Siem Reap - Ta Prohm Part 1

 

Finally, lunch time! We told Chork our driver to bring us to somewhere with local food. Perhaps he misunderstood us, although I did managed to try the Fish Amok I wanted. He took us to an eatery, and we invited him to have lunch with us. It was more of a lunch set, and personally  I thought it was rather over priced. Almost 10SGD equivalent per person for a set rice meal and drinks. We did had a celebrity seated next to us though. I wasn't aware of it. I was eyeing his drinks and food with interest more than him. But when he left and came back cause he forgot his bags, I saw his face for the first time and though how handsome he looked. That was when the owner of the place told us that the guy seated next table to us was a popular celebrity in Cambodia. Haiya. Should have take a photo of him.

Above is Chork our Tuk Tuk driver. And in front of him, with the Ferrari sticker, is his tuk tuk. We engaged him a total of 3 times in our short trip, and my friend also engaged him for a half day tour of Angkor Wat the next day. He was always polite, and very obliging. Perhaps fate let our path cross this moment in time. I think he earned quite a lot from us!

After lunch, next temple was finally the one features in Tomb Raiders, with the giant trees! The entrance also had a face tower to it, which I found rather cute. Nothing says Cambodia more than these 4-faced tower. 

Again, another long walk into the jungle via a beautiful red soil path. But there was a slight difference this time. There were all these beautiful tall trees surrounding us!

Arriving at the temple. the front of it looked so small, so humble. 

But even here, you can see giant trees towering behind it. 

Again, it was a ruin. And some part of it have collapsing stones and rocks caving in. I am torn between whether people should actually come in and take better care of this place, maintaining it so that it will last longer for the future generation to see, or just let it be like it is now, authentic in it's own ways.... Selfish as I may sound, I rather things remain authentic. Even if it won't last forever. Sometimes when you try to help it survive, it begin to morph into something totally different, totally plasticky, totally fake....

Deep inside the temple. Broadwalks can be found inside, perhaps more to protect the ground of the temple. But I think the main highlight of this temple were the trees. 

Above is a view from the other end of the temple looking back. I love the giant stone steps. And again, the trees surrounding the temple. Trees are living things. Perhaps they are the guardians of these temple. Perhaps spirits resides in them. So much mysteries!

Here is an iconic looking one, with the tree roots totally covering the temple structure. Isn't this what people imagine what Angkor Wat is like from all the posters and tourism promotion materials?

And here are the bunch of tourist. Eavesdropping again, this time from a Mandarin speaking guide, he said that if there is a tree here, there is a queue of people waiting to take a photo with it. Lol. I wasn't the type to queue. I didn't need to have my photo taken with the trees. So I just took photos of the trees itself. 

Look at the amazing roots of this tree above. It almost looked like some sort of weaving being done! And the shape of the tree looks like a triangle too. Stunning!

Yes, I was very happy here. Me inside the temple of trees. Wait till you see my next post!

Siem Reap - Preah Khan Part 2

The Preah Khan temple wasn't without it's fair share of sandstone carving. They can be found in the corner, in the walls, in the roof, and almost every part of the building. But there were also a lot of ruins of rocks and stones all over the place. Explore at your own risk!

 

Here are some official info of the place. You can click and zoom in on the photo if you would like to read more about this place. There was a place they have set up with some exhibition explaining the place.

Here is a map as well as more detailed explanation of the place.

And also the guardians and the sandstone characters you might see inside the temple.

Above exhibit caught my attention. It never occured to me to visit Angkor Wat in the rain before. If anything, I wanted to avoid the rain. But seeing this photo above, oh how magical it looked! I even started to hope it would rain so that I too can experience this wonderful scene of wet stones, the smell of wet earth and greens. And the sound of water hitting stones.... It's almost zen, but in a Cambodian Zen kinda way :P

Carving of monks/arahants in prayer

Move carving of monks/arahant in prayers. These were found above doorways!

Carvings of mysterious beings sitting cross legged on the walls. 

Siem Reap - Preah Khan Part 1

 

The next temple we went to required us to walk deep into the forest. At first I thought this was the temple that has all the trees swallowing it up, but soon realised that I was wrong. It does have a lot of trees walking in, and perhaps it used to have some giant trees inside the temple too as we saw signs of tree trunks that has been sawed off, perhaps due to safely concerns? Anyway, after a nice walk through the shaded path, we arrived at a pool of water. 

Again there were these stone man statue holding a long pole or something across the bridge. This temple was rather quiet, so I had a lot of time to explore as I wish. Even then, we kept to a one hour limit, seeing we have a packed schedule ahead of us. Lovely photo above, even if I do say so myself :P

Across the bridge, the temple appeared. A ruin, in a forest once. You could walk all the way inside to the other end. 

Above is a view while we were walking back. This is a side entrance. As I was walking by, I notice the stone statue standing at the entrance greeting tourist as they entered. I though, wow that looked very Greek. Why were we taught about the ancient ruins of Greek and Rome, but never about what is closer to home for us in Asia, or even ASEAN? These ruins were so much more complete and lovelier than the ones I saw in Italy. I felt cheated of my education! 

Again, like I am inside a game of Tomb Raider, walking through all these tunnels and corridors is going to be always exciting for me! Not to mention all the exercise you get on your leg! Every entrance requires a step up and step down of stairs. Add that all up through out the day, and you get a mighty pair of strong legs! I always feel grateful for my strong legs, especially when I am travelling. The stress I put them through daily. I am so glad they have remained strong and have never let me down! (except for the few times I slipped and fell....a few times.... )

Here is a view of a Tomb Raider treasure! With the sun shining in, the stone glowed, and it almost looked like gold from a certain angle! There was a tour group already inside when I reached this room, so I couldn't get a clear photo without anyone inside. This was the best I could get. Sunshine  coming in from the broken roof into a stone temple! What a sight! I felt like I was in a movie scene! Only this was better. This was real life. And once upon a time, these rooms, these corridors had real purpose, with real people walking through them in their daily lives....

At the other end of the temple looking back. I so love the tress and the sandy soil around it. 

Further to the end, we saw a small temple on it's own. I wasn't sure if it was part of the main temple. Perhaps it was a grave? A sinister place perhaps? I wasn't sure, but I went ahead to check it out, you know, since I was already there. 

It does look creepy doesn't it? Lol. It felt creepy too. 

And this is what it looked like inside. It was empty and dark. And there seems to be a stone marking at one end of it. And somehow, I didn't feel like stepping inside. So this was how far I went, lol. I still have a long life ahead of me, no need to take unnecessary risk!

Siem Reap - Bayon Temple Part 2

One of the things I found myself drawn to in Cambodia are the beautiful sand stone carving. You know how in the west each sculpture has a famous artist's name tied to it, especially in Italy? Why didn't they do that to pieces here? Or in China, since I just came back from there. The craftsmanship of these is insane! It's a shame the east doesn't give more credits to their artisans. I think the art here is so much better than the west, but due to lack of "marketing"....

Same as at the first temple, there are also dancing ladies carved into the walls here, but with a different design. Again, celebrating the beautiful female form. So very elegant.

I may not have a tour guide with me, but I often eavesdrop on other tour guide. I can eavesdrop in English, Mandarin, Malay/Indonesian (although I don't detect any here), and Japanese! And it was the Japanese tour guide of someone else that mentioned that these carvings on the walls detailed the daily life of the Khmer people here, from the court dancers, to the guards and ceremonies. It was obvious of course, but he also pointed our certain area and explained what they meant, which was kinda cool. 

I recall seeing the longest mural in the Grant Palace in Bangkok and thought how cool that was. But here, similar concept, but in stones! Parade and processions, with offerings and gifts. Riding on elephants and horses, with their guards in armours and weapons.... It was basically a history book documentation on sandstone!

It was hard to view everything as the carving was from top to bottom. Some were too high up to see. But it was just so much of it! And all these were mainly just from the front of the temple walls. 

The features of the people, man, woman, child.

Even trees, fruits and flowers are carved, as do body posture. Lovely!

I also like the more simpler ones, like these row of blurred carving on some corner of the ruins. These look so authentic, so part of the day to day wear and tear. It is true you can see a lot of nicer, more well restored or preserved structures in the museum, but seeing them here, as part of a once functional piece in this temple, is so much more authentic and meaningful.

Souvenir shot of me and the dancing ladies before we end the post on Bayon Temple.

 

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?