April 27, 2015

After completing our visit of Angkor Wat city, we visited Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom means 'great city' and it is about 10 square kilometers. It was once surrounded by a wall and 100 meter wide moat which was said to have contained ferocious crocodiles.

Angkor Thom has five gates. The south gate is the most restored and popular. Since it is connected to Angkor Wat it can become quite crowded. It was low season when we visited, so we did not have a problem entering. Each gate entrance is lined with 54 god statues on one side and 54 demon statues on the other.

South gate entrance to Angkor Thom...54 statues on each side

Only one car can pass through at a time, which can cause quite a delay. In order to appreciate the statues, we walked through and met our car on the other side.

View of the entrance from inside Angkor Thom

Our first stop was Bayon Temple. It is a late 12th century Buddhist temple in the center of Angkor Thom. It is known for its 216 smiling stone faces on many of the stone towers and for the beautiful bas-reliefs.

An example of the famous relief work on the walls around Bayon Temple

Our guide led us through an opening in a wall. I am glad he knew the way, because I would have certainly gotten lost. We passed some small temples along the way. It is amazing how many temples were built in this area.

The next temple we visited was called Baphuon Temple. It was built in the mid 11th century and has three tiers. Most of it had collapsed as it was built on land filled with sand. In 1961, efforts began to restore it. Archaeologists had coded all of the stones so they knew where to place them once the foundation was compacted. These codes were all destroyed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The restoration was finally completed in 2011 after 51 years.

Since it was all restored, we were allowed to walk through and climb up the stairs up the tiers. The heat was definitely setting in, so the boys sat this one out. Maeve and I climbed up and explored.

Raised walkway to enter the temple. We went around to avoid the direct sunlight.

After all of these temples (remember we started at Angkor Wat) we were definitely ready for lunch. Also, the tour guides are required to have an hour break. So we drove to a restaurant within the complex and had a good meal. We were recharged and ready to explore one more temple.

Ta Prohm is unlike the rest of the Angkorian temples. It has been left pretty much in the same condition it was found when it had become merged with the jungle. There are trees growing out of the ruins. The major foot traffic paths were cleared and wooden walkways were built with railings to protect the area from further damage from the large flow of tourists.

This is one of the most famous temples partly due to being featured in the movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider. We only recently saw this movie in Kampot. It is easy to see why it is a favorite site. It is also difficult to imagine how centuries passed while these trees grew and spread their roots throughout the temple and its surrounding walls.

Michael and Liam pose by the base of a tree

It was a lot of fun exploring these temples. I can see why people would purchase a week pass. This was the small tour. There are many more temples and sites. We were happy with what we saw and were ready to hit the pool and cool off.