Ancient Temples, Tombs and so much more.
All my life growing up there were only a few places i really wanted to go and see, Angkor Wut was definitely high on that childhood list of mine.
Cambodia amazes me.
A country economically so poor yet so strong in many other ways.
You do not see anyone begging for money. They always have something to sell, be it a book, a map, a bag, a painting, a statue, cloth or even just a bracelet. Those that do not have anything, will offer to be your guide. Even the little children.
A war torn country that has survived through such a harsh regime with so much casualties...yet those crippled by the malicious doings of others still have a smile or a greeting for you. Many of the bitter cynics says, "Well, their income depends on tourism", but i on the other hand can see that its a part of their true nature shining through.
When i first wanted to blog about Angkor Wut, I wanted to write everything i could and post every picture i took, down to all the carvings on each wall and what myth legend and stories it brought. You know....very National Geographic-ish. :p
But i have concluded that Cambodia is a place everyone should visit....at least once in their lifetime,
and for that i shall not rob you of your pleasure of feasting your eyes on the place and your heart from how it feels.
So here are some randoms photos i chose out of like 400 i think.
Angkor when discovered before it was cleared up and touched up.
As you walk across the moat. It was a gloomy weekend when i was there.
The man made moat representing the sea that surrounds the mountains at the edge of the world, represented by the enclosure wall and at the centre of the world is, of course, Mount Meru, represented by the temple.
Hoardes of tourist everywhere. Sometimes makes it a lil hard to get nice photos without any humans in the shot but this turn out ok.
At a few different points, the towers a total of 5 can be seen at a reduced number 1 tower, 2, 3, then 5. I wish it had been a sunnier day for this shot cause then you can see the perfect reflection of the temple on this little pond.
Lord Vishnu, which was first at the top of the temple and was brought down to the lower level when Buddhism was introduced.
All over the Angkor Wat, there are thousands of carvings of Apsaras, which means perfect lady.
And along one of the many walls, here stands the one and only smiling Apsara. Whoever carved her must have been a good joker.
Look look there's me walking in!
Along the 4 walls, there are this impressive wall carvings on each wall. Each with a story to tell, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Suryavarman II and Heaven, Earth & Hell.
Corridor as you walk along the wall carvings.
The huge high steps we have to climb to get right to the top. They are kinda scary. Specially when you gotta climb down. My advice, visit Angkor before you hit 40!
Check out my pose....pfftt....
The entrance into Angkor Thom, which was the 'city' then. On each side of the entrance, one lays a row of Buddha and the other of the Demon.
Buddha
Demon
The corridor as you walk around.
Bayon
Inside this little corners of the Bayon you see old nuns sitting there waiting for someone to pray and pay respect to Buddha. She reminds me of my great-grandmother. Shed a tear or two.
Little 'brigde'
right below the little 'bridge'
A child cycling pass the Elephant Terrace
How lucky am i to get monks posing for me? Yea...horrid me took total advantage if that to make a nice shot.
You can see the Buddha carving has been carved out, during the momentary rain of the King after, who tried to bring Hinduism back.
On one of the wall carvings in Angkor, it talks about churning the snake for milk and that the entrance into Angkor Thom you see the Gods on one side and the Demons on the other both churning the snake. This is a symbol for irrigation.
A lot of the statues have been chopped off, their heads or their whole body, for the money being the precious antique they are.
Some fruit i saw outside Ta Phrom.
One of the old Hindu temples from the 11th Century before Angkor was built. The pink temples.
Ta Phrom
An Apsara peeking through the tree roots.
The trees that grow on and over parts of the temples. They say its because the birds flew over the temples and sometimes seeds would fall down and thats how it grew. Most of the trees are supposed to be 500 years old or so. They are magnificent.....and huge.
I love this shot..... usually the kids come up and ask "miss...1 dollar miss 1 dollar"
I got cheated when we went to tonle sap but i wont get into that and ruin my trip.
Floating school. The Koreans donated a school on tonle sap lake. When you get there you will notice this unexpected bond between Koreans and Cambodians. Many of the tour guides speak fluent Korean as well.
Labels: Travel
