A Day at the Temples...

Siem Reap, Cambodia

July 9, 2007
N 13°24.747
E 103°51.822

The many temples, including the famous Angkor Wat, around Siem Reap are what draw the tourists to the area—they were the main draw for us too. However, after arriving we were also pleased to find a more serene town without the mad frenzy of Saigon. The locals are friendly, have a sense of humor and are more than willing to show you around the town and surrounding temples.

We decided to give one of the local tuk-tuk drivers a job for the day, allowing us to see the temples, and enjoy the fresh air from the carriage being pulled by his motorbike. Our driver putted along the country roads, passing rice fields and schools located in tiny villages throughout the countryside.

As soon as we stepped out of our tuk-tuk at our first stop, the Lady Temple, a group of young girls came up with their trinkets. “Lady, Lady… you buy a cold drink from me?” or “Lady, Lady… you buy a star, flute, tiny Buddha (fill in the blank) from me?” I politely declined, but they persisted “if you buy a drink, trinket, etc. you buy from me, my name is Thaliah.” As they each told me their name, I tried to make it clear I didn’t need any goods… except for maybe the cold drink.

The Lady Temple, or Banteay Srei, was truly amazing with all of the intricate detail. The perfectly sculpted sandstone changed colors from rose, to grey, to black throughout the temple since it was built between 967-1000 AD. This was our first temple and it already exceeded our expectations. Marc and I were snapping pictures like crazy; trying to capture the experience as much as possible, but at the same time knowing words and photos will never capture the beauty of the temple. We knew the rest of the day would be special.

After we left Lady Temple the young girls were still outside waiting for us. I found my “cold drink girl” and made my purchase. This did not go over well with the other darlings who were selling trinkets I didn’t need. They stood around me, melting me with their sad eyes, telling me they don’t have money for books, pens, paper or food for school. I had a tear in my eye as we drove away from the beautiful children knowing we can’t help all of them and giving cash encourages begging.

We visited several other temples throughout the day including Ta Prohm which is best known from the movie “Tomb Raider.” The temple, built from 1186, is in the beginning phases of a much needed restoration. Currently, the temple is rubble and jungle with the exception of the Tomb Raider Tree, a tree growing out of the top of the temple. It was worth the stop, but not necessarily our favorite temple of the day.

We climbed back into the tuk-tuk, passed by a few more temples and started to focus on the grand finale, Angkor Wat. However, before we made the entrance to the crème-de-crème we had to make a stop at Angkor Thom.

Angkor Thom has three temples within the two spectacular gates to the compound. Our tuk-tuk driver took us through the East Gate which had less traffic and allowed better photo opportunities. We drove past a few of the highlights before coming to Bayon. Bayon, one of the newest temples, was constructed from 1177 to 1230. The intriguing design consists of numerous faces looking down upon the people in the temple and the surrounding countryside. From every angle it’s possible to see a full face, a profile, or at least the back of a head. The faces are rumored to resemble the face of the King who ordered the construction. From the temple he could look down and keep an eye on all of his subjects.

It was getting late in the afternoon at this point and we wanted to allow enough time to enjoy Angkor Wat, so we jumped back in the tuk-tuk to make the drive for our final stop of the day which we were hoping to hit at sunset.

When we drove up to the temple of all temples, Angkor Wat, we immediately noticed the very large moat filled with water surrounding the temple. The moat, 627 feet wide, is a rectangle that actually measures 1.5 KM by 1.3 KM. The moat itself is larger than any other moat in history.

As we walked across the giant moat we looked at the temple standing in front of us. It looked impressive; however, it appeared to be smaller than we expected. As soon as we walked through the main gate and gazed down the long promenade, we knew the view from the outside was very deceiving. The promenade must have measured at least 1 KM with libraries, wading pools and the headquarters for the ongoing restoration efforts. It was simply enormous!

When we finally reached the main entrance we turned upon the bas-reliefs, stretching along the walls of the halls. Intricate murals, chiseled directly into the sandstone and lacquered for protection, stretched from floor to ceiling, outlining a different part of ancient Angkor history. For example, one of the murals depicted the separation between heaven and hell, whereas others portrayed parts of history including battles. The three dimensional designs extended the entire perimeter of the main complex.

After nearly 40 minutes of getting lost in the intricacy of the bas- reliefs, we continued to explore the different sections of the temple. We made sure to stop and sit several times, simply attempting to take in the awesome project. There were a few times we even found a corner of the temple without any other tourists where we sat in amazement while pointing out the dark jungle just outside of the compound walls.

We continued to stroll around the temple, at times crawling on our hands and knees to ascend and descend steep flights of stairs, for nearly three hours. Finally we had to admit we were too exhausted to continue and made our way back towards the main gate, looking back over our shoulders every few minutes. Stunning.

Overall, the temples exceeded our expectation; especially the vast size and elaborate designs, making us ask the question… how did they do this so many years ago? I guess that is what makes the visit to a historical site so special and leaves us with the desire to see more.