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| Banteay Srei Entrance |
No, there's no typo in the title. I'm sure you'll understand it as you read along.
First of all, yes today (November 7) is Beth's birthday! This is her third birthday since I retired and we started this journey. Two years ago we celebrated it in New Zealand, last year we celebrated it in Dubai (and a day trip to Oman). This year, here we are in Siem Reap, Cambodia!
Siem Reap is located in northwestern Cambodia and has emerged in recent years as a popular destination for travelers. It was actually the capital city of the country until the 14th century when the capital was relocated to Phnom Penh. The relocation was due to Phnom Penh being at the confluence of two major rivers thereby making it more desirable for trade with other countries. Wat's the main reason people come to Siem Reap? Why of course it's the Wat's!
A wat by definition is a Buddhist Temple or Hindu Temple. Our guide, who is quite talkative, funny and always laughing defined it a little differently. He said that a Wat is the entire complex of structures enclosed within the outer walls. It would include the main temple, other buildings such as libraries, smaller temples, courtyards and monasteries (living and working quarters for the monks). Whatever the definition there are over 4,000 wat's in Cambodia, which is a wat of wat's! There is a heavy concentration of them in the Siem Reap area since this was the capital city of the country for so long. Not only is there a heavy concentration, the largest and most well know of them, Angkor Wat is located here.
Today we visited four of these impressive structures. Which may not sound like a wat but it really was, especially since the "feels like temperature" for most of the day was hovering around 100 degrees. First up, because of it's close proximity to our hotel, was the big one, Angkor Wat. "Big one" is a literal term, since it covers over 400 acres. The surrounding moat is 3 miles in length and the outer wall measures 2.2 miles. It was built in the early part of the 12th century originally as a Hindu Temple and features many carvings telling stories of Hindu mythology. Towards the end of the century it became a Buddhist place of worship. Like Machu Picchu, it was abandoned for a period of time before being rediscovered. The 200 yard wide moat around it is partially credited for how well preserved it remains today. It seems as if the moat was so wide that while it was abandoned it prevented the jungle from encroaching too heavily on it. Angkor Wat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is such a significant part of Cambodia's history that it is the centerpiece of the countries flag.
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| There are actually five spires, however when you look at it from directly in front it only looks like there are three |
Our guide had a great grasp of Hindu mythology and would stop along the way to share with us interpretations of the carvings. I'll say one thing for the Hindu people of the 12th century, they had some great imaginations when it came to mythology.
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| Angkor Wat Entrance-Our guide knew all the places to get the best pictures. This is between the moat and the outer wall. It provides a great reflection |
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| This is still a place Buddhists come to worship. We passed this group of boys. Some looked as young as 10-12. |
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| The type of art carving is called bas relief. It's the longest continuous work of it's kind in the world. It covers over a mile of the wall |
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| Angkor Wat |
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| The back gate to Angkor Wat. We loved this area because of the shade it provided! |
We then drove a little further out of the city of Siem Reap to the Banteay Srei. Unlike the other Wat's we visited today this one was constructed of sandstone. It is known as the "ladies temple" because the king dedicated it to his mother. It too was abandoned for a period of time before being rediscovered in the early 1900's. As with Angor Wat, the walls featured detailed carvings of the wildly imaginative Hindu's.
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| The entrance gate to Banteay Srei-The Ladies Temple |
After visiting two more wat's and taking numerous more pictures we decided that was a wat of wat's for the day and headed back to the hotel. We were both impressed at the rural scenery along the way out and back.
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| Practicing my Cambodian greeting with our guide at the Banteay Samre temple |
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| Banteay Samre Temple the third of four temples we visited today |
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| A Kardashian in Cambodia? |
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| The fourth and final wat of the day! Pre Rup Temple |
When we got back to the hotel there was a nice vase of freshly cut flowers in the room. I had e-mailed our great travel agent with Tonkin Travel to let her know about Beth's birthday but she had already picked up on it and contacted the hotel (great above and beyond service). But there was one more surprise in store. We had eaten a big lunch so we weren't very hungry. We decided to just grab something small at the hotel restaurant. At the conclusion of the meal all the lights were suddenly dimmed and the two nice servers came out with a birthday cake with candles and singing "Happy Birthday" with a Cambodian accent!
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| The Birthday Girl! |
Tomorrow we have a wat more wat's to see!
One other thing, this is somewhat of a significant milestone as it relates to this blog. According to the stats I get this is blog number 400! Thank's to whoever is out there reading this thing. I hope I'm providing a little education and entertainment. Thanks for coming along with us on this journey!
