Traveling Tuesdays: Ancient Temples of Angkor Wat--Otherworldly

One of many ornate towers of Angkor Wat

Ever since I heard there were ancient temples discovered in the northwestern jungles of Cambodia, I dreamed of one day visiting Angkor Wat. I thought of myself as an Indiana Jones type explorer trudging through the jungle...well minus all the bugs, spiders, and snakes. 

Actually, I'm not even all that adventurous. I'm terrified of being in the ocean or any big water. I'm scared of bears and other large creatures with big teeth, and I'd much prefer staying at a nice hotel than roughing it in the wild. But I LOVE to travel and see new places, it inspires me and fuels my imagination.

Luckily for me, my husband is adventurous and last April we ended up in Siem Reap, Cambodia as part of an extended trip around Asia. We only had two days in Cambodia so on the day we were visiting the temples, our Tuk Tuk driver, Tiger, picked us up in the morning from our hotel in Siem Reap. We drove about a half hour to the temple grounds which cover over 400 acres of land. Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples are deemed the largest religious site in the world. 

Devatas 

The temples were built over a 30 year period from about 1110-1150 AD. They were built by the Khmer people during the reign of King Suryavarman II and dedicated to the God Vishnu. Throughout the temples, the walls are covered in bas relief carvings of Hindu Gods, Apsaras, Devatas, and scenes depicting the ancient Hindu texts the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. 

Several years after the death of Suravarman, Jayavarman VII, ruled the Khmer empire and converted to Buddhism rededicating Angkor Wat to Buddha.

 It is now a fascinating mix of both religions, with statues of Buddha, Vishnu, and the Hindu inspired bas relief carvings.

I found out recently that Angkor Wat was never "lost" at least to the local monks, the Western world simply "rediscovered" it in 1860. That fact, though, doesn't take away from the temple's otherworldly mystery. 

The temple grounds are a hugely popular tourist destination and the day we were there was no exception. It happened to be part of the Cambodian Songkran Festival (New Year's) so many locals were visiting the temple as well as foreign tourists. 

In 2018, there were over 2 million people that came to visit. Many Buddhists and Hindus alike come on religious pilgrimages. They kneel before Buddha in silent meditation, leave offerings, light incense, and pay homage to the wall-length battle scene in the Ramayan where Rama defeats Ravana. 

Aside from the splendor of the architecture, one of my favorite moments visiting, was when a family with three teen girls dressed in the beautiful, traditional Khmer silk sampot, were trying to get selfies in front of the most photo worthy spots. They laughed and joked with each other as they posed for pictures-exactly like our kids at that age when we took them to New York City or Yellowstone National Park. 

Bas relief wall carvings 

Some times you dream of visiting a place for a long time and then when you finally get there, it doesn't live up to what you expected. 

Buddha with flower offerings

That was not the case here. It was breathtaking. At one point there was a steep staircase(almost scary steep!) that climbed nearly to the top of the temple where you can look out over the vast surrounding jungle. 

How many people throughout its 900 years have looked out over this same scene. It's eerie and beautiful at the same time, like somehow your connected to those souls that have set foot in the same place, you have shared that same space, not in the same time but nonetheless you can almost feel their presence, as if some of their energy stayed behind. 

Every so often we would come across a bullet hole in the stone walls. A relic from the more recent past, when the ruthless Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia.

It was pretty crowded when we were there around mid morning. Most of the travel sites suggest getting there early to see the sunrise over the temple and beat the crowds. I'm not sure if it would be less crowded since everyone advises it, but it would definitely be cooler at that time. 

It was an oppressively hot and humid day and my choice of clothing to modestly cover my shoulders and knees(required to visit) wasn't quite breathable enough, so I wasn't too disappointed that we only took a half day to see as much as we could. It was not nearly enough time to even see half of the complex.

The grounds were a huge maze of temples and forest intertwined. A few times, we met up with our driver, Tiger, who took us across bridges and through gates that led to other temple buildings. He told us much of the history as we drove and he pointed out special spots. One was the King's palace, I can't remember which king built it though, and one temple was supposed to be where he was buried. 

He told us what this gorgeously ornate temple was to the left--but I can't remember. There is far too much for my brain to absorb in one day. 

At one point, a monkey crossed our path on his daily commute, he didn't even seem to notice we were there. Another monkey, much more serious looking, sat on a shaded corner of the outer wall, like an ancient temple guard keeping an eye on the intruders. No more than ten feet from us a whole family of monkeys in a tree broke out into a turf war, screaming and chasing one another up and down the trunk. Despite all the human visitors, this was still their jungle.

Ta Prohm-"Tomb Raider" temple

Even the trees don't respect the man-made boundaries. At the Temple of Ta Prohm, where Tomb Raider was filmed with Angelina Jolie, the trees are taking back the jungle, trying to erase our footprints. Their giant roots are consuming the temples, leaving areas of rubble in their wake. I'm not sure what was more impressive at Ta Prohm, the intricately carved temples or the trees here.

It looked like science fiction, like somewhere on another planet.  

If you ever have a chance go visit Angkor Wat and immerse yourself in this stunning other world. 

This video below shows the massive heads carved on one of the bridges leading to a temple gate.

For more info on Angkor Wat check these out:

Lonely Planet

Britannica.com

World Pilgrimage Guide

UNESCO

Have you been to Angkor Wat? Do you like to travel? What's one of your favorite places to visit?

Have a great week!

Kathy :)