Ta Phrom (aka Tombola Raider temple)

Ta Phrom (aka Tombola Raider temple)

We woke up at half 3 and got dressed. We had already arranged our bags that we were going to bring to the temples but before we left we realised we had to pack our backpacks too in case they wanted to give our beds to someone else since we weren’t staying another night. I had to wake the guy at the desk downstairs to ask if they would store our bags. Once we were packed and ready to go we went out to our tuk tuk. We think his name was Reed. Before bringing us to the temples he stopped off at a 24h massage place down some dodgy road. He was meant to pick up someone there but couldn’t anymore because he was bringing us to the temples. The guys in the massage place were staying for an extra half an hour. Reed brought us to some tuk tuks near by where a man was sleeping in a hammock in his tuk tuk. Reed called out to him but he didn’t wake up. He then called “tuk tuk” and the man practically jumped out of his hammock in reply. We led him to the massage place where he waited for the men to come out. After 5 or 10minutes they did. They came out swaying with bottles in their hands. At this point we were pretty sure they got more then just a massage. We were completely grossed out. We were driven to get our tickets for the temple, we queued up and raced back to our tuk tuks with the swarms of people trying to get the best spot to view Angkor Wat from. We took a tip from our guide book and went to Sra Srang for sunrise instead. We still expected a crowd of people but hopefully a smaller one. To our pleasant surprise there was only one other person there when we arrived. A few more came over the next hour but for the most part we had the view to ourselves. Sra Srang was once the royal bathing pool. It’s so vast it could be mistaken for a lake if it was not so perfectly enclosed in a large rectangle. We watched the sunrise while eating crackers and taking goofy photos. We watched the sky change colour and although there were lots of clouds and it never quite went the orange-gold-pink that one hopes to see in a sunrise it was beautiful beyond compare. After over an hour of sitting and watching we decided to move on the the next temple. We decided to go to Ta Prohm next. It’s better know as the tomb raider temple. We arrived before it was open and had to wait for 40minutes. While we were waiting two children around 7 years old were trying to get us to buy postcards, magnets and fans. The little boy kept saying “no money, no honey, no baby.” We had to keep saying no to them but they were so cute it was hard not to say yes. Also while we waited we say the tiniest frog in the world. It was no bigger then the nail on my pinky finger. When the temple opened at half 7 we headed in. This temple has become overrun by trees. A vast root system has reclaimed the land and strangles the temples. Cloaked by trees the crumbling temple lies tied together by the roots. Built around 1186 dedicated to the mother of one of the old kings. It is a stark reminder of how all things fade. Of our struggle to overcome nature. It was beautiful really. And not in a sad way. In a way that leaves you in awe of nature. After that we went to Ta Keo temple. Although it was beautiful it kinda killed us. It was a super steep temple with what seemed like a never ending amount of steps. The top of it was being restored and the view wasn’t the best because the trees were all so tall you couldn’t see the other temples. The next temple we went to was Thommanon temple. It was smaller it really nice. It was nice to see the temples so empty. We climbed through a door way/ window and I turned to look down the corridor and got the fright of my life. There was an all dark room instead of a corridor and in the centre of the room was a shrine. A cross legged figure sat with a gold sash on. There was a candle lighting in front and incense burning. I just wasn’t expecting anything to be there and got such a fright. It was really beautiful. Everything was so still and quiet. The flame didn’t even move. It was nice because all the temples had shrines and all of them had candles and incense burning and offerings of food placed in front of them fresh. Angkor Wat is a huge tourist attraction naturally seeing as it’s the largest religious site in the world but it was amazing to see and learn how much they are still used. They didn’t feel abandoned or commercialised. People still went there for prayer and you could see the love and devotion the people had. It’s amazing to think some of the temples were made over a thousand years ago and people have been using them almost continuously since then. It was nice to see all the sculptures which were all smiling and graceful. It amazing to think these wonders were built around the same time as chartes cathedral in France or Westminster abbey in England. All of them are so different and all of them hold so many similarities. The devotion they represent is incredible. Next we went to Angkor Thom. This was the old capital city of the Khmer people. It was once one of the largest city’s in the world. It is surrounded by a large rectangular moat and high walls. Inside it has a series of different temples. We had a snack in our tuk tuk as the rain started pouring down. We put on our rain jackets and happily began exploring the temples with new found energy in the cool air. The Bayon temple is one of the most famous temples in Angkor and is easily recognisable from its many four faced sculptures. It has 54 gothic towers and over 200 smiling faces. Huge heads look at you from every angle with a slight smile. We walk to a nearby a pagoda with a massive statue of a Buddha inside to take shelter before carrying on to look at Baphuon temple, Phimeanakas temple, Preah Palilay, Tep Pranam and the terrace of elephants. Since the rain was so heavy we couldn’t really walk inside or up a lot of those temples but walked around them and their lower floors instead. As we made our way back to our tuk tuk we saw some baby monkeys playing! We had to wake our tuk tuk man who was asleep in the back seat. He brought us to Angkor Wat last. Angkor Wat is the worlds largest religious building. Angkor is seen as heaven on earth and is a symbolic representation of Mt. Meru, which is the Mt. Olympus of the Hindu faith. Most people come here for sunrise. It is meant to be stunning but we were afraid of the crowds. We got there just passed lunch time and it was still busy but Id say it was quiet compared to sunrise. The temple was beautiful and almost perfectly symmetrical. It rose high into the sky and the carvings that covered it were beautiful. This is the pride and joy of the Khmer people and is seen in a silhouette on their flag. Me and Aoife we starting to get tired at this point. We had been up over 12h with very little sleep. We had been trekking around the temples for over 10h and were ready to go home. After looking around Angkor Wat for over an hour we left. We got back to our hostel by around half 3 and went up to the sky lounge. We tried our best not to sleep so we could sleep on the night bus but couldn’t help ourselves and both passed out on a beanbag. When we woke I went and got some food across the road and brought Aoife back some rice. We got our sleeper bus at 11pm. It was filled with bunk beds. Two on top and two on the bottom on each side. We were on the bottom. They were more like lounging chairs then beds but they were still comfortable. We slept for almost the whole bus journey waking a few times at different stops.

By the time we’d finished seeing all of the ruins the sun was fairly high in the sky and we could feel the heat starting to melt into our skin.  We got back to the hotel early enough to catch our hotel’s free breakfast, and then hit the pool.

Tree vs temple. Tree: 1, temple: 0.

Angkor, Siem Reap.