Saving Angkor Wat for tomorrow, we started at the south gate of Angkor Thom which is lined with the faces of 54 demons and 54 gods. I attached a photo of a demon...
Angkor Thom was built in the late 1100's and covers 10 km square. It is huge and incredible. Much of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was apparently filmed here if you want to check it out!
Bayon is the largest of 5 Thom complexes and is located at dead center. It is famous for the 216 giant smiling faces, perched high on 54 towers, looking in every direction (2nd and 3d photos). Baphuon, the complex next to it, had been taken apart piece by piece for renovations when the Khmer Rouge destroyed the records leaving more than 300,000 stones without a map to rebuild by. Reconstruction is still underway today and the ground is covered with stones waiting for their home (4th photo).
We visited 6 other ruins before wrapping up the day at Ta Prohm "the Ultimate Indiana Jones Fantasy" (the last 5 pics). This complex is in true ruins, with a significant number of the walls and structures reduced to a heap of fallen stone. More magnificent, though, are the giant roots of trees growing over, around and through the walls. You can really see how the jungle begins to overtake. With all of the fallen stone, this complex was much harder to navigate. At one point, Jim and I felt as though we were trapped in an ancient IKEA...designed to prevent you from finding an exit. After asking for directions several times, we did finally find our way out of this Temple of Doom.
We were so impressed with what we saw today...although were a bit ruined out by the end. I am glad we saved the best for tomorrow when we are fresh!
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Wow - what amazing adventures you are having! We are so glad Addi is feeling better. ML Baba
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