Siem Reap - Bayon Temple Part 1

After Angkor Wat, we headed to the next temple which was nearby. I love ridding the tuk-tuk around the park. I mean, look at the view above! It's just so stunning! So surreal. To have a ruin just right there in the middle of the road. The fact the road is so wide, and so much greeneries around it. I used to looked at old photos from my aunt, and some of the scenes in old Penang looks just like these!

Above is what the front seat of our tuk tuk looked like. Our driver Chork also carried an ice cooler back behind and would hand us ice cold water every time we came back to the tuk tuk. Awesome service! Interestingly his English is not very good, so sometimes we use Google Translator to communicate with each other. He is actually from Phnom Penh but prefers Siem Reap better. He said he hopes to bring his wife and kids to Siem Reap in three years time! Good job Chork! Maybe I'll go back in three years time to check up on you! 

Crossing some of the water features, along the road there are these beautiful stone statue that looks like they are carrying something. It's similar to what we saw in front of the American School. I have yet to find out what these signify.....I'm such a lousy tourist! I just really want to enjoy the sights and feel what I feel when I am in a certain place instead of focusing too much on it's history. 

Next temple we went to? Bayon Temple, the temple of faces!

Above is the entrance where Chork dropped us off. Stunning isn't it? It's almost like walking into a painting, or even, another dimension! It looked like a rather small temple, so I told Chork to fetch us in one hour. Ends up, we got kinda lost inside the maze of the corridors! Around 45mins, I was rather panicking at how lost we were. Luckily we found the spot where we started shortly, and made our way out! Stressful!

The reason we got so lost was once you ventured inside, it is just a mazed of stone corridors, and each one would lead to smaller compound with more face tower. It was rather mysterious and beautiful. And I am again so glad the sky was just so blue!

The faces on the tower were supposed to be unique, and some looked like they were smiling. They looked rather kind, demure, and calm. They are not the faces of Buddha. As most towers have four faces, they are actually the hindu God Brahma. 

But to be frank, all I saw was scenes of Tomb Raiders! Hahahaha. Let me have my moments!

But to be honest, again, who build all these beautiful temples. So much love and effort was put into them. All I felt in Angkor Wat was a dedication that is so strong. And it was something I couldn't share or feel, yet I am curious and in awe by what people would do for their Gods or their Kings. It was something hard for me to understand, but it doesn't stopped me from admiring the beautiful art that came out from these devotion. 

I do wander why there are so many towers though. A temple of a thousand faces? It sure was confusing after venturing into those tunnels inside. Apart from the building and faces, it also holds one of the most detailed sandstone carvings on it's front wall. I will share that in my next post. 

There were some Buddha statues scattered here and there, but I don't recognise the statue above with the white cloth. Perhaps it was a local God? There aren't any description or explanation on site. I guess this is where a local guide might have helped, but I'm too stingy to pay for one! I rather come back and google more about it. Since I came back, I've been watching a lot of Khmer Empire videos on YouTube, more on their history instead of their culture and religion though.

Not part of the temple, but just across from it, we saw this cool Buddha status sitting underneath a shed in the forest. I thought that was sooooo coool! It screams serenity to me, excuse the oxymoron in that statement, lol. It is religion that is blended into nature that I like, maybe not religion per say, but the concept of something spiritual blending with nature. For isn't spirituality natural?