Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor, Cambodia

Leaving behind the comfort of a flat, A.C., skyscrapers, friends and family, we boarded our flight bound for Siem Reap, Cambodia - the base for our 3-day exploration of the world-famous Temples of Angkor! We were bracing ourselves for a bumpy transition back in to the world of 'backpacking'... and the contrast hit us as soon as we left the airport. Rural country life surrounded us - open rice fields, arid land, locals on all modes of transport (basically anything with an engine - tuk-tuks, scooters, bicycles and much more), food stalls and street hawkers lining the streets, hot sticky air, a mixture of sights and smells. The heat and humidity was oppressive and A.C. was unheard of (except, thankfully, for our hotel room - which was our sanctuary!).

On one of the evenings, over dinner, we got to see the classical Khmer apsara dance!




Siem Reap, with it's proximity to the temples, was quite a touristy area - and yet, especially after the 'brash-ness' of Kuta Bali, it felt laid-back and rustic. Everyone spoke good English. The locals were good-natured and friendly, but we quickly had to get used to the constant pestering of 'Mister Mister, you wan' tuk-tuk, yes? You visit temples tomorrow?'. One had to be firm and resolute in walking past. Likewise with the craft markets - if you so much as hesitated with a sideways glance to the beautiful Cambodian silks, several stall owners swarmed round you, drawing out metres of textile and promising 'Good price for you Mister'. Our hotel was close to the main market (selling fruit and veg by day, crafts in the evening), as well as the main restaurants, bars and food stalls' streets. We explored the area gingerly (owing to the heat and exhaustion from a 4am start) on the day we arrived and on future days, after sunset when it was cooler.



As we expected, cost of goods was cheaper here. Although the official Cambodian currency is the Riel, US dollars were readily accepted for almost everything. Moreover, they had a canny way of charging in dollars, us paying in dollars but giving back the small change to us in Riels! We sampled quite a lot of Khmer (the word commonly used to describe Cambodian people, culture and language) food - in restaurants and more traditional food stalls on the side of the road. It was similar to Thai food, using a lot of coconut milk as the base, but spicier than typical Thai cuisine. We also discovered the pleasure of ice-cold mango milkshakes - filling and refreshing for breakfast!





Our 3-day stay in Siem Reap centred on visiting the temples. We hired a tuk-tuk to take us round each day, taking in the best sites and sometimes leaving early to catch sunrise or coming home late after sunset. Unlike what you may imagine a classic 3-wheeler (a.k.a tempo, bajai) to be, Cambodian tuk-tuks are literally shaded spacious carriages attached to a motorbike - this makes for a much more comfortable ride. We enjoyed touring round in our tuk-tuk - the breeze and shade were always welcome, and it was a great way to watch the rural life as we drove around!



The Temples of Angkor are vast and impressive! Whilst I don't think we could have done 7 days of touring (as some people do), the variety is great, and it definitely pays to take time to visit some of the temples further afield. Some temples are quite far apart, which makes walking or cycling yourself almost impossible - certainly in this heat. We decided to save on the cost of an accompanied guide; instead we purchased a great photo / guide book with lots of great info about the history, architecture and culture of each temple in Angkor. It suggested routes to explore and what to look out for - Alkesh and I took it in turns to play 'guide' at each temple!

Neither Alkesh nor I realised just how far-reaching and pervasive the ancient Indian kingdoms had spread in olden times. The Indian language, culture and religion was heavily inter-twined with ancient Khmer life - resulting in a predominantly Buddhist population today; but their Buddhism bears resemblance to Hinduism in several ways. The Angkor period lasted from the 8th to the early 13th century and featured a long succession of Indian kings ruling over their people and land. Personally, I felt very proud to see Hindu culture so well-preserved in a country so far away from India. Moreover, Alkesh and I are fortunate to have seen a similar Indian influence in Bali... we'll be pros by the time we get to S. India in July!



Each new king, however short his tenure, felt the need to relocate his kingdom's capital and build a new temple and perhaps even a new city. This is what gave rise to the vast array of temples in and around Angkor. During much of the Angkor times, the predominant religion was Hinduism - particularly the worship of Shiva and Vishnu. There was a brief period of Buddhism but this was quickly quashed and Hinduism returned.

After the end of the Angkorian period, many of the temples lay empty and unused - open to the elements and thieves to become derelict. One very important exception is of course Angkor Wat - perhaps the most famous of all - because it has always been a place of worship since its opening in the 11th century. It wasn't until the Western explorers of the 18th century 're-discovered' (not that Cambodians had ever forgotten their legacy) the temples, that an international-wide effort was enforced to repair, maintain and protect the temples. Painstaking efforts went in to restoring the beautiful ancient Khmer architecture and reinforcing foundations to avoid collapse. The results are breath-taking for sure!

This was a common view - handicapped landmine victims hoping to be self-sufficient by playing traditional Cambodian musical instruments.


In reading our guidebook and exploring over 15 temples in 3 days, we learnt quite a bit about the ancient Khmer architecture and commonalities in the structure of the temples. Here are some highlights:

• Almost all temples had east-facing entrances.
• Gopuras were used to mark entrances, often at all 4 cardinal points of the square / rectangular plan of the temple - again, the east-facing gopura was always the most ornate.

• Moats usually framed the temple and its surrounding land. Many of these have now dried up.

• Like with the Inca architecture we saw in Peru, Angkor temples did not use mortar (only a vegetable compound for bricks); instead relying on interlocking stones.
• Main materials used were bricks, sandstone and laterite. Sandstone produced the most refined carvings; laterite (a muddy clay type susbstance which was easy to work with when wet, but dried hard) was used for foundations and base structure. Any carving work on bricks often had to be done using lime-mortar which was then stuck on.
• Many of the temples we saw followed a temple mountain structure. This consisted of a series of concentric square levels, one on top of the other. The upper-most platform featured 5 towers / shrines - 1 in each corner, and 1 in the middle. This overall structure was used to depict Mount Mehru in India. Stone steps leading between each level were steep and built in such a way to give the illusion of height, greater than it was in reality.

• Other structures similar to several temples were: 'libraries' (normally shrines in their own right, rather than a depository of religious manuscripts) and galleries - long vaulted-roof corridors, often following all 4 sides of the temple walls.

• Door jams (i.e. the sides of the door frame) and steles (the foundation stone, exclaiming the details of the opening of the temple) featured detailed inscriptions in Sanskrit and Khmer, the former often outlining religious verse.

• Above all doorways, columns supported a flat rectangular slab known as a lintel. Above this, rested a large triangular piece called a pediment. Lintels and pediments were always exquisitely carved; the latter often featuring scenes from the popular Ramayana and Mahabarata, as well as many other Hindu deities and the occasional Buddha!

• Some of the walls of the temple were covered in bas-reliefs - tens of metres of carved stone depicting entire stories, such as daily life, battle scenes and the very popular churning of the sea of milk.

• Finally apsaras were also often depicted in the carvings - these were Indian spiritual dancers for the gods.

On the morning of our 2nd day visiting the temples, we rose extra early to head out for sunrise over the most-visited temple of all - Angkor Wat. It's size, well-preserved state and ornate carving make it the most visited of all temples! Whilst the romantic notion of sunrise behind the temple mountain eluded us, it was great to catch a glimpse of the empty site at first light. We spent over 3 hours exploring all the areas of this magnificent temple!



Here is some background facts and figures:

• Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple complex (dedicated to lord Vishnu) that was built for King Suryavarman II in early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.
• It is a great example of a temple mountain, also including great long galleries featuring beautiful and detailed bas-reliefs.
• The complex is contained within a moat and an outer wall that is 3.6kms long.
• It is the largest temple in the world!
  
• The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "City Temple''. However the original name for this temple was Preah Pisnulok.
• Unlike many other temples in the area, Angkor Wat is oriented to the West, where you find the main entrance gopura.
  

Thanks to our guidebook, we deciphered so much 'hidden' meaning behind all of the carvings and architecture of Angkor Wat - it meant we really got to understand and enjoy the temple to its full! It was a great example of the beautiful Khmer art, craft and architecture! One of the most interesting aspects for us was exploring the exquisite bas-reliefs on all 4 sides of the galleries. One wall was entirely devoted to the Churning of the Sea of Milk. It featured the great naga being pulled on in both directions by asuras and devas.



Another wall depicted the Great Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata), showing the mutual annihilation of Kaurava and Pandava clans. Finally, on the southern gallery, we saw the only historical scene of all bas-reliefs in Agkor Wat: it is a royal procession of King Suryavarman II.

On our last day in Siem Reap, we visited Angkor Thom (featured in Laura Croft: Tomb Raider!). Although not as famous as Angkor Wat, the outer walls complex is far greater than anything else in the area (an area of 9 km squared). Angkor Thom was a great example of a royal city (in fact it is the last and most-enduring capital city of the Khmer empire!), featuring within its boundaries several temples (the most famous is the Bayon) as well as the foundations of the royal palace and several other historically- and culturally-significant buildings. Angkor Thom was established as the capital of Jayavarman VII's empire in the late 12th century. The southern gate entrance to Angkor Thom featured naga-carrying giant demons and gods.



The Bayon's most striking feature was it's face temples - great towering shrines, topped with 4 headed faces bearing down on all.



Aside from these 2 awesome sites, we visited lots of other temples: some small, some big, some in a state of ruin, others beautifully restored. Here are some other temples, well worth visiting according to us!

• Banteay Srei - the most beautiful carving all in a pinkish hue of sandstone.

• Ta Prohm - a Buddhist temple left in the state it was 're-discovered' in the early 20th century... with massive tree trunks and roots growing right through the temple structure.

• Neak Poan - small and unsuspecting, it was great to see a very different temple plan, based around a number of ponds. It was here that we also got to see archaeologists and workers labouring to excavate and restore aspects of the temple's former glory.
  

Like with Machu Picchu, this has been a great highlight of our trip - one that speaks of an amazing ancient civilisation and powerful empire. Words, pictures and even Alkesh's wonderful videos can't do it all justice!