SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA AND THE TEMPLES

We stayed back again at Hangout after getting back to Singapore on the bus.  We were then up early as we were going with David and Sam for a long weekend to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit the temples.  We flew with Silkair, which is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.  

The routing took us first to Da Nang in Vietnam.  We can't say we really visited Vietnam as it was just a brief station stop en route Siem Reap.  The last leg of the flight over Cambodia was very striking as the land was heavily flooded, not unusual at that time of the year, but is all looked pretty alarming from the air. 

We were met at the airport by a van and driver who we were going to use during our stay.   We stayed at the Raffles Grand d'Angkor, another in the Fairmont group and we were treated like royalty.  The manager met us at the entrance and we were escorted to our rooms by a pleasant young man whjo turned out to be our butler for the stay!  This was an unusual experience for us as you can imagine.  He was always to hand and his aim we always to please.

Our "rooms" turned out to be a villa in the grounds of the hotel.  It was unbooked we imagined and we were able to sample the full Raffles experience.  It had a large central living area, two bedrooms off each side with a large well appointed bathrooms and a kitchen. 

You can see a larger version of any photograph by simply clicking the mouse once on the image. Another click outside the image returns you to the text 

 Our home for the weekend

 

The main hotel from our villa 

 

The main living area

Our bedroom

A choice of drinks in the bedroom

One of two pools

The view outside the villa

We had arrived around lunch time and after we decided to visit the Angkor National Museum that afternoon as preparation for our visit to the temples the next day. It is, in fact, a private museum with strong special emphasis on Khmer sculpture.  This was just down the road from the hotel.  On the way we saw the Cambodian motor tricycle, a little different from the ones in Melaka as these are pulled along by a motorbike.  They can take up to four people and have a covered roof, which, we saw later, was a wise provision in rainy Cambodia.  The museum was very well organised and we were well briefed for the rest of our stay.

 

We took one of the motor tricycles into the city centre.

In the busy market place

Buying some "silk" cushion covers.  These were extremely cheap and clearly not silk as later on in our visit we saw the cost of real silk items

This little baby was happy sleeping at the back of the shop

All manner of things to buy in the market

After the market visit we had dinner in the Haven Restaurant , #4 in Siem Reap according to Tripdadvisor. Haven is a training restaurant for young adult orphans (orphans, half orphans and abandoned children), who have to leave the orphanage when they come of age and have nowhere to go. Haven takes these young people in, gives them a vocational training in hospitality or as a cook, teaches them life skills and supports them in their transition from institution to real world.  It was a good choice and the meal was well prepared and the young staff attentive to our needs.

The next day we were up bright and early and after an excellent buffet breakfast we met up with our driver and a guide for the day.  The temples are a big tourist attraction, hence our early start.  The temple complex is just North of the City and we joined the crowds at the ticket wicket.  For each ticket they take your photograph and the ticket is printed with the photo on it and this ticket gets you into a number of places where they check it against how you look.

Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world. The temple was built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.  As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist . The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia appearing on its national lag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu Mythololgy.

A deva in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being

Within a moat 160 m wide and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a set of five towers. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas reliefs.  Bas relief is a type of sculpture that has less depth to the faces and figures than they actually have. 

 Crowds at the ticket wicket

 

Approaching the temple 

The outer gallery

Inside the first gallery

An example of bas relief

 An amazing example of bas relief - the churning of the ocean of milk

Hindu mythology contains a story about the churning of the Cosmic Ocean in order to obtain the nectar of immortal life.  At the suggestion of Vishnu the gods, (Devas) and demons (Asuras) churn the primeval ocean in order to obtain Amrita Vasulia which will guarantee them immortality. To churn the ocean they used the Serpent King, Vasuli , for their churning-string. 

 

The centre of the struggle, the gods on one side and the devils on the other pulling on the serpent Vasuli

 

 A detail from the sculpture which was extremely long.

Inside the first gallery

Climbing up the the third and highest level, it was steep

In the Upper gallery

In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually moved from Hindu to Buddhist use, which continues to the present day.  Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle

A reclining buddha

An exquisite caring over 7800 years old.

 

Up to and down from the central towers

One of the towers in the central gallery

More remarkable bas relief

A central pool, empty

Detailed carving and one area with colour

 

 

   

One of two libraries

 

 Another buddha

The "to prove we were there" photo

A final long distance view of Angkor Wat

Just to the North of Angkor Wat is Angkor Thom which was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the centre of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.

This row of statues at the entrance is believed to represent the Churning of the Ocean and the tug of war between the Devas (the Gods) and the Asuras  (the Devils)

A detail of a head, quite a few were missing, not that surprising seeing the age of the temple

 The main gateway

 

Three elephants inside the gateway.

Entrance to the Bayon

 

The Bayon

 

 

A feature in the Bayon are towers with buddhas on the four faces.

Detail of a bas relief sculpture

Towers in the Bayon, there were 49 originally

 

Another of the many quite well preserved buddhas 

 

 All these sculptures are over 800 years old and most are in amazing condition

Everyone seemed to be taking this photo

Unlike Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom is not an active religious site but the religious symbols are visible.

We passed the Terrace of the Elephants. The terrace was used by Angkor's king Jayavarman VII  as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army. It was attached to the palace of Phimeanakas of which only a few ruins remain. Most of the original structure was made of organic material and has long since disappeared. Most of what remains are the foundation platforms of the complex. The terrace is named for the carvings of elephants on its eastern face.

 

 

The wall of the elephants

 

A detail from the end of the wall

Ta Prohm has a different architectural style from Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, both of which featured a central "mountain".  Ta Prohm is flat.   Much of it isn't in too great a shape although there is quite al ot of reconstruction under way.  One feature that captures everybody's imagination are the amazing sets of massive tree roots that have engulfed much of the structures.

The entrance to Ta Prohm

One of the large tree roots

This one is perched on a wall

Another well preserved carving

These roots have to be very old

This one was a major attraction

I can see you! Not a real person but a statue engulfed by a tree

A poster showing some of the reconstruction at Ta Prohm

As we left Ta Prohm along a dirt road we came upon a small Cambodian Band.  These musicians are victims of the war in Cambodia and were badly injured on landmines. 

Click on the arrow bottom left and you can play a short Quicktime Movie.  You may find that they do not play on a tablet.

Our van was waiting for us and we started back into Siem Reap but there was another stop to make, at a silk farm.

 

Mulberry bushes

  

Silk Worm eggs

Silk worms 

Silk cocoons

Cocoons in water ready to be unwound

Unwinding the silk from the cocoons. The thread is slowly pulled out and wound onto a spool

After being dyed the silk is wound onto another spool

This silk has been died red

 

 

Skeins of coloured silk

 

Weaving the final silk cloth.  A slow process and this explains why real silk products are not cheap

We spent quite while here and it was a very worthwhile visit.  There was the usual retail outlet at the farm and Ruth bought an attractive silk purse (not made out of a sow's ear).

The lovely silk purse

It was time to get back to the hotel in the van.  We were glad we weren't in a tricycle because the heavens opened as we neared the hotel. Our faithful butler was awaiting our arrival.  He had an uncanny sense of when to appear.

We had an excellent meal in the restaurant in the hotel and then it was time to get packed as we were leaving in the morning for the direct flight back to Singapore

 

Silkair Airbus 320 at Siem Reap Airport