2a. Angkor Thom, Bayon & Ta Prohm Temples

After lunch at the Blue Pumpkin (no, I have no idea) we set off to see another iconic temple - Bayon.

The Bayon was the state temple of King Jayavarman VII, built at the end of the 12^th century. It is a mountain temple built to represent Mount Meru, the center of the universe in both Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. It consists of domes, each with 4 faces of Buddha. It's also known as the Temple of 1000 Faces. Some have had their sandstone weathered away, while many are still visible. Here are a few shots:

Most of the huge monoliths have 4 faces of Buddha although given their age, some are looking a bit weathered.

A most impressive structure.

Back to the hotel for a shower and dinner.

Cambodia Day 3

Today's Travel:

Car: 25 kms

Quite a walk in to this temple given the heat and humidity, but it was really one we wanted to see, For those enamoured of adventure movies and video games, this is the temple made famous in 'Lara Croft, Tomb Raider'. It's amazing that the jungle hasn't completely devoured Angkor and all its temples given the fecundity of the surrounding jungle.

While there are many accounts of the 'Lost City of Angkor', it would seem that it may never have actually been 'lost'. Various European and Asian explorers have written accounts of it from the Portuguese Diego de Couto in the mid 16th century to Spanish and Japanese explorers in the 17th Century up to the French naturalist Henri Mouhot in 1860 who is credited as having 'found' the lost city. The extent of the city is amazing and its actual size has only recently been documented via satellite.

"In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world, with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) to the well-known temples at its core." Angkor (Wikipedia)

A few photos follow...

On to the Floating Villages on Tonle Sap Lake