July 3, 2011: Cambodia Day 2 - Angkor Wat and other temples on the outer loop

July 3, 2011: Breakfast this morning was presented by a very sincere and friendly hotel staff (the hotel staff actually came forward to shake my hand when they saw me in the hallway): fried egg, toast, coffee, and four tiny bananas (each 3 inches long). After breakfast, my driver came to pick me up for my trip to Angkor Wat and other temples on the outer loop.  Note that it was 8:30 when my driver picked me up and the temperature at that time was 40 degrees C (104 degrees F)!

There are actually many temples in Siem Reap but the most famous one is Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat and many of the others were built from the 12th through the 13th centuries and are primarily Hindu. Statues and carvings in most of the temples depict the story of the Ramayana and honor Hindu gods. In the 13th century, some of the statues in Angkor Wat were replaced with Buddhist statues since it was in that time period that the Cambodian people changed from Hinduism to Buddhism. Angkor Thom, however, is Buddhist by design. 

You will have to excuse me for attaching so many pictures to this blog entry: Angkor Wat is enormous and provided me with many "picture opportunities" and going to the other temples also provided me with other beautiful shots:

Angkor Wat

A manmade moat was built around Angkor Wat with a circumference of 5.4 km (~3.5 miles):

Manmade moat around Angkor Wat (5.4 km = 3.5 mi.)

A bridge across the moat led to the entry to Angkor Wat:

Bridge across the manmade moat

bas relief such as this surrounded the entire perimeter of the temple

bas relief such as this surrounded the entire perimeter of the temple

Ladies cutting grass manually

Steps to the bottom from the very top of Angkor Wat

Steps leading up to top of Angkor Wat

Cambodian Temple in Angkor Wat

I was to meet my driver at 11:00 but had to wait because police had closed the road due to many dignitaries who were driving by. The second car was being ridden by the King of Cambodia. If I had waited six seconds to take this picture, I would have been able to take a picture of the king waving to me from his open window. This King is very popular, the son of Sihanouk. What a thrill it was to see his face smiling at me.

After Angkor Wat, we drove to Pre Rup, a crematorium:

Pre Rup, crematorium

Pre Rup, crematorium

Pre Rup, crematorium

Pre Rup, crematorium

Pre Rup, crematorium

Pre Rup, crematorium

Pre Rup, crematorium

After Pre Rup, I had my lunch, a delicious Cambodian food called Amok Chicken which is chicken with a green curry sauce. From there we went to East Mebon, a temple that honors the Hindu god, Siva:

East Mebon

East Mebon

East Mebon

From East Mebon, we drove to Ta Som, a temple built by King Suriyavarman for his daughter:

Ta Som

Ta Som

Ta Som

Ta Som

Children were playing a game just inside the temple:

Children playing in Ta Som Temple

After Ta Som, we drove to Neak Poan, the Temple for holy water. As I walked down the path, there was a group of blind men playing music -- flute, drum, and stringed instruments:

blind men playing music

Later I reached the temple on the holy water:

On the way back to my driver, I passed a house:

 From Neak Poan, we drove to Preah Khan, a temple built for the king's father:

Preah Khan

Preah Khan

Preah Khan

Preah Khan

Preah Khan

Preah Khan

Preah Khan - note rubble at end of tunnel

Preah Khan

Preah Khan

Preah Khan - north entrance

Preah Khan - west entrance

Preah Khan

After Preah Khan, we drove to my hotel so I could recover from the heat and humidity. After a rest, I returned downtown and took the following pictures. In the third picture you can see how prevalent the tuk tuk (motorcycle driven cart) is. Motorcycles are probably the most common form of transportation and I've seen people carrying full length extension ladders, long poles, and families of four riding on them.

3 on a bicycle

woman carrying a drum(?) on motorcycle

tuk tuks waiting for customers

barbecue anyone?

mobile cooking cart

Night market

Barbershop and ear cleaning parlor and men playing chess in foreground

I ate at an Indian restaurant and walked around the night market and other thriving areas but was approached by so many people eager to sell me things, get a massage, or eat food, that I decided to cut the night short and return to my hotel. People approaching tourists to sell them things is so common that it reduces enthusiasm (at least mine) for looking at merchandise or walking around.


Tomorrow it's on to Angkor Thom. More later.