Wherever we go, there we are!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Day 19: Siem Reap

On our last day, we stayed in Siem Reap. We took a tuk-tuk to the gardens in the center of the city, saw the royal residence and walked along the river. We also went to the Angkor Children's Hospital and donated to their facility. We were able to tour the hospital and see all the great things they are doing. They are the only major pediatric facility in all of Cambodia and they provide their services for free to the communities. It was very moving to see all the hard work they do!

We then went to the airport to begin our epically long trip back home. We have a fairly long layover in Seoul, Korea, but not really long enough to go into the city. We are hoping for smooth flights and easy connections all the way back.

We do have some more videos we will post soon - touring Angkor temples and walking the streets of Hanoi.

Day 18: More Angkor

Prasat Preah Kahn

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Well, we are reaching the end of our trip. We spent another day touring the Angkor temples, including the famed Angkor Wat. We started our day at Prasat Preah Khan temple. This temple was a monastery and college originally dedicated to Buddha, but was vandalized by later Hindu rulers. It is huge and we wandered around the whole complex. One cool aspect was that it had 4 very long corridors that intersected at one spot. While there, we stopped for a Hindu blessing. A kalava was tied around out left wrists and we received a blessing by the giver of the kalava. The wearer of the blessing, symbolized by the strings should leave them on until it falls off naturally.

Celestial Dancer

Next we went to Preah Neak Pean - it was flooded so we didn't get to wander around much, but it was still interesting to see a different architectural style. The temple is a representation of Buddhist Mythology - and when functioning served as a place for devotees to bath in the holy waters. On the way to Angkor Wat, we stopped at a small temple named Baksei Cham Krong that had this amazing staircase that we climbed. On the way out of this temple and to Angkor Wat, we stopped at the side of the road to take photos of the monkeys hanging out.

Preah Neak Penh

Our last stop of the day was to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat literally means "The city which is a temple." It was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu (protector of creation). The complex is the largest temple in the Angkor series. Most notable is the central sanctuary. We climbed to the top of this area - really steep - and saw many figures of Buddha. Almost the entire temple is highly carved, but there are areas that were not finished. Some of the carvings are Apsara, celestial dancing girls, bas-relief galleries that tell stories from Hinduism and battles.

Angkor Wat

After Angkor we had lunch then went back to Siem Reap. We wandered around the markets and stopped for coffee and shakes. We then decided to try the "fish massage" that is all over the place. Basically you put your feet in a tank of fish and they nibble on your skin. It is a strange feeling - doesn't hurt but it does tickle a bit. We then had dinner on pub street.

Baksei Cham Krong

Angkor Wat

Bas-relief

Leaving Angkor Wat

Monday, December 19, 2011

Days 16-17: Siem Reap & Angkor

We are staying in Siem Reap - a bustling tourist town. This is the first time on our trip we have felt surrounded by tourists. Siem Reap really caters to the tourists coming to visit the Angkor temples. There are lots of markets and a pub street filled with restaurants serving Khmer food and Western food. We had a mixture last night of pizza and Khmer fried ginger fish. And of course spring rolls! It was very good.

Bayon Temple

Bas Relief

Today we got up and started our tour of the Angkor temples. There is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist artwork throughout the temples, depending on exactly when they were built. Many have figures and symbols of both religions. As the religions moved back and forth between Hinduism and Buddhism, you can see many Buddhas removed or re-carved to look more like Hindu gods.

Buddha changed to look like Lotus

We first visited Angkor Thom. The first temple, Bayon, is shaped like a pyramid and has many towers with smiling faces. The bas-reliefs are fascinating and tell stories of the city. We then went by Baphuon, a Hindu temple. However, along the back of the temple is a Reclining Buddha over the whole length. We wandered around a whole host of other smaller temples and then went to the Terrace of Elephants - a long terrace used for royal military reviews and parades. The entire terrace is decorated with sandstone elephants. Next up was the "Tomb Raider" temple - Ta Prohm - made famous by the Tomb Raider movie. This temple is filled with silk cotton (Kapok) trees and baryon trees that are growing out of the walls and over roofs. The trees have become a part of the temple, so during restoration, they left the trees.

Baphuon

We had lunch at a Khmer restaurant and then went on to another set of temples. We drove through a farming village and saw houses up on stilts. We went to Banteay Srei - the temple of Women. This was made of pink sandstone and was a Hindu temple built by Hindu priests. It isn't a royal temple, like most of the other monuments. The carved lintels show scenes from the Ramayana. Our last stop of the day was at Praset Kravan, a temple that was built of smaller bricks - the others were mostly large lava rocks and sandstone for the carvings. We climbed to the top and could see Angkor Wat in the distance.