Part two - Hoof Hearted takes one in the temple...
In part one I showed you my visit to the main temple. Heading over the moat and back to the parking area I am immediately targeted by beggar children. These Cambodian kids are speaking English and are sad and pathetic and totally over dramatic about selling you a bracelet or a postcard for a dollar. I said no politely about three hundred times and they were just relentless. I didn't give in though. My driver spotted me and off we went to the next location. In the carriage behind the motorcycle, the wind felt great as I smiled and waved to some of the puffing and panting bicycle riders. Its a hundred degrees out as we pass through a ruins of an archway just wide enough for cars to drive through. This Temple is called Bayon and it an incredible work of tower after tower.
Building of Angkor Wat began in the early 12th century by King Suryavarman II. Bayon was started in the late 12 century under reign of King Jayavarman VII. Looking at it, I can't tell if this is an architectural marvel or mess. There are 37 towers in Bayon. As I enter the ruins of a courtyard and find access, off the beaten path once again.
The Jungle around Bayon is tall and there are many dark corners and corridors in this ruins. Inside taking pictures I ran across a local man, hanging out in the shade, he spoke English and gave me an impromptu history lesson about the temple. Warily I followed him as he wove through dark chambers to show me places to get good pictures. "This is where national geographic took their cover shot" he said... It could be true, I have no idea. He knew the temple well, I'll give him that.
When we came up from his tour through the darkness I was greeted by the faces of Bayon. I have seen these faces before on tv but I had no idea that this was their home. My new friend gave me a smile and I was feeling the positive energy, then he asked if he could get a dollar for something to eat. Ahhhsoo, the truth is revealed. I gave it to him and told him I could take it from here. Look at these tower faces, I think it was worth the buck.
There are something like 216 of these stone faces, my shadowy guide told me that the four faces represent "compassion, love, joy, and equality." While doing some reading I found mixed views as to who the faces may be. Some think they may represent the faces of the king Jayavarman VII himself, while other say they are the image of the god Loksvara as well as a few other ideas. One thing is certain, they are absolutely massive! I see a sign at the exit that says the government of Japan is helping with this restoration project. Very cool news indeed!
As soon as I clear these steps, my driver is there with a bottle of cold water and away we go to the next location. Like most of the people around, my clothes are soaked through and through with sweat, but I lift my bottle in cheers to the other tourists as Tee drives around more pedal pushers. Tee pushed deeper down the dense jungle road which finally opened up to a this long long walk way to the next spot. This place is called Phimeanakas, located inside the royal palace compound, this used to be the temple of king Jayavarman V. Tee tells me there was a bit of a curse here, the story goes that a snake lived in a golden tower at the top and every night the snake would transform into a woman. The king would have to make love to the woman every night or disaster would strike the kingdom. Its a long walk but I can just imagine the grounds full of water and how amazing it must have looked.
I saw maybe less then 20 westerners here, and about the same number of Asian visitors including several monks robed in orange, exploring the grounds. I heard a couple monks speaking in Thai so I assume they were traveling like myself. The heat is now extreme and my pace is slowing a bit. After a few flights of stairs I duck into some side corridors to find shade.
Finally to the center of the grounds. As large as this place is, I haven't found much for shade. Maybe the heat is starting to get to me and I have missed something. I do notice that the walls here are not so detailed with carvings and pictures as the other temples. Once again, I found more stairs.
The view from the top is grand. Picture looking down on these grounds during their glory days. This is the tallest of the temples around Angkor that you are able to scale on your own. It feels about 10 degrees warmer up here and the rock is hot like a brick oven.
Finally at the top. I'm assuming this is part of the restoration project, and since most of the sandstone was not inscribed, nothing special was done with the new stones. Its too bad the room at the top is no longer around, I would have liked to see where this snake lady and the kings of Angkor were getting down. I'm sure the view from that chamber would have been amazing.
Around the back of the grounds I saw a sign stating the this restoration project was funded by the Czechs. Good for them! Its encouraging to see different countries of the world recognizing the significance of this ancient culture and its capital city. I took my exit at the back of the temple and the main path meandered through the beautiful royal grounds. I found a side trail that split off a few times getting smaller and smaller and seemed to head out of the grounds all together. I thought this might have been a maintenance path or something and I did not see a soul out here. I walked on for quite a distance, out of water, until I started feeling light headed and a bit dizzy. I stopped for a moment for shade under a tree but the mosquitoes started swarming and I was looking at some kind of huge ants on the ground with red and white stripes. They were not looking shy and I had never seen anything like them before so I decided to push on and hope that I wasn't making a mistake. If I passed out and hit the ground out here, it could be awhile before anyone finds me and by that time the monster mutant ants will have carried parts of me away I'm sure. Stumbling ahead I looked up and saw this...
Near the parking area I see there are parts of the grounds that I had missed by taking my side journey. Tee spots me and drives over with a cold bottle of water for me. I tell him I am going to back track a bit and he just smiles and tells me to take my time. Nearby I walk around a admire this area called "Terrace of the Elephants". Its beautiful how the heads and trunks are statued out of the wall carving.
Another place just nearby but the name escapes me. I walked over, considered another flight of stairs and decided to just take a picture and walk back. Its well over a hundred degrees out and I have been at it for several hours, I wonder how much weight I have lost today?
This last spot on the palace grounds is called the "Terrace of the Leper King". According to some Khmer legend, this king was bitten by a snake and contracted leprosy. Other stories are that when statue of the Leper King was unearthed, it was in a state of decay that made it look like it had leprosy, and thus the nick name of Leper King. I didn't get a shot of the statue but I did wander around the Terrace. Its almost maze like as the wall had been unearthed and it appears a wall was built around the original, possibly to protect it from erosion. Some incredible detail found on this terrace none the less.
Back on the road with my driver and I am feeling relief that I made it back. This is the hottest time of the year in s.e. Asia and its a boiling hot day today. Even though it seemed I was close to blacking out at one point because of the heat, I must say that I am feeling rather spiritually wholesome right now. A permanent grin pasted to my face as we tool through these ancient grounds to the next stop.
This place is called Ta Prohm and scenes have been shot here from movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark II and Tomb Raider. The surrounding jungle still holds parts of the complex and refuses to let go. Originally a monastery built by king Jayavarman VII, it was dedicated to his mother. Trees now grow seemingly right out of the walls. In its prime this monastery controlled over 3000 villages and was filled with wealth of gold and jewels.
There are several places in Ta Prohm where the building is slowly losing to the jungle. Inside the walls, some of the grounds have been kept and/or recovered very well. There were quite a few people here and its easy to get lost or turned around in all the small passageways. There were some reinforcements here and there for safety but mostly it was just jungle that had a grip of its own.
The detail in the stonework is simply amazing!
I did a few laps outside the fallen walls and came across the famous overgrown area that I had seen in a few films before.
This is one of my favorite shots...
Through a small doorway, in the dark behind the tree, I headed down into an underground passage where just a bit of light was glinting on a golden idol far down the hallway. I smiled and whispered "come to daddy..."
I hadn't noticed all the small holes that lined the walls down the entire corridor. As I sped up my walk, the stone under my foot sank with a deep gravel rumble. I heard a "whooosh" as the first dart shot from a hole in the wall. The rocks started coming down behind me at the front of the corridor. A second later there was a volley of the same whoooshing sound. I felt the sting of the dart and I knew I was in trouble...
Thanks, I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
For a change, every photo in this post was taken with my camera.
H.H.
=)
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