Cambodia - Angkor What?

Background-East Mebon, one of Angkor Wat monuments - comprised of the

five towers built in 953. Inside, full of impressive and artistic carvings,

lintel, stoneworks, elephant statues, etc. All these involved dedications,

talented skills, concentration and worked for whole life! I wonder,

these people born just for this purpose! Salute, thank you, sirs!

Background-Angkor Wat temple, was a city built on 12th century.

A rectangular shape with area of 1.5km x 1.3km. It needs to take

hours to walk and study! It is bigger than I could imagine!

A 230m causeway- an entrance to Angkor Wat Temple. Just imagined

1000 years ago, Kings riding elephants, instead of Rolls-Royce,

on this path to their kingdom! Hmmm... Cool!

Neak Pean, built on 12th century-A nanga (dragon) lake, ancient time

submerged with water, possessed the healing power, a sort of hospital.

People came to pray and 'wash away the sins'. 4 sides of lake represent

Fire, Water, Earth & Wind, symbolize the 4 basic elements of universe.

Preak Khan of 12th century; it is more than a temple, it was a Buddhist

university with 1000 teachers, should be considered as a city! It was given

as a gift to the then King's father, in 1191. In this monument, we can see

hundred of Buddhist carvings, like deities, bodhisattva Lokesvara, etc.

In Preach Khan temple(12th century)-A big lingam stick out(male organs) and

yoni, the square base(female organs). On those days, people believed, if pregnant

woman wanted a baby boy, she touched the lingam. If she preferred a baby girl

then touched the yoni. The wish came true, so simple! Who want to try?

Ta Prohm Temple, 12th century-with overgrowth of jungle & trees interlaced

with ruined building. The trees that intertwined among the ruins, make the

environment unique, peaceful & serene. Is it an ideal place for meditation?

Kbal Spean-11th century. This is not a temple, but a hilly stream or river

flows down from the hillside, cut through waterfall. Along a 150m stretch

there are images of gods have been carved directly into the river bed.

This site famous for carving of lingam in a row on river side.

The rounded and protruded carved rocks, in row, are lingam.

So it is called 'River of a Thousand Lingam'.

At Kbal Spean, some ancient hermits or yogi did some carvings in a stream bed;

this god is Vishnu, in reclining position, his wife Lakshmi, massaging his legs.

Hinduism believes in 3 important gods;Vishnu, Shiva & Brahma.

East Gate of Angkor Thom-12th century. An entrance to the mysteries

of the past.

Leper King Terrace-13th century. Nagas and deities of the underworld,

in the hidden wall.

The Bayon-12th century. A lot of religious constructions, gods of Hindu

worship to Buddhism, the Bayon's principal image, is the 3.6m Buddha.

All the carvings depicted and telling the history of this kingdom. It is

extremely informative; from luxury of King's life, to cruelty of wars,

and daily life of common people, like selling fish, cock fighting, etc.

Angkor Wat-A more complete statue of deity.

The Bayon - fine and well carved images of gods on

4 sides of big stone.

Angkor Wat-12th century. Part of the outside view of huge and magnificent temple.

Need a lot of climbing up and down, to see in details.

At Pre Rup temple, seeing a brave father, carried his baby getting down a steep staircase.

Visiting temples in Angkor Wat Area, all staircases are very steep, and some are

very high! Must be very careful, sometimes, just give up when it is too high!

At Kbal Spean's hill top, resting on a swing, with local kids begging for money.

It is a good practice to have a lot of 1 USD notes, as this country accept dollar.

It is also easy to do charity, when right situation arises. Generally Cambodia is

one of the poorest countries in the world. But it does not mean the cost here is low

and cheap, things here are pretty high in cost, higher than Malaysia! As dollar is used here!

The Angkor Wat is the ancient city of temples or pagoda. A world of treasures with the most outstanding legacies of Cambodia that can attract million of tourists each year. The magnificent Angkor Wat is just a few km away from a small town, Siem Reap.

To my surprise, the Indian legacies, like the great religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, have a great impact on all aspects of the Cambodian cultures through out the history of this country. Touring in this Angkor Archaeological Park, is just like walking around the Indian temples with thousand years of its cultures, especially influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism, plus the artistic Indian motif in every part of monuments. It is worth seeing, and immersed yourself on the horizon into the sites with deep historical past!

Actually Angkor Wat is just one of the temples/monuments inside the Angkor Wat Complex. Sometimes, it is called Angkor Archaeological Park, within this park there are 30 to 40 accessible ancient temples, way back to more than 1000 years of historical sites or monuments. Some temples just 3 to 5 km away from town Siem Reap, like Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, but some beyond the town of 50 to 60 km away, like Kbal Spean. So the trip has to be planned accordingly in order to maximize the places for visiting.

The following are some suggestive sites, which are interesting and intellectually provocative, when one experiences or sees the actual scenes, which had been created by fellow human beings in thousand years ago! It is simply amazing! Here there are;

Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, Elephant Terrace, Leper King Terrace, Bakheng, Chao Say Tevoda, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Banteay Srey, Pre Rup, Kbal Spean, East Mebon, Neak Pean, Preach Khan... and more.

At least 4-5 day trip is sufficient, but a week will be much more relaxed, and enjoy the care free type of journey. This is to avoid those who come in rush just to 'look, look, see, see' type of tour. Of course, coming to this archaeological trip must do some home works, with some interest in architectural, cultural, historical and religious aspects of things.

Or else, looking and seeing those ruins, incomplete and mostly, the monuments are seriously damaged and collapsed in structures, due to looted and stolen. Like most Buddha's images are without heads! It can be seen, there are a lot loose block of stones scattering around within the compound of temples. Without understand the background and history, is just like seeing a heap of funny shapes carving on ordinary stones. This could be bored and wasting of time, especially when weather there is hot and humid, we have to climb hill, follow jungle tracks, up and down the high staircases of temples. Just imagine when visiting during the hot session. It is unbearable and torturing! Anyway, it depends on individuals.

Like my friend, she says,"why come to this kind of place to see stones, and torture yourself!". You see, asian lady always wants to go big malls, big cities, like London, Paris, to buy branded stuff. But from observation, 70-80% of tourists coming to Angkor Wat are from the West, like from Europe. That is the difference! May be life is bored, when people live in the modern cities. So take some risk and explore some wilderness of countries with a abundant of archaeological relics of lost civilization, will be more exciting and interesting. Right? May be next trip, have to go to Africa, and make friends with apes, lions and tigers... haha...

For info, the entrance fee for Angkor Wat Temples, range from USD 20 (1 day), 40 (3 days) & 60 (7 days).