Other "Temples" around Siem Reap

Although the temples around Siem Reap that were the highlights for me I covered in previous blog entries, there are still many more.

One of the best was Kbal Spean. Not only did it involve 90 minutes of peaceful travel in a tuktuk through rural Cambodia, this was then followed by a 1.5 kilometre walk through the jungle. The destination is very different- carved figures in rocks beside a stream and above a small waterfall. Some looked like bells, other were people (or gods) plus there were lingas carved into rocks in the base of the stream. These resembled a checkerboard of round circles on top of the rocks, often hard to see because of a covering of mud. Many locals come here for picnics and to splash in the stream, while a couple of saffron-clad monks were also there when I was. Here are some photos.

This is Sras Srang, what today looks like a large lake but was actually once the Royal Baths. Its shores make a popular place on the weekends. Here I met the girl below in the pink, who talked to me - well actually tried to get me to buy something from her - while playing on the boat. She eventually left to head off for English lessons.

Bakong Temple shown below is part of the Rolous group. These structures were built prior to those closer to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. It is believed to be the first temple with the pyramidal structure. It looks better in black and white than in colour.

The feet of a statue in front of Chou Say Thevoda, a small structure that was under heavy renovation when I visited.

Also part of the Roluos group is Neak Pean, another very different structure. Resembling a Buddhist stupa, the temple is surrounded by pools with stone stairs leading down to its shore. The photo below shows the detail of a statue depicting a horse rescuing drowning sailors.

Closely followed by . . . . . . Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom is an even more vast complex than Ta Prohm. It consists of a number of temples and terraces and even pools for the residents to bathe in hundreds of years ago. In between the souvenir stands and the hawkers trying to sell you silk scarves and bamboo flutes, the carvings on the structures are stunning and very ornate. The centrepiece in Bayon Temple, which is featured later.

The first three photos are off the Terrace of the Leper Kings, probably more aptly called a wall. But not just any wall, rather one that is covered in carved figures and carved faces. The next two photos are two of my favourites from the whole trip.




Bayon Temple could be better titled the "Temple of Heads". Once you head up the steps towards the centre and higher up part of the temple, there are faces looking at you from all directions - not the moving faces of the fellow tourists but rather the 173 that adorn the stone towers. Looking down, they face the four cardinal points. It is a bizarre, yet completely fascinating place. I went there twice and could still have gone back again. Se some of the faces and heads below -:

My favourite: Ta Prohm or the Jungle Temple

Ta Prohm is a wonderfully atmospheric place where the jungle trees are trying to take back over the land that in the 12th and 13th centuries was used as a place to build this rambling Buddhist temple complex. Tree roots climb over stone walls, surround doorways and push their way through crack in the walls. Further evidence of the age of the place (and the jungle humidity), is the splattering of pale link and light green on the rocks and stones courtesy of the thriving lichen. Follow the meandering corridors and get lost or retrace your steps after a pile of rocks block the way. Not surprising that is was used as the eerie backdrop for the Tomb Raider movie.

Here are some photos to show you why -:

Angkor Wat

This is what draws everyone to Siem Reap and the Angkor complex but it is definitely not my favourite temple complex there. It is spectacular both at sunrise and sunset but there are hordes of people. Considering I was there in low season I dread to think what it is like in high season.

The best time to go inside is straight after sunrise when hardly anyone is there as all the sunrise watchers go back to their hotels for breakfast. It was so quiet, serene as the sunlight gradually lights ups the walls and carvings.

Anyway, here are a few photos.