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Today it is the 1st of December, and our 6th day. We have arrived at the temple of Angkor Wat. It is located about 4 miles north of Siem Reap, south of Angkor Thom. It was build in the first half of the 12th century (1150). The estimated construction time of the temple is 30 years, by King Suryavaman II, dedicated to Vishnu (Hindu), and is a replica of Angkor Thom style of art.

Although the Khmer people have known about Angkor all along, the city of Angkor was abandoned about 500 years ago, and was overrun by the jungle.

The tree trunks you see here were left in place to show how the jungle had taken over the temple. The rest of the jungle had been painstakingly removed to reveal what you now see today.

Angkor was not known to the outside world until a French naturalist and explorer (Henri Mouhot) stumbled upon it in 1860. He kept a journal of his explorations. He died in Laos in November, 1861, and his journal surfaced in 1863, revealing to the world his amazing discovery. Angkor Wat, the largest monument of the Angkor group and the best preserved, is an architectural masterpiece. Its perfection in composition, balance, proportions, relief’s and sculpture make it one of the finest monuments in the world. It covers an area four times as larger than Vatican City, making it the biggest religious complex on earth.

Wat is the Khmer name for temple, which was probably added to “Angkor” when it became a Theravada Buddhist monument, most likely in the sixteenth century.

These little critters (he monkeys) were roaming free everywhere. You don’t dare approach one of them, as they can be pretty vicious. When we were leaving the area, and crossing a bridge, one of them was being pretty belligerent with one young man, and wouldn’t let him proceed, but kept charging at him and then falling back. I thought it was very strange behavior.

The seven headed serpent looked like something from a science fiction movie. It’s hard to believe it was actually carved around the time of the signing of the Magna Carta. The image must have had a major significance to the people of that time, because they could be seen everywhere throughout the temple complex.

The intricate carvings of the stone, the perfect symmetry, it hardly seems likely that it was built so long ago. I found myself wondering just who these people were. The plan of Angkor Wat is difficult to grasp when walking through the monument because of the vastness. Some signs of more modern times are evidenced by the bullet holes in the photo above.

The temple complex is huge, and we are walking past one of the outlying buildings. A Buddhist monk in his bright orange robe strolls by and heads toward the building. I wondered if monks are still living here. We don’t venture into this building.

Yeah, another selfie. ;o) This corridor is extremely long, and amazing artwork is beautifully carved on the entire length of the wall.

The artists were telling a story, and our guide related it to us as we walked along the passageway.

If you want something to last a very long time, cast it in stone. It’s utterly amazing that these carvings were placed here more than 1200 years ago. And just look at the condition today. I’ve never seen anything so well preserved. This is truly an astonishing wonder.

Inside the temple we find ourselves overwhelmed by what we see. There was a long line of people waiting to climb to the net level.

The stairs leading to the upper level would certainly not pass an OSHA inspection. There were no hand rails at all.

Some Apsara dancers were on hand to entertain the tourists. They were very accommodating with the photo ops.

On the upper level, we get a close up look at the astonishing towers. I now wish I had thought to zoom in at the time, because the detail was unbelievably exquisite.

There was so much to see. I could have spent hours here, but time was limited of course, and I didn’t want to miss the ride back to the hotel. Tin was busy trying to round up his brood. We tried to keep one step ahead of him.

I would liked to have seen a photo of this temple in 1860 when Henri Mouhot discovered it. The closest I could come was a sketch from his journal, and from that sketch it appears that the jungle left the temple quite exposed.

These bas-relief examples reveal the amazing artistic talent the stone cutters possessed. The intricate pattern in the first panel brings back a memory from my grammar school days, of the boy who dunked Susie’s hair in the ink well, and the teacher made him write one thousand times on the chalk board “I WILL NEVER DUNK SUSIE’S HAIR IN THE INK WELL AGAIN”. The boy was not me, by the way, in case you were wondering. ;o)

This pretty much covers Angkor Wat. Next we will have lunch, and then visit Angkor Thom, in the next chapter.