Day 3: 13 April -- Back from the Jungle

Tonight I am well and truly temple-d out! And I have discovered how oppressive the heat and humidity can be here. Even the guide was complaining, and summer is still a way off.

An early 8am start in our 12 seater coach took us about 15km out of Seam Riep to the ticket office where we were photographed and given photo ID passes that were frequently checked throughout the day. A short drive and we had to abandon our transport and start the first of the day's long treks. Angkor Thom (the Great City) was the last and grandest capital of the Khmer dynasty 12-15th centuries. It was surrounded by a 4m wall and wide moat, and was 10 sq km in area. At a time when London was 50,000 people, over 1 million lived within Angkor Thom. By tradition only the gods lived in stone dwellings (that included the king); everyone else used wooden structures. After the collapse of the Khmer dynasty this area was abandoned and the jungle took over. All the wooden buildings have disappeared under the relentless onslaught of the jungle, and the stone temples themselves are still being reclaimed from their captivity to the strangler figs that until 20th century hid them from view.

 The city gates of Angkor Thom are aproached along a causeway featuring the tug of war between 54 demons and gods that mythology depicts as a creation story. Past the wall gates, a jungle path leads to the centre of the old city where the main temple stands. Cheeky monkeys drop from the trees looking for food. The Bayon Temple is a most imposing structure. Built in 12th century, it was a Hindu temple to the god Avalokiteshvra. His smiling face shines out in all four directions from all the towers of the temple. There are 5 levels to the structure; only the king could enter the top one. Much puffing and sweating is involved in scrambling up the stairways to each level. There is a fascinating wall with bas relief carvings showing scenes of everyday Cambodian life. There is also much religious vandalism in all the temples of the area. The original Hindu god statues were all defaced or removed when a later king converted to Buddhism, and replaced by the image of the Buddha. Later still there was a Hindu restoration with another period of destruction. Then finally Cambodia was restored to Buddhism (as it is today). Shades of the iconoclasm one sees in English and European churches from reformation times!

 After more trekking towards the far gate of the old city one comes to a parade ground, edged by a stone terrace supported by rows of carved elephants. This was the royal viewing platform for public celebrations and audiences. Apparently still used by the King on occasions. Today the whole area was bustling with marquees being erected for concerts and other entertainment for the New Year. We were told the area will be jam packed over the next couple of days; which was why we changed our schedule to visit today.

Ta Prohm is a smaller temple some distance from the walls of Angkhor Thom. It has been kept in a partially liberated state so that visitors can see how the jungle actually took over and strangled these massive stone buildings. The movie Indiana Jones and the Tomb Raiders was filmed in part here. 

After a welcome lunch back in Siem Reap, we headed to Angkor Wat, the greatest of the temples in the area. Again built in the 12th century, it was a shrine to the god Vishnu. The temple stands on a platform 1.5 by 1.3 km, surrounded by a 200m wide moat. The approach across the wide expanse of water is quite spectacular. Again a lot of walking involved as vehicles have to be left well outside. There are 800m of bas relief carvings on the outer wall of the temple that depict historic battles with the Thai and other peoples. Because they are historic and not religious they have survived the defacing that changes of religion involved. After clambering around the temples many corridors and towers, the long walk back to the bus saw us as a very sorry looking group of stragglers.

 We had a couple of hours to shower and rest before we headed out for a buffet barbeque dinner at another hotel. This was held poolside in a lovely setting. During the meal we were treated to a 1 hour demonstration of traditional Cambodian dancing which was both entertaining and informative.

 I took lots of photos today, all of which had some historic explanation to go with them. But too much information, and I've forgotten most of the detail already. So I'll just upload a sample to give a feel for what this World Heritage area is like. You can see the pics here.