall

Carvings on wall

As we walk through the gate and enter the temple, we see the carvings etched on the walls.  Once through the temple, we walk along a path to a pond, which as intended by the builders beautifully reflects the inner temple structure in front of us.

Statue inside

A look inside

We are permitted to climb stairs to the top of the innermost temple-pyramid. The topside view provides a good idea of how massive this temple structure is and how the jungle is just waiting on the edges to recapture it.  Of course, tourism is the main financial support for the temple.  There is even a balloon ride that takes people up in the air so they can gain aerial views of the complex.  This was set up to prevent people from hiring helicopters to fly over.  This after all is a spiritual site to revere.

Steps to God Vishnu

Throughout the temple are structures that collect and store water during rainy season.  They are all dry now…..we’d love to return and see how it looks after the rain has filled the pools.  Of course, we would definitely bring our malaria pills since the mosquitoes must be ferocious during that time of year.



Water Pool in Temple

Angkor Wat last pix

Shopping for Tourists

After we explore Angkor Wat, the tour takes us to another lovely hotel in Siem Reap for a luncheon buffet.  Everyone reflects on the incredible experiences of the morning.



South Gate with Demons

South Gate

Refreshed, and after a short drive, we arrive at the south gate the next temple we visit, Angkor Thom.  Angkor Thom is considered the most important of all Angkor temple complexes.  It is composed of a surrounding moat, a twelve-kilometer surrounding wall with five impressive entrance gates, Bayon, the last Angkorian temple-mountain constructed, and what remains of the Royal Palace and its associated Elephant and Leper King Terraces.  Much of what remains of Angkor Thom was built in the late 1100’s but was superimposed on structures built much earlier in time.  This gate, as well as the other four entry gates, includes the large faces of a guardian king, looking forward and backward.  Leading up to the gates, lining the causeway crossing the moat, are rows of fifty-four large stone gods and fifty-four large stone demons, having a tug-of-war with a very large multi-headed snake welcoming you to the city. Some of the figures are under restoration.  It will be a fantastic sight to see, and we do hope that ultimately, the gods win the tug-of-war!

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom Dieties

Angkor Thom Faces

Lynn Touching Noses

Bayon, the Angkor Thom temple, was dedicated to the Buddha, was also known as “The Hall of Proper Conduct” and was a hall for the Brahmanic deities to assemble to be instructed by the Buddha.  The faces of the deities adorn the four sides of forty-nine massive sanctuary towers on two levels of this temple-mountain.  The temple is also lined with bas-reliefs describing everyday Khmer life and events of the time, a godsend to modern anthropologists. The tour guide takes Lynn’s picture “touching noses” with one of the Brahmanic deities.

Elephant Terrace Wall

Elephants at front of steps

Next, tour-guide Sam walks us to the Elephant Terrace, near both the site of the Royal Palace and the Terrace of the Leper King.  Along the way, we see monkeys in the woods by the roadside.  No real elephants though at the Elephant Terrace, a three-hundred meter long four-meter high wall, covered with carved bas-relief elephants and used by the ruling class to review processions and festivals . 

Beyond the Elephant Terrace is the Terrace of the Leper King, famously misnamed due to lichens growing on it in ancient times.  This terrace consists of seven levels of carved mystical beings and minor divinities and was probably used for cremation ceremonies and funeral rites back in the day.  Across the street are twelve smaller temples (“Prasat Suor Prat”) known as the “Towers of the Cord Dancers”, which sheltered a series of images of the god Vishnu (we know, Hindu, not Buddhist; can’t explain it).  Now there is a busy road in between with people riding bicycles and motorcycles, and a few cars and buses.

Temple Ta Prohm

Trees growing into walls

Tomb Raiders standing in tree roots

From the movie

Tree near entrace to Ta Prohm

Tourists at the Temple

Finally we visit the Ta Prohm Temple.  Consecrated in 1186, an image of a Buddhist goddess, Prajnaparamita (there will be a quiz on this later), was worshipped in this temple.  Ta Prohm may have also served as the administrative center for the one-hundred-or-so hospitals founded or restored by the then reigning monarch. This temple is known for the large trees and their roots that grow on and among the temple walls, holding them up in some cases.  Also, tour-guide Sam repeatedly advised us this is where Angelina Jolie climbed among the walls and trees of a temple in a movie called “Laura Croft and the Tomb Raiders” (or something to that effect). Nonetheless, controlling the advance of the surrounding jungle and the onslaught of trees and their roots is still a daily battle for the caretakers of this and other Angkor temples.  The older tree roots are a mixed blessing:  they invade and distort the structure and its very fine stonework when they grow; they hold the structure together and in place as long as they survive.

Back from Seeing Vishnu Temple

After being at these temples and looking through our pictures, I have to say it is very hard to capture the interesting beauty we saw and the special spiritual sense we felt at these temples.  Enough remains that with a dash of imagination, a sprinkle of reading and a good guide like Sam, the past and its spectacles come alive.  A must see!!



Cambodian Dancers

The hotel dinner that evening is set up at poolside, bordered with candles.  A series of traditionally and brightly costumed dances are performed by talented young Thais, telling stories of rice harvest through dance.  Musicians play traditional instruments in the background near the stage at the back of the pool, with waterfalls flowing.  Ice sculptures decorate the buffet tables covered in Cambodian dishes and sweets.  We feel like royalty!