Chau Say Tevoda
This was the temple were Nevil was harassed by an old lady with incense. Eventually he caved to the coercion and donated money (can it still be called coercion?).
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| Nevil 0: Elderly lady 1 |
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| Chau Say Tevoda Temple |
At every temple, children ran to approaching visitors and tried to sell postcards, cold drinks, and colourful souvenirs. We must have said "No thank you" at least 5 times at each temple. Some kids continually asked "Why not?" while others pleaded that they needed the money to go to school. While the yound children tugged at heart strings, most guides point out that the money goes to the parents and the most beneficial way of helping children is giving them food.
In the end, it was inevitable that after 20 offers for cold drinks, our water supply ran out and made the locals very happy. We must have consume 5 L of water each day.
Angkor Thom
Our tuk tuk dropped us off at The Terrace of the Elephants where the walls into Angkor Thom were engraved with scenes of elephants in battle. Inside the 12 century city were even more impressive temples and a huge Angkor pyramid. Unfortunately, this was about the time heat stroke set in. After our ascent of Phimeanakas, we sought shelter in the shade and waited for our heads to stop pounding. As it is, Angkor Thom occupies a very large square hootage and is not clearly marked. We were lost, hot, out of water, andin no mood to enjoy much of anything. It was a miracle we found the way out and sheer luck that we found our tuk tuk driver.
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| Terrace of the Elephants outside Angkor Thom |
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| Phimeanakas Temple aka heat stroke central |
With our driver's promise of food and the breeze from the tuk tuk ride (so key for anyone thinking about visiting Siem Reap in the summer!), we felt tremendously better by the time we arrived at a local restaurant. I should mention that restaurants here are outside with a wooden roof and electrc fans nailed onto posts. For all I cared, we could have been in a 60 ft deep pit so long as it was cooler than 40 degrees and had food.
Angkor Wat
With food in our bellies, we felt bold enough to tackle the temple of temples- Angkor Wat. It as a jaw dropping sight even after a full day of temple trekking. With a large moat around it, it is the largest religious structure in the world. The walkway to the entrance was impressive enough with well preserved pillars, columns, and engravings. Apparently there are about 3000 unique engravings in total. Past the entrance fate is a large courtyard with a main path down the entre leading to Angkor Wat. To the sides of the path are iressive stone libraries. After another substantial climb to the top of the temple (my knees were seriously fatigued), we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the area. It was astonishing to imagine how the Angkorian kings designed these buildings and how workers transported and built such intricate and colossal structures.
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| Outside Angkor Wat |
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| Inside the courtyard |
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View from the peak of Angkor Wat
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Of the grand circuit tour, the most memorable was Neak Pean which consisted of a central pool nd 4 connected artificial resevoirs thought to assist the healing process. Below are some other temple favourites :)
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