Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm in Cambodia
Angkor is a huge city area most famous for it's local inhabitant Angkor Wat. Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm are two earlier temples each with great charms of their own.
Elephants cross the bridge which covers the moat at the south gate at Angkor Thom. The statues that line the bridge tell the tale of "The churning of the waters"; a tale of the beginning of the world where good and evil forces had to work together to create the world.
The south gate of Angkor Thom is watched over by four serene faces pointing in each of the cardinal directions.
Once inside the gate we made our way down the forest road to the main temple. Most of the temples in Angkor were for kings, priests and the elite. They often housed their religious relics and had meandering corridors, many small chambers and fantastic views and places for solitude.
Around every corner we found one interesting sight or spectacular view after another.
The huge serene heads are so moving that it is hard to take your eyes offthem. Their presence everywhere does make you feel watched over and safe.
I loved how the soft light of the constantly overcast skies played off the ancient stone surfaces covered with moss and how little vignettes like this one would surprise you at almost every turn.
Many of the walls contain intricate reliefs depicting stories of history and legend. Some of the stories are of battles and events but some are just of everyday activities such as fishing and sailing and cooking.
Most people in Cambodia are Buddhist or Hindu and there are small sanctuaries located in cubbies and corners throughout the temples where people come to say prayers or for moments of contemplation.
ove this moment when we caught one of the sanctuary keepers while he napped beside an open courtyard. The small sanctuary at the end of the corridor contains a statue of budah wearing a saffron sash bathed in a beautiful glowing light from the small windows. Very beautiful and peaceful.
The temples also have many staircases leading to upper chambers and more vistas. The stone steps to the right are original to the temple, those to the left are for us feeble footed foreigners. Most of them are pretty steep as you can tell but well worth the climb!
There are so many quiet corners to contemplate and absorb some of the serenity of the great faces and the peace of the ancient stones and carvings.
Surrounding the temples are great forests with wonderful little pathways that lead you to vignettes like this one seen through a hole in one of the outer walls. Scenes like this are irresistible for me.
A much smaller though perhaps more dramatic temple than Angkor Thom is Ta Phrom. Many people have known in as the Tomb Raider Temple from the Indiana Jones movies. It is beautiful.
One of the really unusual things about this temple is the stone it was made of is very porous and allows water to seep in which encourages trees to grow right out of the stone itself. It's very dramatic.
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