Today, we visited one of man’s greatest structures, the intricate Angkor temple complex, which includes Angkor Wat – one of the 7 wonders in the world. After a lovely buffet breakfast, we set off to see our first temple of the day, the Bayon temple in the ancient city of Angkor Thom. Built from 1181 to 1221, this elaborate temple was constructed using stones from a nearby quarry. The design includes faces showing different human traits – representing kindness, sympathy, equality and compassion. Religious beliefs such as the myth of the First Lady in the world, Absara, coming from a lotus flower are also incorporated into the building. Walking through the temple grounds, feelings of awe washed over us as we took in the history and wonder surrounding this ancient structure; it was hard to believe that this magnificent site was built by hand over 800 years ago.
The second temple we visited was the Ta Phrom temple. After getting off the mini bus, our tour guide, the crazy but loveable Yousa, took us off the beaten track and led us through the jungle to avoid the crowds at the main entrance. After trekking for a few minutes; and watching in horror yet amusement as Yousa ate his morning snack of a scorpion, we arrived at the eerily beautiful temple. Massive trees weaved through the buildings, acting as cement to keep the design together, but also slowly tearing it apart – if even one tree was cut down, the temple would collapse. Hidden in the forest, a sense of serenity came over us as we wandered throughout the grounds. When we walked over the spot where Angelina Jolie ran during the filming of the famous ‘tomb raider’, it was funny to think that a famous celebrity had trodden in the very same place we were standing. In some parts of the temple, shrines had been constructed to worship the Buddha, and we listened to the echo of our voices and lit inscence sticks to bring us good fortune. Navigating the maze of the grounds, it was easy to get lost but was also a new and exciting challenge that proved a memorable experience. We found this temple really interesting, with it’s location in a more remote area and lots of different stories behind it.
After a quick lunch stop within the temple complex, we made our way to the last and most intimidating temple – Angkor Wat. With high expectations we climbed through the first entrance to see the distant figure of the unbelievably large and amazing temple. As the gap between us and it closed, the group became progressively more eager to see the interior design of the wondrous structure. Fending off monkeys along the way, once inside our preconceptions of what it might look like were shattered as we tried to take in our new and elaborate surroundings. Built by millions of slaves captured by the Khmer people, volunteers and elephants over the span of 42 years, Angkor Wat was more incredible than any of us had ever imagined. Once again, religious influence could be seen heavily throughout the temple. Angkor Wat was first a Hindu and then a Buddhist temple. It is home to many golden Buddha statues but the carvings in the stone use Hindu story telling techniques to illustrate the history of the Khmer empire and its temples. The walls are covered with images of the Apsara, with only one Apsara in the whole MCG-sized temples smiling to reveal her teeth. Climbing up the scarily steep stairs to the top of the temple, we were met with mind-blowing views of the entire city as well as more evidence of the magnificent infrastructure. Angkor Wat truly lived up to its name as one of the greatest architectural designs ever created, and automatically became a highlight for many in the group.
Even though it was hot and sticky, and everyone was sweating more then we could have imagined, we feel extremely lucky that we were able to experience the temples hands on, and take in the beautiful sites. We were able to escape the heat by jumping in the hotel pool when we returned. This was followed by a BYOD (“buy your own dinner”) and another dash to the night market.
By Tessa and Daniel
