Angkor Temples - Day 2

Ok, time to finally fill out day 2

The alarm on my cell phone went off at 4:40AM. Wha.., what the hell? Oh yeah, sunrise at Angkor. I was meeting the driver downstairs at 5:00AM for the sunrise. I made it and got down the stairs (very painfully however - to many stairs too many stairs) in time and we drove out to Angkor.

It was still pitch black and I was told the sun would be up by 5:30, so I had plenty of time as it only took ten minutes in the early morning. We arrived and I set up to the right of the causway next to a couple other tourists. I wanted to catch the reflection of the early morning sun over the pools and with the three spires of Angkor in the background. The one thing I didn't realize was that because of the lack of light, the exposure time before the shutter finally closes takes a good 40 or so seconds, so you have to keep perfectly still, otherwise, the picture comes out blurry. I'd say to get the photo I wanted, it took about ten or so tries, but it was worth it.

After the sun had finally come up, I walked the causeway and went to see if I could get a good photo of the Angkor spires. What I saw as I climbed gingerly through the gatehouse stairs (my legs were absolutely killing me) was about 400 of my closest travelers checking out the sunrise.

I'm glad I went to Cambodia when I did. The Angkor Wat minigolf and water slide is not far behind.

I went back to the Red Piano restaurant for breakfast which started at 7 AM; problem is, it was still 6:30. I stood outside and made a couple phone calls to get a football score or two and then met one of the tuk tuk drivers. The gentleman's name was Sak; a very nice man who two days later would give me a ride to the airport as I decided to get out on an earlier flight. We talked about a relative of his that lived in the states and I really wanted to ask him about the progress in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge had been defeated in 1979. (Sak looked to be in his 40's so he would have probably been in his teens when year 1 started. I decided to just talk about how I liked Siem Reap instead).

After breakfast of a very large omlette and bread and juice, I went back to get ready for the afternoon. I started at 11:30 with the bas reliefs of Angkor Wat. There are 8 sections of reliefs which stretch about 100 yards each. The detail is very stunning considering that each of these are around 1,000 years old. I'll attach the photos later when I have a chance, but here are the bas reliefs that I saw in order.

Battle of Lanka (shows a battle from the Ramayana where Rama battles Ravana the seducer of Rama's wife, Sita)

Battle of God's and Demons (depicts a battle between 21 Gods of the Brahmanic pantheon with various demons)

Krishna & the Demon King (shows Vishnu incarnated as Krishna riding a garuda)

Vishnu Conquers the Demons (shows a battle between Vishnu and various demons)

Elephant Gate (this wasn't one of the bas reliefs, but was used by the Khmer kings and others for mounting and dismounting elephants)

Churning of the Ocean of Milk (this is the most famous of the bas reliefs, this shows 88 devils on the left and 92 gods on the right. They are churning up the sea to extract the elixir of immortality. The gods hold the tail of a serpent and the demons hold the tail. The one thing about any of these bas reliefs is that they are all over 15 feet high and are carved into the individual stone blocks that make up the wall. I can only imagine if you made a mistake while carving)

Heaven and Hell (this section depicts the 37 heavens and 32 hells and their various punishments.)

Army of Surayvaman II (this shows the march of an army of the Khmers who are going to battle against the Chams. This section was pretty worn and I really didn't get many pictures grom here. I found out later that part was destroyed by an artillery shell in 1971.)

Battle of Krukshetra (this depicts an epic battle from the Hindu Mahabarata. The most striking thing about this bas relief is that the stone in some sections is poliched black from all the hands that have touched it. You are requested not to do this and they now have the area roped off. I'd rather have the photos of it myself.

Here are the remaining temples that I visited on my last day:

Preah Khan - Built in 1191 on a spot where King Javayarman VII fought and
won a crucial battle against the Chams, Preah Khan was a royal
city on its own. There were a couple spots where the trees had taken over walls just like Ta Prohm.


Neak Pean - This temple consists of a large pool surrounded by four smaller pools.



Ta Som - This temple has a tree that surrounds the eastern gate. The remainder of the temple was being renovated and afterward, I was completely mobbed by the kids that were selling everything from cold drinks to guide books. I bought some bracelets (10 for a $1) and a couple of silk pieces that were very nice. I just barely got out. I was running to the car saying that I bought all that I could.

East Mebon - This temple had very nice carved elephants and a lot of kids running around posing for pictures. I was told by my driver that these kids pull in a pretty significant amount of money for their families, so when one kid of about 8-10 years old said 'hi', where you from?, etc. I asked if I cold take her photo and gave her a couple dollars for her family. I hope that she does use the money to go to school like she said, but if it was to help her family, I couldn't blame her either.

Pre Rup - This temple was sort of like East Mebon with large towers. I decided to climb up to the top of the center temple and get a few photos of the surrounding countryside. The steps, as usual, were only about as wide as my hand, so going down the steps, I had to be extra careful as to not break my neck.

This was the last day I would spend on the temples. My feet were killing me, my legs would no longer respond to walking up any more steps. The onle temple I did not visit was Ta Keo. I decided to leave this one unexplored, although I did see it from the car as we went to another temple. I guess this will give me a reason to revisit Angkor again.

The evening was spent running around the old market, getting a foot masage that almost mad me cry ( the girl could have been beating my feet with a bat they were so sore), and going out to a disco to see what young Cambodians did for fun. I think I was one of the only westerners in the place so it was fun to see. After a few club tracks, the dj would put on Khmer music and the people would dance with traditional Khmer dance. Very interesting. The next day, I would try to go to the floating village.