We were picked up by our local tour guide, Joe Top, who turned out to be the most knowledgeable, entertaining guide we had the entire trip. As we travelled with him the next two days we learned a lot about his background, his life and his country. He was a gem to be with. Joe came from a poor rural family and joined the army where he spent ten years and retired as a colonel. He fought against the rebels during the Pol Pot era (where 12-35% of the Cambodian population were killed); he learned to drive tanks, remove landmines (over 6 million still in the country) and fly a helicopter.  After leaving the army he drove tuk tuk cabs for awhile and ultimately became a tour guide, a career in which he has excelled in my opinion. It was fascinating hearing some of his stories and concerns about Cambodia and its future.

Before I forget. We asked Joe about getting some Cambodian money and he said to not bother, as all the ATMs in the country will dispense US dollars, not Cambodian riel!  Now that is a first.  Although there is a Cambodian currency people and stores mostly deal in dollars. It sure made our lives easier.

Our schedule for the morning included visiting one of the less famous temples in the area- Angkor Thom, which contains the Bayon Temple and the Elephant terrace – before visiting the more famous Angkor Wat temple complex in the afternoon. By the way, Angkor means “city”. The Angkor complexes date back to the 9th century when King Jayavarman II united the various warring kingdoms in the area and started what became known as the Khmer dynasty. The first order of business, however, was going to a central complex to buy passes that allow us to visit the various sites. A big surprise awaited us . There were huge crowds lined up at 9 AM buying the required tickets. You had to buy a 1,3,or 7 days admission ticket.  Although we were in Cambodia only 2 days we had to purchase a 3 day pass ($62, included in our tour package). Your picture is taken and made part of the ticket;  the tickets were closely reviewed whenever you got near a temple.  Apparently people used to resell their tickets when they were finished; thus the requirement for the pictures. In 1993 only 7,650 people visited Angkor Wat; last year over 2 million people came! It took 20-30 minutes to work our way through the process and receive the required passes. Then it was off to the sightseeing.

Angkor Thom was built in the late 12th century, after Angkor Wat, by King Jayavarman VII.  It is one of the largest Khmer cities built, covering over  9 sq. km. and supported an area population of 85,000-150,000 people.  It remained the capitol until the 17th century.

The Bayon Temple is at the city’s heart. It looks disordered from afar, but as you draw closer the seemingly characterless rubble metamorphoses into a collection of 37 towers (of the original 54)  encompassing a total of 216 striking, smiling, enormous faces. The faces are reputedly in the likeness of King Suryavarman II, who commissioned the temple. Many will tell you he was a vain emperor but he was also the man who declared independence from the kingdom of Java during the 9th century – thereby founding the Khmer Empire as we know it.

The Bayon Temple was the last temple built at Angkor, built between the 12-13th century. The walls are entirely covered with carvings of stories about Hindu scripture and mythology, and everyday life and events in the Khmer empire. It was hard to find a surface that was not carved

Another highlight of Angkor Thom is the Terrace of Elephants, which stretches 350 m in length; the walls covered with a stone depiction of a famous battle in Khmer history. It was also the viewing platform where King Jayavarman VII (often referred to as the most powerful Khmer king) is said to have watched his victorious armies return from battle on the large field in front of the platform.

We had what turned out to be a delightful lunch at a restaurant called Madame Butterfly. What made it unique was although it was a typical fare for the region it definitely had a French influence to it. We all noticed a subtle difference compared to other similar meals.

The afternoon was spent visiting the world famous Angkor Wat, considered to be one of the top wonders of the modern world (even though it dates back to the 12th century).  It laid abandoned from the 15-16th century, being rediscovered by a French naturalist in 1860. My first glance was not what I expected. Picture I have seen seem to infer it is in the midst of dense jungle. In reality it is not engulfed by jungle foliage at all; it sits on an open plain. Yes, there are trees near it but I certainly would not call it a jungle environment.

Angkor Wat is considered to be the largest religious monument in the world. Its outer walls measure 1,000 meter by 800 meters with walls that were 4.5 meters high. There is a 620 meter wide moat protecting the complex. It covers 402 acres and was built in the early 12th century by King Suryavarman II. It was initially built as a Hindu temple honoring Vishnu, but gradually migrated to being a Buddhist temple. by the end of the 12th century. Seeing the carvings there certainly reminded us of what we had seen in India at Hindu temples.   Visually the complex is stunning, especially once you enter the outer walls of the complex.

 

We spent a good 1.5-2.0 hours wandering through the temple complex with Joe Top pointing out the salient things for us to see. We were there late in the day so we got to see the setting sun create great shadows on the complex. Angkor Wat is all that people say it is. It is truly one of the spectacular locations in the world. You look at this 1,000 year old complex of buildings and temples and marvel at how the people living during that time were able to build it. It rivals the Great Wall, the Pyramids of Giza and Machu Picchu. It was certainly worth the effort to come here and I am thankful I got to experience it.

It was quite a day…..and one I will truly remember.