Walking around the Old Market area of Siem Reap in the evening and visiting Angkor Wat temples in the day. The first temple we saw was “Banteay Srey” that was made entirely by women with lots of intricate carvings and sculptures throughout. This was about 45 minute drive past the main Angkor temples, through the countryside where we saw lots of “Bikes of Burden”, tractors with big loads and locals on bicycles.
Next we went to “Ta Prohm” which has
been mostly left for the jungle to takeover with trees, vines and moss growing
out and over and through the ancient temple ruins. The “Bayon” temple has the four faces of Buddha pointing
north, east, south and west on multiple towers reaching into the sky. The actual Angkor Wat temple is surrounded by a huge moat and has prominent central towers that look more striking from across the moat in profile than up close surrounded by tourists. Last but not least was Phnom Bakheng 'mountain-top' temple to view the sunset over the West Baray and distant Angkor Wat. The 360 degree panorama view was spectacular especially when a large group of monks climbed the steps to the temple terrace, but unfortunately it started pouring rain before we could see the sunset. Seeing the views before the rain and getting lots of pictures of monks at the temple made getting soaked to the bone worthwhile though. Whew, 2 days and we're all templed out!
No comments:
Post a Comment