Day 15 – 17.10.2016
We woke up very early to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Heres a little montage.
There were a lot of people awake with us. Including some with extensive photographic gear!
Yes, I was there and woke up to be there at 04:30 am...
More of the compilation!
So many people around already in the early hours.
We would be back after breakfast!
We started visiting Angkor Wat from the back side of the temple.
Thank you Wikipedia:
„Angkor Wat (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត or "Capital Temple") is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world, with the site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres). It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.
Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.“
A temple before the large temple begins.
Angkor Wat!
As you can see there is no main entrance with stairs or the like. Instead, the stairs are left and right of the entrance. Why is that you ask – the king would ride his elephant to the temple and so would need an easy way to get off his elephant instead of climbing stairs!
Inside the temple.
More stone carvings depicting creationist Hindu stories.
Elephant warriors.
Unlike the ruler that changed the Buddhist carvings into Hinduist images, the Buddhist didn’t change the Hinduist carvings, and instead just added their own and Buddhist statues.
The Khmer Rouge had their main camp close by. When locals hid here they were found, which is the reason for these bullet holes.
The God in the centre.
The image of Hinduist version of the Greek Apollo.
Walking along the corridors the carvings became more complete and intricate.
You can even see the patterns on the clothing of the fighters.
The view of the place we had been in the morning for the photosession.
The god in the battle of the churning of the Ocean of milk.
A pool built not for swimming but for worshipping. There are four pools, symbolising the four elements.
The centre point of the temple.
This point is special. It faces 0° North. From here you can see the pathway coming towards Angkor Wat. This too is special, because over all this way (nearly a km!) the builders were only 1 cm off from building an entirely straight path!
The staircase the king would use to climb the upper part of the temple.
Very very steep climb! We went up using a wooden staircase with a railing. Still very steep!
Wonderful view from the top!
The upper temple is incredibly large – not what I would have expected. It is here where yesterday the monks were praying for the full moon celebrations.
Looking out over the complex.
Where the king would have climbed the stairs.
Several Buddhist statues around the upper temple.
Back down we had another photoshoot on the other side of the temple.
Obligatory panorama – check!
Nearly empty Angkor Wat path!
After our visit of the temple we had a free afternoon. We headed to another branch of the friends restaurant chain called Marum.
I had red tree ants, beef, kaffir lime and chili stir fry.
As well as a mini crocodile burger with sriracha mayonnaise and banana chips. Delicious!
And a green apple, lime and mint shake. Yummy!
After that we took a stroll through the central market, where we again managed to buy things (after having promised myself not to buy anymore! – I bought a ring and a duffel bag...)
Later on we chose to go to the Cambodian Circus! It is called Phare. We were not quite sure what we would see but it was just such a lovely evening! The Phare circus is a circus program that teaches young artists from an early age (all for free) to help them get out of poverty and make a name for themselves. They operate under an innovative social enterprise model, supporting the programming of the NGO school and professional arts training center Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang. Apart from the entertainment being a good deed, it in itself was just fabulous! A little like Cirque du Soleil with a smaller budget but with wonderfully creative ideas and sequences, picking up on the story of Cambodia and issues that the youth and people go through such as alochol abuse, abuse, abandonment, bullying and influence from foreigners.
I can recommend it to anyone visiting Siem Reap! Go and support the program and have a lovely evening while you are at it.
Here are a couple of images from the evening:
(Oh yeah, and instead of dinner I had a wonderful passionfruit sorbet and a scoup of coconut sorbet – yummy!)
