Angkor Wat, Cambodia

When I was a child, there was a time that I wanted to be Indiana Jones exploring ruins of ancient civilizations, fighting the bad guys, and discovering long lost treasures.  Over time, my treasure hunting desires and avenging spirit has diminished or at least morphed into something more mundane.  My fascination with ancient ruins has not.  I was probably in high school the first time I saw images of the famed Angkor Wat and at the time I thought it looked interesting but didn't think I would ever go there.  When we made plans to visit Southeast Asia, I was excited for the chance we would have to tour around the large complex of ruins. 

The temples here were within the ancient city of Angkor that was the political and spiritual center of the Khmer Empire that lasted from around 800 - 1431 AD.  Researchers used satellite maps and other modern technology to determine that Angkor was the largest pre-industrial city in the world in terms of land area at over 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles) housing anywhere from 750,000 to one million people.  Basically, the Khmer were doing urban sprawl before anyone else.

We spent two days touring the ruins that are slowly being restored.  Angkor is a UNESCO Heritage Site for its history with the Khmer Empire as well as its cultural and spiritual significance as an ancient Hindu and Buddhist temple complex.  Because of the poverty of Cambodia, many different countries are contributing funds and expertise to preserving the various temple complexes.  It seemed each ruin under active restoration had a sign listing which country was assigned/contributing to that particular site under the Apsara National Authority.  Our guide (perhaps playing up to us) commented that the Americans were doing a better job and performing higher quality work than other countries, particularly China which our guide did not think did quality restoration.  Our first day was spent doing the so-called Grand Circuit of temples on the outskirts of the main Angkor Wat complex.

Pre Rup is a 10th century Hindu temple built by King Rajendravarman.  It is believed that this was a large crematorium complex.  In ancient traditional funerals, the body was rotated at various points of the service when being cremated, and "Pre Rup" translates as "turn the body".  Here are the kids in front of the steps going up to the five large towers (three visible here) at the top of the pyramid structure.

The Angkor Archaeological Park is the heaviest visited tourist site in the country of Cambodia with more than 2 million visitors every year.  It is difficult to balance the number of people coming through with the need to protect and preserve the site, but I was very pleased that with very few restrictions, we were allowed to climb all the stairs and enter all the structures we would have wanted.  Climbing higher on the temples was a good way to get a different perspective and helped indulge my Indiana Jones aspirations.

Some of the stairs were really steep and there were no handrails.

The towers at the top of the Pre Rup Hindu temple were dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Parvati, and Lakshmi.  The temple itself is believed to represent Mount Meru, the mythical home of the Hindu gods.

‎⁨I liked taking pictures of all the architecture and features of these temples.  I do wonder what they would have looked like anciently when they were in active use, but honestly, I really like the ruins crumbling and showing their age.  These doorways through the various structures extended far.

These lions served as guardians of the temple.

Banteay Srei was a temple dedicated to Shiva also built in the 10th century.  This temple's reddish color comes from the particular sandstone in comparison to the grayish hues of many of the other temples made from laterite and gray sandstone which makes it stand out.  This temple is also interesting as it is the only major temple that was not built by a monarch.  It is credited to a couple royal advisers named Vishnukumara and Yajnavaraha.

It is a regular struggle to get Derek to cooperate for pictures - he either makes crazy faces or else doesn't even look at the camera.

But occasionally we can get a good picture of him.

 

Preah Khan was a temple built as part of the great building program by King Jayavarman VII who built many of the temples in the park.  Translating as Royal or Holy Sword, the temple was to celebrate the Khmer victory over invading Cham armies in 1191 AD.   Much of it is unrestored.

 

 

I liked wandering through the hallways with all the pillars and doors that seemed to extend forever.

Lydia in front of another passageway in Preah Khan.

This is a statue of a naga - a seven headed serpent from Hindu and Buddhist mythology.  In a Hindu myth, the naga was used as a churning rope to churn the ocean of milk to recover the amrita, or nectar of immortality.  I think this statue is one of many we saw depicting that story (note the figure holding on to the naga's tail).  We kept Derek excited by pointing out every time we saw a naga statue.

Neak Poan was a temple built in the middle of an artificial island in the middle of the 12th century.  It was originally intended as a hospital and people believed bathing in the pools there could cure diseases.  The four pools surrounding the site represented the elements fire, wind, water, and earth.

On our walk to Neak Poan, we noticed the eroding hill exposing all the twisted roots that looked cool.

I like the reflection in the Baray Jayatataka (the name of the reservoir surrounding Neak Poan) in this picture of the tree with water lilies or possibly lotus blossoms.

Karina at the Baray Jayatataka (the Neak Poan temple is in center of the reservoir).

The Ta Som temple is another Buddhist temple that was built towards the end of the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII and was dedicated to his father.  The gates have Buddha heads carved into them visible above the kids while Tanja was trying to get them in position for a picture.

The details on some of the carvings were remarkably well preserved (or else remarkably well restored).

Our second day at the Angkor Archaeological Park we started bright and early at 4 AM to catch the sunrise over the famous Angkor Wat temple.  We were tired, but everyone cooperated and we got there to start the waiting.  We found a nice spot to sit and admire the view at one of the ancient libraries outside Angkor Wat.

As the hour for sunrise drew closer, the crowds filled up.

Ultimately, the overcast skies that day put a bit of a damper on sunrise brilliance.  Look up "Angkor Wat sunrise" to see some truly stunning images.  Ours was much more muted in comparison, though ultimately the cloudy skies made the sweltering heat a little more tolerable.  Oh well, the reflection is interesting.

Our family portrait.

The temple is aligned with the celestial bodies such that when standing on the entrance path where Karina and Lydia are during the equinox in spring or autumn, the sun rises directly over the central tower (consequently these are busy and crowded dates to visit).

The Angkor Wat temple is the largest in the park.  It was built in the early 12th century and is still the largest religious monument in the world.  It was originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu representing the home of the Hindu gods, Mount Meru, and gradually changed into a Buddhist site.  Angkor Wat faces west unlike most Khmer temples that face east (which is why the sun rising over it is particularly interesting).  King Suryavarman II used it as his state temple and it eventually became his final resting place.  One theory is that if he designed it as his final resting place, it would make sense for it to face west toward the setting sun.  Other scholars think it might face west since it was dedicated to Vishnu.  It also is featured on Cambodia's national flag, so it is a source of pride for modern-day Cambodians.

Here's a well-preserved naga statue incorporated into the railing along one of the pathways.

Inside Angkor Wat, Karina, Tanja, and I were able to climb to the highest levels in Angkor Wat (55 meters or 180 feet above ground).  Lydia and Derek had to stay below due to an age limit.  The views from the top were impressive.

Carvings inside the temple are also well-preserved.  These are apsaras (female celestial beings) welcoming temple visitors to the holy location.

The passageways around the courtyards encouraged quiet contemplation of the history of the site.

After Angkor Wat, we visited Angkor Thom.   The Tonle Om Gate to the south side of Angkor Thom is a famous pathway with giant carved devas (gods) on one side and asuras (demons) on the other side holding the naga - possibly depicting the churning of the Sea of Milk myth, or possibly just depicting a tug of war between good and evil.  Here are the kids in front of the deva side.

Here's the Tonle Om Gate itself with Buddhas carved into the top.

Angkor Thom was a city built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century incorporating a few older temples and became the capital city of the Khmer Empire.  When Siam (modern day Thailand) invaded in the late 14th century, they sacked the city and it was abandoned at some point after that.  It received Western attention when a Spanish explorer/Dominican priest visited the site in 1604 and noted a fascinating abandoned city.

Here's Lydia at the Terrace of the Elephants in Angkor Thom.  This terrace leads to the royal palace (I think the ruins visible in the background).

At the center of Angkor Thom is the Bayon temple.  It was built by Jayavarman VII to be the state Buddhist temple in the late 12th or early 13th century.  It was altered to be a Hindu temple and then again to revert back to a Buddhist temple over the next few centuries before being abandoned at some point in the 16th century and the jungle slowly took over before being rediscovered in the late 19th century.  It is famous for its more than 200 carved faces on the towers.  Who the faces are intended to represent is still a mystery; they could be Jayavarman VII himself attempting to project the image he had of himself as a god-king or they could be an image of Buddha in one of his forms.  You can see some of the faces carved into the towers behind Lydia here.

 

 

Here's a close up of one of the faces:

 

I really liked all the doorways being in line with each other in the ruins - I think they make for good pictures.

You can see more of the faces here...plus the faces of our kids cooperating for the picture Tanja was taking of course... ;-)

Still within the ancient city of Angkor Thom sits the Baphuon Temple.  It was a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva built in the 11th century by Udayadityavarman II, and was converted to a Buddhist temple in the 15th century.

It was a bit of a walk to get to Baphuon, but perhaps because of that, it was less crowded than more popular temples but was still interesting to explore.

We had to climb up very steep makeshift stairs to get to the top level of Baphuon which made for extra excitement.

Ta Prohm was originally built as a Buddhist monastery and university in 1186 AD and was one of the first building projects started by Jayavarman VII.  The sprawling area was once home to around 12,500 people.  It is now famously known as the Tomb Raider temple as several scenes of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie were shot here and there are several reminders of that in the closest village with restaurants advertising the Angelina Jolie special and things (I seriously think some of the marketing centered on Angelina Jolie here borders on hero worship as she is very highly regarded in the area).  The most fascinating part of these ruins is how the jungle and nature has taken over with huge trees growing in, out, and around the ruins.  The largest trees are either silk-cotton or thitpok trees like this one soaring above us.

It's fascinating how the jungle worked its way around the ruins without completely taking over.  The APSARA authority in charge of the park did a great job in keeping Ta Promh safe enough to visit and walk through without destroying all the vegetation that give this site its unique look and feel.

The interior of Ta Prohm.  I can envision monks and students wandering around the courtyards and through the passageways centuries ago when it was still a monastery and university.  It also gives a sense of how the restoration work has progressed and what has been done.  Both of these pictures are of the same symmetric structure.  The first photo is to the left of our guide where restoration had been completed (or at least progressed further).

This is to the right of our guide where the building is less-restored.

Another huge tree growing over the ruins.  This site is one of the most popular and it was plenty crowded though guides had designated various spots as good photo opportunities, so we patiently waited our turn.

Some of the carvings are still in great shape (though I imagine some of it might be restoration rather than original based on the color changes).

Ta Promh has a mysterious and famous "stegosaurus" carving in one of its panels (the carving in the second circle from the top in the picture below).  Some people think that this carving is proof that the Khmer had encountered stegosaurus dinosaurs centuries before the first known fossil was discovered in Colorado in 1876.  Others say this carving is just a boar or a rhinoceros in front of a leafy backdrop.  Early stegosaurus ancestor fossils have been found in China, so I suppose it's possible that the Khmer had encountered something like a stegosaurus but this carving sure looks like a stegosaurus representation to me.

More Ta Prohm as we explored the ruins.

The Bakong Temple is one of the oldest ones we visited.  It was built by King Indravarman I in the 9th century as the state temple, predating Angkor Wat by a few centuries, in the middle of the Khmer Empire's first capital cities, Hariharalaya.  Subsequent kings expanded it in the 12th and 13th centuries.

There are several stairs to climb up to the top portions.

Once on the top, we had nice views of the other structures and the surrounding countryside/jungle.

 Like many of the other temples we visited, I could imagine ancient civilizations living, working, and worshiping here.

Bakong was the first mountain temple constructed of sandstone.  The reddish color of these out buildings that may have been libraries or stores stand out against the green of the jungle.

The central tower was a good place to climb to for views and to take pictures of us when we got all the way up there.

Bakong was also surrounded by a moat.  We liked the beautiful flowering trees and blossoms, so Lydia put one in her hair against the water lilies or lotus blossoms in the water.

Angkor Wat was probably the highlight excursion of our long Southeast Asian vacation for me.  I'm very glad I had the opportunity to explore it with my family and very appreciative for all the effort being made to preserve what is left of it for future generations.