Angkor Watt

This is Angkor, the ruins of an ancient capitol city of the once vast Khmer Empire, possibly the most impressive place I've ever seen in my entire life, and justifiably the collective pride of Cambodians. At its height, around 1100AD, Angkor had a population of around one million residents. What is left today are the ruins of hundreds of temples, all of which are beautiful and impressive. Everything else is gone. . . . houses, public buildings, etc. . . . were all made out of wood and are no longer around. According to my guide book, Angkor went into decline around 1200. During the 1300's it was repeatedly sacked by the Thais and, in the mid 1400s was eventually abandoned altogether. Angkor was "rediscovered" in the 1860's by French explorers. It was awesome for Lisa and I. . . .One can only imagine what it must have been like for them to come across such an amazing place while trekking through an unknown jungle wilderness.

It would take more than a week to see all of the temples here. Some are easier to reach than others. We stayed for three days and could have easily stayed much longer. The area that the temples occupies is vast. . . . we needed bicycles to get around. Distances between temples proved to be too far to walk. Part of what makes Angkor so impressive is the amount of buildings there. Part is the ruined city's setting in the jungle. Most impressive of all is the architectural variety of of the temples themselves and the amount of work that must have gone into building them. The size and detail of the buildings is amazing. Many of Angkor's temples occupy areas larger than several city blocks and are covered with art. The pictures I took can never do Angkor justice. Angkor is like the Grand Canyon. . . . it can not fit into a camera. You just have to see it to believe it.

It took me a while to get these pictures up. . . . partly because there were so many of them and partly because good internet connections are hard to come by in this part of the world. Since leaving Angkor, we have moved on to Thailand.

This is Angkor Watt, the most famous and one of the best preserved temples at Angkor. Some say it is the largest religious structure in the world. It was built from 1112to 1152 and owes its good condition to the fact that unlike most buildings at Angkor, it was never abandoned.












Baksei Chamkrong: reminded me very much of Mayan ruins in Guatemala

Protecting one of the four gates to Angkor Thom, an enormous walled temple complex:
Bayon: One of the strangest buildings I've ever scene. . . . very steep flights of stairs, 54 towers decorated with 216 smiling faces.











Other ruins within the walled city:








Ta Prohm: unlike other temples at Angkor, its been swallowed up by the jungle outside of Angkor Thom and lays in total ruins. Many of its corridors were totally impassible, clogged with stone blocks that had been dislodged by tree roots. I've never seen the movie, but I was told that part of Laura Croft Tomb Raider was filmed here. Ta Phrom made me feel a bit like Indiana Jones:


















Ta Keo: built from 968 - 1001, but never completed:

All along the way, between the larger temples, were smaller ones like these:

One of Angor Thom's four entrances:
Smaller structures within Angkor Thom:



Preah Khan: This is the entrance. . . . It does nothing to reveal just how huge the temple actually is. Preah Khan isn't tall and castle-like like the other big temples at Angkor. It was however, one of the largest temples there. Dedicated in 1191, Preah Khan was a maze of corridors, little rooms, and open court yards. It wasn't quite as wrecked as Ta Phrom, but was in disrepair, which only added to its appeal. This turned out to be my favorite. Preak Khan was huge! It would take several hours to visit every room in this building.