Angkor Temples Complete

 This morning just before 8 am, our tuk tuk driver arrived at our hotel and we started off for a day of touring the Angkor temple complex. It's very common to get a wave from little kids on motorbikes with their parents who are off to work. It seems that people often take their children to work with them and that there's some sort of informal system for looking after them. Not really sure how it works.

 Tourists can go for elephant rides if they wish.

 Once we got through the ticket gate, our tuk tuk driver (a good guy) advised us of what was possible in a day. We consulted the map and programmed his cellphone number into my phone in case we couldn't find him. Then he left us at the Bayon temple in the Angkor Thom complex and arranged to meet us a little further up the road. Angkor Thom is composed of at least 8 temples and other buildings and pools. Angkor Thom is over 10 square kilometres by itself.

 We spent a little more time in the Bayon with all the faces staring down from every angle.

After that, we walked up to the Baphoun, a pyramid shaped temple representing some mountain from Khmer mythology.

 Lots of big trees around here.

 We continued along the 350 metre Elephants' Terrace, a 7 metre high platform used as a viewing stand for public ceremonies and parades. The base of it is covered in carvings. In fact, just about everything at Angkor is covered in intricate stone carvings. It's hard to imagine the work that went into all of this. A lot of the stone was apparently quarried 50 km away and transported down a nearby river on rafts.

These smaller buildings are across from the Elephants' Terrace. Buildings like this are scattered all over. They don't even count. Anywhere else they would be a major tourist attraction by themselves.

 After visiting two smaller temples, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda, just outside Angkor Thom, we went back to Ta Prohm, the Tomb Raider temple. It hasn't been fully restored and there are trees growing on it and jumbles of stones all over. Real Indiana Jones territory.

Ta Prohm with Canadian.

 Ta Prohm.

 Along the paths to many of the temples there are little bands playing who are victims of landmines and are raising money for other victims of landmines. It is very common to see people in Cambodia missing limbs. In Canada and in Europe, we often get tired of being hit up for money by professional panhandlers, some of whom are just scamming because it's easy. Here, there are some real hardship cases with no other means to live. It's common to see Khmers giving money to beggars, probably because there isn't the same social security net that we are accustomed to in Canada. A dollar here means very little to us but a lot to someone with nothing.
After Ta Prohm, we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant. It was overpriced and no doubt our tuk tuk driver got a free lunch for taking us there but that's okay. Again, it might seem like a scam in Canada but it's kind of an informal system here to share the wealth. After lunch and a short visit to another temple and reservoir, we went to a highlight, Angkor Wat, the biggest religious building in the world. Angkor Wat was built in the 1200s, I think, around the same time as the big cathedrals in Europe. The Khmers had a very advanced civilization to be able to do this.

 Anita (covered up to be protected from the mid 30s sun and to be respectful in religious buildings) crossing the moat to the wall of Angkor Wat. The moats and reservoirs here are immense. The Western Baray, a big reservoir, must be at least 6 km long and maybe 1 1/2 wide, all dug by hand. The Khmer empire depended on big rice harvests which they ensured with lots of water.

 Me on the steps of an inner part of Angkor Wat. All the tourist steps are really steep and are over top of the original stone steps which are even steeper.

 Part of the outer courtyard of Angkor Wat.

 Looking down from the tallest accessible part of Angkor Wat to Anita sitting and chatting with a guide and his client in the shade. It was very hot and Anita didn't feel up to climbing another set of steep stairs. It made me a little nervous too.

The view east from the top. The outer wall is inside the moat so it's not possible to see the whole thing in even one direction. Since this photo is approximately from the centre, it hopefully gives an impression of the immensity of Angkor Wat. It would be good for us in the west to realize that our achievements and beliefs are a small part of what exists in the world.
We got back to our hotel about 3 pm, hot and tired but happy with what we'd experienced. We'll pack now and then walk down the street to a good Khmer restaurant that we know of. Tomorrow we get up at 5 am to be ready for our driver at 6. Off to the beach.