A Day Devoted to Cambodian Temples: Exploring Angkor

Sat, Jun 17, 2023

A Day Devoted to Cambodian Temples: Exploring Angkor

Angkor has been on my Bucket List for a very long time. I had long promised myself that when he relocated to India, exploring Asia would be high up on my list of priorities. And now that the opportunity has presented itself, I thought I should begin in Cambodia and then hop across the border to Vietnam. Accordingly, I felt my excitement mounting as I awoke, to an alarm at the unearthly hour of 4.00 am to experience the sunrise at Angkor Wat, the main and largest temple in the vast region of Angkor that comprises scores of them.

So here’s a bit about Angkor. It lies a few kilometers outside the small town of Siem Reap which, since it has an international airport, makes a very useful base for Angkor tourists. Lonely Planet recommended we make the early start to see the sunrise over the four towers of the temple—-hence the pre-dawn start. Most hotels will provide a packed breakfast and since we requested one last night (together with a 4 am wake-up call), our food packets and our guide and driver were waiting for us in our hotel lobby at 4.30 am.

Angkor was the capital of the ancient kingdom of the Khmer kings who ruled the region from the 9th to the 15th centuries when Cambodia spread across the region incorporating parts of modern-day Burma, Thailand and Laos. They were wealthy, powerful and very religious kings and several generations constructed Hindu temples as signs of their devotion to their Gods as well as means of encouraging local artisans to flourish. A few of the temples fell into disuse and were eventually abandoned until they were rediscovered by French explorers at the end of the 19th century. Tourism took off by the early 20th century when vast international projects were launched to refurbish, renovate and rescue the temples. Many had been taken over for centuries by Nature. The large roots of some of the trees dislodged the foundations of the temples and have caused them to fall into ruin. Others have been used as houses of prayers continually through the centuries and are, therefore, in a near-pristine state. As Hinduism was taken over by Buddhism which spread from India over to Southeast Asia and the Far East, later kings built Buddhist temples. It could easily take the modern traveler a whole week to see all of he temples that are currently open to visitors (it is possible that several more are yet to be found, lurking or buried somewhere in the lush tropical forest that surround all of them). Many contemporary tourists take 2-3 days to see the temples at leisure while tourists (such s ourselves) on horseback, do it in a day. You can cover most of the famous and most remarkable temples in a day if you begin as early as 5.00 am—which we did! The ticket for a day’s touring of the temples costs $37.The three day ticket costs $67. Frankly, I thought a day was plenty and we did not at all feel as if we had hurried through anything.

Exploring Angkor Wat:

The main Wat (Temple) is usually referred to as Angkor Wat. We stopped to pick up our tickets at the Ticket/Visitors Center and then made the 20 minute ride in the darkness to the venue. Lots of other tourists had the same idea and the place was filled with tour buses, tuktuks, cars, etc. that spilled out their passengers as dawn gradually broke across the Cambodian skies.

We walked on a pontoon that is placed on the huge moat that encircles the temple—the size of the moat is itself remarkable. Our guide explained that slave labor from Thailand as well as local servants were used to construct it. There is a vast amount of walking one does, going through a gateway (most temples are within walled compounds that have four gates). Angkor Wat is the world’s largest Hindu temple and the distance from the entry gateway to the pedestal on which the temple is constructed (reached by about ten steps) is great. By the end of the day, I found the walk from the car parks to the temples the most trying part of the visits as oftentimes one walked half a mile at a time to get to the temple after being dropped off.

The temple only opens at 7.00 am—so prior to this time, you can sit in the surrounding gardens and admire the structure, its dimensions, its reflection in a pool (a popular spot for photos), climb inside the lesser shrines that offer a glimpse of some of the carving found inside and wonder how such structures were built more than a thousand years ago. You also wonder at the vast influence of Hinduism and Buddhism that made its way so far away from their country of origin (India) to create such vast global storehouses of devotion and spiritualism.

Sadly, today happened to be a Buddhist holy day—entry to the top of the temple was closed. We, therefore, did not receive the aerial views of the complex that would have given us a sense of the layout of the complex from a height. We waited until the general opening and then followed our guide who took us inside, from one ‘room’ to the next, each of which would have functioned as a shrine to a deity—Shiva, Vishnu, Laxmi, Brahma, etc.

Once inside, we walked along the lengthy corridors whose walls are completely covered with bas-reliefs. The base is sandstone, a fairly soft stone to carve when it is first quarried. To carve it in situ is far more difficult. Still, the vast pageantry of ancient warfare (the Battle of Kurukshetra, for instance, between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, as laid out in the Mahabharata) are seen on the walls. There is also the pageantry of Suryavarman (builder of the temple) riding off to war in a horse-drawn carriage, while in other panels, he appears on an elephant. The carvings are incredibly detailed with a multitude of characters clearly visible as they impress with their skills in archery. The Legend of the Churning of the Milky Ocean is also depicted in another long corridor. There are also loads of apsaras or dancing girls on the walls, each sporting a different hairstyle (there are more than 3000 of them with about 300 different hair-dos!). In so many ways, these carved walls reminded me of the Bayeux Tapestry in Bayeux in Normandy, France, except that it was a tapestry there, not a carved wall. Many of the full-scale statues of Hindu and Buddhist deities have been vandalized, over the centuries. Most have missing heads, chopped off by raiders or preserved at the National Museum in Phnom Pehn, the capital city. What still survives today is indeed extraordinary and, like all visitors, we were struck by the attention to minute detail and the realism with which the stories were depicted.

After spending more than an hour in Angkor and having missed the sunrise completely (as the skies were badly overcast), we made our way back, down the long walkway to the car park area. This part of the complex has restaurants, rest rooms, etc. Sen Su found us a table in a neat little place where we ordered coffees (iced for me) and tucked into our breakfast boxes (two thick slices of white sandwich bread), a harder bread roll, a hard boiled egg (I made myself an egg sandwich with butter), orange marmalade and two bananas—filling and wholesome and good. We used restrooms and then made our way to the next wat. We would spend the rest of the day going from one wat to the next, marveling at the individual features of each one.

Next Stop: Angkor Thom

Every part of Angkor and each Wat (especially the ones we had chosen) have something special that singles them out from the next. At Angkor Thom, it was the vast number of statues of Hindu and Buddhist deities that were carved out of stone to flank the long walkway entrances to the gateways of the temples. The gateway tower itself is carved, on all four sides, with the face of the Buddha as the king (Jayavarman II) who commissioned this temple, had converted to Buddhism. This complex consists of several smaller temples such as Bayon and Baphune, all notable for their stone carved walls and life-size deities. There is intricate carving also on the walls and pillars that hold up these incredible structures. Here too there was a steep flight of stairs leading up to the shrine of the Buddha, but we were prohibited entry today as it is a holy day. Instead, we walked around to the Terrace of the Elephants that is held up by elephant carvings which also surround the raised dais in bas-reliefs. Finally, there is the platform of the Lepers, a rather unusual addition to the complex. At one time, Angkor Thom would have featured a Main Street on which processions would have taken place as they passed by seven structures each of which served an official function. Of these one remains closely intact wile the rest have suffered considerable damage due to the elements.

Next Stop: Preah Khan

temple is deceptively smaller. Once you enter it, you realize that you are walking through multiple ‘rooms’, each of which housed a linga—this is a Shiva temple—but most of them are either broken or are missing altogether. Some have been rescued and taken to the Museum in the capital.It also contains the hall of the dancing girls—so-called because it features panels of carved stone apsaras on the walls of one of the rooms. Preah Khan has one interesting feature: a huge tree has roots spread over one of its exterior walls. With help from Western conservators, it was cut off. Plans are now in place to remove the roots and detach them from the stones of the temple before the tree rots, falls on its own and damages the walls.

Next Stop: Banteay Srei, the Most Exquisite of them All

It was a longish ride to Banteay Srei temple, which is about 30 Kms away from the main Angkor complex. This gave both Llew and me the opportunity to kick back and nap for a good half an hour. We both needed it as we had woken up at 4.00 am after a previous sleepless night.

The entrance to Banteay Srei is beautifully appointed. It is, in fact, known as the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art and as soon as you enter, you will see why. First of all, it is made out of pink sandstone (a most feminine color) as opposed to the grey granite of the other temples. Secondly, it has smallish proportions—no vast walkways or endless corridors. The galleries are small and compact. This has led art historians to believe that it was designed by a woman as its aesthetic is also decidedly feminine.

To my mind, the most interesting aspects of this temple are the detailed carvings on the pediments of each entrance—all in a beautiful state of preservation. In addition to depicting a deity (this, by the way, is a Laxmi temple, another reason to believe that women were responsible for it). The deity is almost always Laxmi here, but she is surrounded by flowers, vines, carved curlicues, etc. that are deeply enthralling. Inside, deep in the recesses of the complex are a series of smaller temples (entrance was forbidden because of the holiday), each guarded by a series of animals or human guards, whether nagas (serpents), Singhas (lions), Garudas (eagles) or humans. Walking around the temple precincts is to marvel at the patience and skills of ancient craftsmen as well as the generosity of ancient kings that finances these projects

Next Stop: Lunch at Parvis Restaurant

Our guide informed us that although it was early (just 11.30 am) we should consider having our lunch at Banteay Srei where there was a proper restaurant called Parvis Restaurant that had a proper menu. Once we settled down and ordered a Diet Coke (I badly needed a carbonated cold drink), we took a look at the menu and I decided to order the Fish Amok, the national dish of Cambodia, made with fish from the Tonle Sap Lake on which we had taken a boat ride yesterday. This was served in a tender coconut shell to be eaten over rice. It was just delicious. Llew (who does not eat fish) chose the Prawn Curry with Green Peppercorns which was also served over rice. We both enjoyed our meal tremendously as the spice level was just right and the dishes themselves filled with flavor. The setting of the place was particularly pleasing—it was set in a verdant garden and had a variety of glorious orchids hanging from the ceiling.

Next Stop: Ta Prohm, the Wat Taken Over by Trees

Other than Angkor Wat itself, a lot of people associate Angkor with the giant trees that have grown right through the temples. And indeed this temple is a sight to behold. It had started to drizzle by the time we arrived here and our guide was fully prepared with umbrellas for us all! We stopped at the platform at the main entrance where our guide gave us a bit of background about the temple’s history before we proceeded forward into the heart of the temple. Here, the biggest attraction are the vast number of trees jutting out through the roofs or covering the temple’s stone foundations.The reason for this occurrence is that the temple was abandoned in 1431 and remained unoccupied until the late 1880s when it was ‘rediscovered’. In more than five centuries, nature completely took over and the vast jungle swallowed up the complex. Also famous is the fact that Angelina Jolie was recently in Cambodia to shoot a film called “Tomb Raiders” which our guide highly recommended and then proudly informed me that he had a picture taken with her. Lots of opportunities for photography, of course, in such an unusual venue, and visitors ha a great time as they looked upon the ancient stones.

Next Two Stops: Banteay Krei and Kravana

By the time we arrived at Banteay Krei, which was largely in ruin for the same reason—trees have pushed up the stones of the temple’s foundation and destroyed it, there was nothing but the heady atmosphere of antiquity to recommend it. We did not spend too much time here as we were also quite tired by this point and, once again, I noticed that we had a long half mile walk (at least) from the car park to the entrance.

We sat in the van for the last time to go to the Temple of Kravana, from which I did not expect too much, only to be pleasantly surprised. This little complex consists of five pink sandstone towers in graduated sizes, the biggest and tallest in the center. Dedicated to Vishnu, it has massive bas-reliefs of the deity on the walls of the main temple looking as fresh as the day it was first carved. There was also inscriptions of the walls in ancient Khmer language that our guide could read and that pronounced it as being build in the 12th century. A lot of this temple has been restored and the contrast between the old stones and bricks and the new ones is really visually striking.

With this final visit done, we were ready to take a break from temples for a while! However, we had one more treat to which we both looked forward: a ride in a helium balloon over Angkor to take in the main Wat from above.

A Helium Balloon Ride that Never Was:

Sadly, our balloon ride was cancelled. Our guide told us that this was due to heavy winds up in the air but since we felt nothing below, I have to believe there was another reason. The rain (just a slight drizzle that lasted about ten minutes and cooled the place down considerably) had probably thrown off other visitors and we seemed to be the only ticket holders. They probably did not think it was profitable enough to take the balloon up for just two customers—and so, cancelled the ride. I was sorry as Llew had never been up in a balloon. I’d had the pleasure in Irvine, California, about six years ago, when Chriselle had treated me to a ride in a hot-air balloon during one of my business visits to California. Who knows when we will have the next opportunity to go up in one of these striking contraptions?

Back in the Hotel:

Really quite visibly fatigued by the time—as the huge amount of walking and the tremendous humidity had taken their toll on us—we were delighted to walk through the old Market and get back to our hotel. It was our intention to take a nap and then get out again for a meal. But, seriously, once we hit the bed, it was hard to get up again. We were both wiped out! When we awoke, we had a drink in our room (Room Service) and snacked on nibbles and were simply too lazy to get out again. What a good thing we had tasted a bit of the night life, the previous evening!

And so, after a most eventful day, we showered, made a few calls and called it a night.

Angkor was breathtaking and, although we were deprived the pleasure of seeing the sunset and surveying the complex from an airborne balloon, we’d had a splendid day and were able to take our disappointments in our stride.

Until Tomorrow…