SIEM Reap; Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom is my favourite temple but mostly because it didn’t have crowds.

This is where Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed, but I liked the solitude and being able to walk about without other people there. 



It’s got an Elephant terrace where elephants are carved into the rock as a bas-relief.

There are stone faces which historians thought might be a portrait of the King, Jayavarman. The smiling face has been called “the Mona Lisa of South East Asia”

And the blocks are still waiting for the jigsaw puzzle to be put together. 

SIEM Reap: BANTEAY Srei

Banteay Srei is a pink temple, because it was built with red sandstone. It’s known as a gem or a jewel also because the intricate (delicate) carvings are like they are carved into wood.

Mum went to Banteay Srei in 1997. It had been closed until two weeks before she went there because the Khmer Rouge was still in control of the area. Banteay Srei is about 20 km away from the major temples.

It is one of the earliest Khmer civilisation temples. It was built in the 9^th century and there are a lot of Hindu gods, like Shiva and Vishnu, carved into the sandstone.

The temple is smaller than Ta Prom, Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat (the other temples I visited). Mum said she always loved Banteay Srei but she hadn’t been there for 16 years and now the mass tourism has taken over. Mum and I talked about the positives and negatives of tourism. Some of it is good for Cambodia’s economy but some of it is awful.

See how beautiful it is?

SIEM REAP: Ta Prom

The Khmer Empire was one of the MOST powerful in South East Asia for centuries. From the 9^th to the 13^th centuries its territory included what is now Thailand, Laos and parts of Vietnam. It was huge, rich and strong.

It had Hindu and Buddhist influences. The kings built temples to symbolize how powerful the empire was. People didn’t live in the temples, they were to show heaven on earth.

There are hundreds of temples. Most people know Angkor Wat, which is on the Cambodian flag now.

I have been to the Angkor temples three times now, but the first two times, I was only almost 3 and almost 4 and I didn’t remember a lot.

One of my memories is having a tantrum at Ta Prom, when Mum wanted to take a photo. We went to Ta Prom first.

oh, this is me leaving Luang Prabang to fly to Siem Reap

Like Luang Prabang, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They haven’t restored all of Ta Prom to show people how the jungle strangled the temples after the civilization declined.

Here are some photos of Ta Prom.

At least Mum got her photos of me draped over Ta Prom (without a tantrum!)

scaffolding is holding up a tree root over the temple!

Pak Ou caves

 The Tam Ting Caves can only be reached by boat. There are 4000 Buddhas sitting and standing on every crevice, they look like 100 classes waiting for their school photo to be taken. 

Laotians also visit the caves, because its a holy site. They make pilgrimages there, a bit like Muslims go to Mecca, to give offerings. 

The entrance to the caves

We gave offerings also. Even though I'm not Buddhist, I always give incense or flowers because I want to show respect because it's a special place for Buddhists, and I gave them for my birthmother who was Buddhist and Christian. 

Mum also gives offerings. She says it to give thanks for me!

We then caught a boat back across the Mekong - for Mekong fish & rice. 

Mekong Fish - had to watch for bones!

Oh, and this is to show how DRY the land is on the banks of the Mekong. In two months this soil will be completely under water.