Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is one of the most famous heritage sites in the world and was one of the highlight of our trip. We left the hotel at 4:45 am in order to see the sun rise over this massive temple complex. I could never see why this was going to be such a mystical experience, as all we would see would be the temple, silhouted against the sky. And so it turned out. Sunrises have not been spectacular on this trip, as the weather has been so good (no red sky in the morning here). All in all, I would rather have had another couple of hours in bed, although whilst we were waiting for the sun to rise, I did have that feeling of expectation I last experienced when I waited in Regent's Park some years ago for the eclipse of the sun. That was an experience worth waiting for, whereas this was rather a let down. Having said that, the temple itself is spectacular and well worth a visit, just not at that hour in the morning.
Work on the temple commenced in 1112 and it took some thirty years to complete. Angkor Wat (literally Capital City Buddhist Monastery) sits in the middle of a large, forested plain. In the 12th century, the area was open fields and supported a population of some one million (c.f. London, which, at the same time, at least according to our guide, had a population of about 50,000). Then, Cambodia covered most of Indochina and supported a population of about six million.
The temple is completely Hindu, built by the king as his resting place and in honour of the three main Hindu gods, Visnu, Rama and Brahma. It was built primarily of sandstone, quarried some hundred kilometers away and transported to the site on bamboo rafts and by elephant. Some lava rock was also used, but without any apparent pattern. You just see patches of it in places. Some of the labour was provided by slaves, but mostly it was done by local people, happy to work on the constructioon as it was in honour of their gods. Cambodia was, and still is, a very religious country. Then the people were Hindu, now they are mostly Buddhist, but the importance of their religion is as strong as ever.
Lara Croft and Tomb Raider
Ta Promh, a late 12th temple, is a Buddhist temple, built in honour of the ancestors. Buddhists are very respectful of their ancestors. Indeed, every home boasts an ancestor altar, where the living members of a family regularly pay their respects to their ancestors, often leaving food by way of an offering.
Unfortunately, or perhaps not this temple has not well withstood the ravages of time and the forest has largely taken over. Kapok trees, in particular, grow throughout the temple. These often grow to a huge size and intermix with the stonework, causing much damage. The upside is that this creates some very interesting structures and this was the reason the site was used for filming Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. The pictures speak for themselves.
Preah Kahn (Sacred Sword)
This is another late 12th century Buddhist temple, this time built as a tomb for the king. The temple included a dancing school.
Cambodian dancing
After dinner in a large restaurant in Siem Reap, we were entertained by a troupe of Cambodian dancers. I can't say that this is an artform of which I can claim any real understanding or appreciation. It's all done in slow motion, some of it, to me, being more reminiscent of a gymnast's beam exercises than of a dance. It seems that the art is all in the deliberate movements of the fingers and the toes. Maybe, but, quite honestly, I'd rather watch a pole dancer.
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