Cambodia - The Temples of Angkor

Most people travel to Cambodia to visit the temples of Angkor – thousands of temples built between 802 and 1220AD, which are scattered throughout the jungle near Siem Reap. The temples range in size and complexity and some are more famous than others. Overall, at Angkor, there are three temples which are perhaps most famous and are a "must see" for any tourist. The three most famous temples include Angkor, Bayon, and Ta Prohm. Ali and I decided to include these three temples in our tour as well as several other smaller less popular ones. The day before the trip we discussed our plan with our tuk tuk driver, Wanna, and he suggested the "big circuit" tour for us. To tour the "big circuit" we had to hire Wanna for the day and he would drive us from temple to temple. It only cost $20 USD for both of us, and we saw about 12 temples over an 8-hour span. We started the day at 6am at Angkor to see the sunrise, and ended around 2pm at Ta Prohm.

Angkor Wat Temple

The first temple on the circuit was the main Angkor temple. We woke up at 5am in order to get to the temple complex well before sunrise. The main Angkor temple is well known and dozens of people flock to the temple every day at sunrise to see the sun come up over the temple and reflect in the pond in front. Thus, around 5:45am, right before sunrise, we had to elbow our way through swarms of tourists all trying to get to front of the temple and claim the best spot for a photo. Tripods lined the edge of the pond, and lawn chairs were even opened up! We had to slowly make our way though the hordes of people and we eventually found a little space off to the side of the pond for our tripod. Now, it was a waiting game. We had to wait for the perfect time – when the sun just rises over the temple and brilliant colours result. While waiting, we snapped some pictures of us in the pre-dawn light and figured out how exactly to set-up our new tripod (which we had purchased in Bangkok before leaving). While waiting Ali and I were approached by many people trying to sell things. Children as young as two would approach us with a handful of postcards or bracelets and try to convince us to buy some. We did not buy anything though, and continued to wait for the sunrise. Eventually, all the waiting paid off and we got some nice pictures of the temple (the temple silhouette backed by brilliant dawn colours). After we got a fair number of photos, we packed up the tripod and camera and proceeded into the temple. Since this was the largest temple in the complex, it took us about an hour to explore the various corridors and rooms. There were some nice relief carvings on the outer walls showing various battle scenes. Part of the temple was under reconstruction while we were there, but the majority of it was accessible and provided some great photo opportunities. Once we finished exploring the temple, we headed back out to the main road and met back up with Wanna and the tuk tuk.


The "Woman’s Temple"

After getting back in the tuk tuk, Wanna drove us to the next temple – a temple on the outskirts of the complex called "The Woman’s Temple". The temple was about 26km from the main complex area, which meant we had a good 45 minutes to eat some breakfast and take in the scenery on the drive. The drive to the temple was down a narrow dirt road. The temple was so far off the beaten path that we had an opportunity to drive though some villages and rice fields along the way. It was nice as we got to see some of the local communities and some of rural Cambodia. Periodically we would pass a group of children. They would glance up excitedly from what they were doing and wave and smile at us in the tuk tuk as we passed. We arrived at the temple entrance, showed our park pass and walked about 10 minutes down a path toward the temple. The temple was quite small but is famous for its relief sculptures. It is nicknamed the "woman’s temple" because of the delicate carvings that line the walls – every where you look you will see intricate designs and well preserved reliefs. We took some photos (and realized the camera battery was not as charged as we would have liked it to be!) and then proceeded on our way to the next temple.


Random Small Temples

We next visited about 5 temples that were not as famous and kind of off the beaten track. There were fewer tourists in them so it was much quieter and easier to explore. We visited one temple for which we had to cross a bridge. The bridge was lined with sculptures of men that were possibly Cambodian soldiers. Some of the men were missing heads or disfigured in some way. At the time we didn’t understand why they were ruined, but after reading "First they Killed my Father" (a memoir about a small Cambodian girl during the recent Cambodian war) we soon learned that the heads were chopped off by the Khmer Rouge soldiers during Pol Pot’s rein. Pol Pot hated religion and during the war he ordered soldiers to destroy the Angkor temples because they no longer were important in his idea of a perfect communist society. Some of the other small temples we visited had local artists drawing or painting pictures in them. The artists were trying to sell their work to tourists. We spent about 3 hours exploring the various smaller temples. We then continued on to the final two temples (famous temples that we were actually most excited for) Bayon and Ta Prohm.


Bayon & The Elephant Terrace

Bayon is arguably the most famous temple after Angkor in the complex. Bayon includes the iconic 4-sided heads. All throughout the temple these faces and carved onto pillars and posts. They are perhaps 2m in diameter each and are very powerful when seen up close. The faces face the cardinal directions and dozens of them are within the temple. Ali and I spent about an hour in Bayon taking pictures with the faces and exploring passageways. We then crossed the road and walked along the "Terrace of Elephants". The terrace is about 100m long and 2m high. The front is covered with elephant sculptures and once upon a time, the terrace was used for social events and gatherings. Slowly we made our way to the end of the terrace, found Wanna and the tuk tuk and then proceeded to the final temple.
　

Ta Prohm ("the Jungle Temple")

The "Jungle Temple" Ta Prohm, is a smaller temple located in the heart of the jungle just off the main road. Ta Prohm is famous for the jungle trees that line the walls and inner areas of the building. It has been said to evoke thoughts of "nature vs man" as the building and nature are so intertwined that it looks as though the jungle is slowly taking over the temple. Ta Prohm is also famous because the "Tomb Raider" movie was filmed there. Ali and I LOVED the Tomb Raider computer game as kids, thus we were super excited to go where Lara Croft had gone! We were super cool and "pretended to be Lara" a couple times. We took pictures of us "shooting things" and "climbing walls". We even tried to take a "Tomb Raider video" but the camera battery died. This was one of the coolest temples of the day.
　
After Ta Prohm we decided we had had enough for the day. It was 40 degrees and mid-day at this point and we were super exhausted. We decided to head back to Siem Reap in the tuk tuk and escape the heat. Overall, the temples were fascinating and fairly well preserved. It was nice to see such a symbolic and important world heritage site.