The Temples of Angkor

Angkor Wat is truly imposing and the main reason why many come to Cambodia. It is widely believed to be the largest religious structure in the world and was built in the 12th Century as a funerary temple for Suryavarman ІІ. To give an idea of scale, the surrounding moat is 1.3km wide and 1.5 km long! Seven headed Nagas or serpents line the approach over the moat symbolising a bridge to the land of the gods. The temple was built in honour of the Hindu god Vishnu who can be found near the entrance with all 8 arms still intact. Around the central structure of 9 domed towers (including the central one that rises to a giddy 55m) is an 800m rectangular wall completely covered with intricate well-preserved bas-reliefs. These stone carvings describe bloody earthly battles as well as heavenly events. One section describes Heaven and Hell. Yama the judge of the dead sits on his bull showing the lucky ones the road up to the 37 heavens where they dwell in luxury. The less fortunate are pushed through a trapdoor by Yama’s assistants to the 32 hells which are depicted in wonderfully gruesome detail. Another wall depicts the fabulous story of the churning of the milk where 88 grim faced asura or devils have a tug of war with 92 gods both pulling on a giant serpent causing the sea to churn up and create the elixir of immortality. Apsaras or heavenly nymphs float above some say putting off the hot- blooded devils leading to victory for the gods. (We later check out the free Apsara dancing to see these beauties in the flesh as it were…).

Our next stop is the Bayon inside the fortified city of Angkor Thom. The south gate of the city has beautifully restored massive stone heads of gods and demons lining the road. This is a taste of things to come at Bayon itself with its 216 gigantic smiling faces each carved from 20 or so huge stone blocks. Some say this was all a bit of an ego trip for the famous Jayarvarman V ІІ as all the faces bear an uncanny resemblance to this legendary king. Others say it was a clever demonstration of his power with the faces looking in different directions symbolising Jayarvarman keeping an eye or all his subjects. Whatever the truth this temple is much less intricate than Angkor Wat but has its own personality and grandeur as well as interesting and rare glimpses of contemporary Cambodian life on its own extensive bas-reliefs.

After a quick lunch break overlooking the self-explanatory terrace of the elephants we were taken to our final temple Ta Prohm of Tomb Raider fame. In spite of Angelina’s absence the whole place was hauntingly beautiful. Unlike Angkor Wat and Bayon that have both been lovingly restored, Ta Prohm has been left to look pretty much as it was when rediscovered by European explorers ie wild and rugged. So much so that many walls have collapsed and others are actually held together by the root systems of giant trees some of which rise up majestically 100m or more. The whole place is shady and green having been almost reclaimed by the jungle thus epitomising the inevitable collapse of the Ancient Khmer empire following its previously inexorable rise. WOW pretty impressive stuff and all neatly packaged into a four hour chunk which the kids managed wonderfully well.

The next day we headed to the airport bound for Hong Kong via Ho Chi Minh and took the scenic route bidding farewell to Angkor Wat ‘en route’ just as we pulled in I realised I had left our passports in the hotel safe so we took the speedier road back to the hotel and managed to outpace an ambulance on the return leg. We rushed to the check-in just in time only to be advised that in spite of previous assurances we would be unable to leave the airport in Ho Chi Minh to get to our paid hotel room and would have to spend the night on the airport floor. Luckily we were able to change our flights FOC and headed back to ‘Villa Loti’ once again to their great surprise. The slogan of the Cambodian tourist information booklets (as well as those in Laos and Vietnam) was ‘Stay another Day’ and we had taken it literally yet again.

The next day everything went more smoothly and we boarded the plane without a hitch. I was feeling a little sad to be leaving Indochina with its charming friendly people, beautiful sights and wonderfully cheap cost of living but it was time to move on. The sadness was tempered with excitement that we were heading for Hong Kong, our gateway to Australia and New Zealand and some would say back to civilisation. Yet we had discovered over the past 3 months that the whole sub-continent was civilised and brimming with culture: the next 6 months would simply be a more western style of living with its inherent advantages and disadvantages