Despite the scorching sun at mid noon, on our DAY-2, Mark and I still think it was a great idea we come to the temple at then. We both agreed that there were much less tourist, due the heat of course. :P
Paid like $40 for 3-days pass, then move on to Angkor Wat as our first stop.
The moot surrounding the temple itself look majestic enough! What more of the temple itself!
Ahhh... and the Angkor Wat look majestic even from afar...
We took this while waiting for our sunset at Phnom Bakheng, not bad...
Walking nearer to the temple, we found that the Apsara authority finally doing something I could see with my eyes, that is they've put on smaller wooden steps all around the temple. In fact, later on when we visited other surrounding smaller temples, we found them to be covered with similar steps too. Its great compare to literally hiking up the stoney steps.
Contrary to popular believes, this temple was never lost in the jungle at all. And another less know fact was that, the temple was build more for the tomb of King Jayavarman VII. How do we know??? The book says so of course... kakaka... no lah... we know because we can see the main gate was facing the east side, symbolizing the direction of death in Buddhism teaching...
What can I say about this place, it looks so empty really...
looting were rampant ages ago...
Some of the carvings were patched by, but got looted again... geez...
While most are looted years ago, the remained ones are kept by the Ministry of Cultures together with relics from surrounding old temples. Private viewing are by invitation only. Apparently there are still loads of good stuffs being kept there, but who knows where it will be lent to eventually and never return???
Loads of carvings around. the wise man... Buddha figure, apsara dancers... still looking fine despite the years gone by. Most famous are those surrounding the outer walls.
And one of the most well known one is the Churning of The Ocean Milk -- The War Between Good and Evil, cheered by Angels churned out from the bubbles of the sea. Heh...
By the time we reached the center court yard, we were greeted by these tall pagoda like thingy, with such narrow stairs. And so they say, the footsteps to Heaven is never easy!
Mark decided he is going to try going up despite me being the wet blanket. He succeeded actually, only to find that he got weak knees after clambering all the way to the top! How to get down???
Summore got these kind of signs all around...
Surprisingly it didn't take us that long to finish with this first ever temple... oh well... we are not really temple freak I guess.
Plus the hot season weather is really killing us... you can see how many drink stalls on the left side of the main temple building waiting to sell you something...
While the right side most tourist decided to hide under the tree... gosh!
It is a dilemma really whether to come in Dry season or Wet season. Dry = Eat all the dust; Wet = Get all muddy on your favorite shoe. Take your pick...
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