Angkor Wat

When we finished up with Angkor Thom, we headed to lunch. It was the perfect time because as soon as we sat down, it started raining hard. Like Biblical downpour hard. Thank goodness we were under a cover.

I had some fried rice, which seemed like a safe bet. We took our time because we really had no desire to go out in the rain and we had no idea how long it would last. To the credit of the little street children, they were gathered outside the restaurant waiting for us with umbrellas and ponchos for sale. I had a rather distressing bathroom visit, as it was swarming with mosquitos, and I was afriad I would get a skeeter bite on a certain part of my body while I was trying to pee.

Then just a abruptly as it started, it stopped raining. John, our tour guide, and our driver (whose name I never learned) rounded us up and we were off to see more ruins.

The second part of the day was spent at Angkor Wat. Probably the more famous of the two sites, it sits on a patch of land surrounded by a moat 2.2 miles long. As a little history, it was built in the 12 century, by King Suryavarman. The temple was actually based on early South Indian architecture (at the time that Angkor Wat was built, the Khmer kingdom was big time into Hindu beliefs). It was dedicated to Vishnu, a Hindu god, before being altered to pay homage to Buddhism. It is the most well preserved temple in Siem Reap and is the most recognized. It's even on the flag.

The named Angkor Wat means "City Temple", and under the rule of Suryavarman, it became the center of religious life for Khmer civilization. In the late 12 century, the Chams (ancestors of the Thai people and long time enemies) sacked the Khmer society and took over the area. When Jayavarman came to power, he adopted Buddhist principles, and then went onto construct his own city at Angkor Thom.

At Angkor Wat, we saw more Bas-reliefs, the very ornate wall carvings that depicted stories. Like at Angkor Thom, they depict battles, creation stories (The Churning of the Sea of Milk). The World Monuments Fund is currently doing extensive restoration on some of these Bas-reliefs and other parts of the Temple structures.

The interior part of the site has more ornate carvings, including the Aspara, the Hindu version of concubines. They sprang forth out of the Sea of Milk (or so the story goes).

As we were leaving the site, we saw a little monkey. He was making the rounds from trash can to trash can looking for food. And of course, as we waited for our driver, the little children surrounded us trying to sell their wares.