This morning our tuk-tuk driver picked us up at 9AM, and we continued our exploration of the Angkor area.
We started off with Baksei Chamkrong, built in the 10th century and it is a small, elegant pyramid temple. Because it is small and near larger ruins, we had this monument to ourselves, which is not an easy thing to achieve in Angkor. Like other pyramid temples, the staircase is a 4th class scramble.
After that, we went past the south gate of Angkor Thom and back to The Bayon to explore it some more, since I liked this temple so much. Unfortunately, it was much busier this time around, so it was harder to enjoy it.
Next, we went to Preah Khan, once again built by JV7 in the late 12th century, to celebrate his victory over the Chams. It is one of JV7s largest projects, and more of a Buddhist university than a temple. The ruins are pretty massive; we spent quite a while wandering through corridors and galleries, admiring the stonework and bas-reliefs.
The next monument we visited was Neak Pean. built by JV7 in the 12th century as a Buddhist temple. It consists of a central monument, in the middle of a large square pool, with four smaller pools (each representing Earth, Wind, Fire and Water), one on each side, forming a quincunx. The pools are now all drained, but it must have looked impressive when they were filled with water.
After a brief lunch at a nearby food stall, we continued on to Ta Som, once again built by JV7 in the late 12th century. It is a fairly small ruin, and is reminiscent of Ta Prohm, with large trees growing out of the ruins.
Given that we wanted to see Sunset at Pre Rup, and that we were ahead of schedule we went back to Ta Prohm again to explore it some more. During this visit, the cicadas were out, making their characteristic, unbelievably loud noise. It is hard to imagine something that small producing a buzz of that volume - a sound volume of 106dB, the equivalent of a jackhammer.
For a moment, you have to wonder why a creature would create such a noise, expending so much energy in the process, and risking life and limb by revealing its position to predators. However, the answer becomes obvious as soon as you think about it: such extravagant efforts and risks only ever undertaken in order to get laid, usually perpetrated (as in this case) by the male of the species. The buzz is its mating call.
We then headed back to Pre Rup, and explored the temple as we awaited the sunset. Built in the 10th century by Rajendravarman, it is a temple-mountain with the standard five towers at the top of it forming a quincunx. This temple was to believed to be used for royal cremations. We sat on the top level of the temple, watch as the sun lazily descended towards its slumber in the distant canopy of trees. One cannot help but wonder how many incredible sunsets this temple has seen over the centuries.
After sunset, we headed back to Siem Reap and our hotel and went out again for dinner, and called it a night.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
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