2017-11 Grand Palace (Bangkok, Thailand)

My first attempt at the Grand Palace didn't end up materializing. It was the royal ceremony of the changing of the Emerald Buddha's costume from the rainy to winter season. In Thailand, there are three seasons: hot, rainy and winter. November 4th just happened to be the day of the robe change.

Grand Palace

My second attempt was more successful, participating in the Urban Adventures Temple and River Kings tour. The benefit of the tour is that our guide left us to take photos within the welcoming area of the Grand Palace while he went off to purchase our entrance tickets. He also got us through shorter lines for entrance as well as providing background on the different monuments.

Exterior of the Emerald Buddha temple

Fortunately, we were now able to see the Emerald Buddha, even if we couldn't take photos of it. It is a petite 26 inches tall; and, it's actually made of jade. We had to leave our shoes outside of this temple to enter.

In fact, the Grand Palace has the strictest dress code of all. No shorts allowed. For the one guy who had shown up to the tour in shorts, our guide, quickly pointed him to 100 baht "elephant pants". For women, long pants or a long skirt is required. It needs to cover one's ankles. Shoulders must be covered for both men and women.

A giant demon gaurdian

Yet, you don't want to miss a chance to visit this complex. It is extensive! Even walking to get to the entrance was over a kilometer plus what seemed like another 1/2 kilometer to get to the ticket booth. Once inside, we saw the gigantic "giants" that had been mentioned in Wat Pho. These are demon guardians.

Golden stuppa

We also saw a giant stuppa covered in gold leaf. This was built by King Rama V; and, he had the gold leaf imported from Italy. Another iconic piece is a model replica of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was part of the kingdom of Siam from the 15th-19th centuries.

Model of Angkor Wat

Quick notes:
- dress appropriately: shoulders covered, no shorts, women need to cover their ankles
- 500 baht entrance fee
- have a back-up day in case your first choice is closed for a ceremony

2017-11 Angkor Thom and Baphuon Temple (Cambodia)

First view of Angkor Thom from across the moat

Our final visit near Siem Reap was to Angkor Thom. This complex is part of the extensive networks of temples and palaces around Angkor Wat and included in the price of the Angkor Wat ticket. Angkor Thom is a very impressive site of 9 square kilometers (3.5 sq miles) encompassing both older temples and palaces.

gods tugging on naga

Our driver left us off outside of the moat surrounding Angkor Thom. We took photos of the surrounding wall, entrance gate and bridge with the reflections in the water. Angkor Thom is a truly impressive complex that rivals Angkor Wat. Even walking across the bridge must have awed the people who first crossed it starting in the 13th century.

Entrance gate to Angkor Thom

The first iconography that we saw were a row of demons on the right side of the bridge, tugging on a naga, or seven-headed snake. A matching row of gods tugged on an identical naga on the left side of the bridge. This is part of a Hindu story of churning the sea of milk, that we had seen in an intricate bas relief in Angkor Wat. While some of the original gods and demons remain, many portions have been restored with new stone.

Tourist riding an elephant outside Bayon Temple

The bridge supported moto-scooters, pedestrians, and tourist vans, as we ambled toward the towering gate, crowned by the four faces of Buddha. We watched a tourist bus just barely squeeze under those heads and through the gate. On the back of the gate, we could see a sculpture of a three-headed elephant. According to our guide, these three heads represent the three competing familial relationships once a person is married.

We walked on until we saw the large temple of Angkor Thom: the Bayon. This was built by the same king that built Ta Prohm: Jayarvanam VII, the Buddhist king. Along the walls of the temple, there are detailed bas reliefs detailing Jayarvanam VII's defeat of the Chamba people, who were living it what is now southern Vietnam. There were also bas reliefs about daily life. The walls on each of the Bayon temple were covered in these intricate stories.

Within the temple, there are 54 towers. Many of these temples have the four faces of Buddha. However, since Jayarvanam VII was the first Buddhist king and did not want to alienate his Hindu following subjects, he also included Hindu statues. Therefore, the Bayon Temple was a merged Hindu-Buddhist place of worship.

Buddha faces sculpted on the towers in Bayon Temple

We wandered among the towers, staring up at the smiling faces of the Buddha. Interestingly, a later king subscribed to Hinduism; and, he had the third eye carved into the foreheads of all the Buddhas.

View from the top of Baphuon Temple

Our next stop was to the Baphuon Temple. This temple is older than the walls, gates and Bayon. It was built during the 1000s AD. There is a square swimming pool in the front; and, it is still possible to clim at least to the top covered walkway, albeit not to the very top. The views on the top were spectacular! After we descended and exited the back of the temple, our guide pointed out that the architect of the Baphuon had skillfully designed a reclining Buddha into the back of the temple.

Reclining Buddha in back of Baphuon Temple

Our next stop was to the Phimeanakas Temple, perhaps the oldest building within Angkor Thom. It was built during the 900s but was used by Jayarvanam VII as well as a place to come to pray. Our guide told us a story about the king having to visit the tower of the temple before going into battle. The story he told was that the naga (snake) would appear as a beautiful woman that the king needed to sleep with in order to bring victory in battle.

Phimeanakas Temple

We did drive by and photo stops of several other places after Phimeanakas. However, we were all so overheated by this point, that our new joke every time we would get in the van was "Just one more temple...".

2017-11 Ta Prohm Temple aka the Tomb Raider Temple (Cambodia)

Gate of Ta Prohm with four faces of Buddha

In the morning, we had gotten up early to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat and visit that site. Then, we went back to the hotel for breakfast and naps before heading out to our afternoon temple visit to Ta Prohm, made famous by the movie Tomb Raider. It was built by the Buddhist king Jayarvanam VII sometime during his reign from 1181-1218, approximately 37 years. Jayarvanam VII was the second king after the king (Suryarvanam II) that built Angkor Wat. Whereas Angkor Wat was built in honor of the Hindu religion, Jayarvanam VII was an adherent to Buddhism.

Spung tree in Ta Prohm

Jayarvanam VII's reign began after he collected soldiers to attack and remove the Champa from what is now Vietnam but was then part of the Khmer empire. He tried to control the Khmer empire by selecting an intellectual to run each of the four provinces. Within Ta Prohm complex, there is a former temple for teachers as well as a police university. Monks could come and study at Ta Prohm to get ready for their entrance exam to enter Angkor Wat school.

Stegasuarus carved into Ta Prohm!

Interestingly, becoming a Buddhist monk need not be a lifetime commitment. Every Buddhist male is expected to be a monk for at least some time in his life, which can be for as little as three months to indefinitely. At Ta Prohm, boys would come to study as monks but then could leave the monkhood when they needed to return home to work the rice fields.

Another tree in Ta Prohm

After Angkor Wat fell to Siam in 1342, the monks left Ta Prohm; and, nature took back the area. The impressive trees that we see that have grown through the foundations and walls are either spung trees or chambak trees. Angkor Wat did not see such degradation, as there was always someone living there and pulling out sapling trees from the stone walls. However, Ta Prohm did not have such caretakers over the centuries. It is a fitting reminder that no matter the mark that we think we have as humans, all of our great buildings and monuments can just as easily be returned to the earth in several centuries.

Looking up the central tower of Ta Prohm. The Christmas tree looking opening is to support the weight of the tower

2017-11 Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

Waiting for sunrise over Angkor Wat.

We boarded the bus this morning at 4:45 am in hopes of seeing a glorious sunrise at the Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat. Surprisingly, we weren't the only ones queued for tickets at 5:15 am. Each of us needed to have our photos taken to be printed on our tickets. Then, we walked along the moat and found seats to wait for the sunrise behind the temples of Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, the clouds prevented any beautiful sunrise photos. However, we were able to get a photo of the temples reflected in the moat.

Walking toward the entrance of Angkor Wat

One of my misconceptions was that Angkor Wat is a Buddhist temple. We've seen so many Buddhist monks in Cambodia in their orange robes. However, in my few days in in the country, I've learned that the Khmer (what Cambodians call themselves) originally followed Hinduism. The Angkor Wat complex was built by the Khmer King Suryavarnam II, who reigned from 1113-1150 AD. Archeaologists and historians don't know exactly how long the temple took to build but use 37 years as an approximation, using the dates of Suryavarnam II's reign.

A lion sculpture used to stand on this pedestal at the entry gate

Giving up on sunrise, we walked across the moat on a floating bridge, which has only been in place for eight months as restoration work begins on the original bridge. The moat goes 5 km around Angkor Wat and was originally 1.5 meters deep. It is fed by both monsoon rains and the Siem Reap river, providing a first defense against any enemies.

Vishnu statue with 8 arms to protect from all 8 cardinal directions

At our first stop, our guide explained about the types of stone that Angkor Wat is built out of: sandstone and lava stone. The lava stone is porous and lighter. It was used for the bridge to the complex, as water could pass through it. The sandstone is quite heavy and came from 100 km away. One of the ways to transport it was to quarry it during dry season and leave it on a bamboo raft along the river bank. Then, when monsoon arrived, the river would flood and carry the sandstone to Angkor Wat. Other types of transportation for the stones included elephants and ox carts.

Dancing Apsara

What is really amazing to me is how much of the carvings, both bas reliefs and inscriptions into the stone, have survived all these years. Many statues have been stolen over the years; and, some are at the National Museum in Phnom Penh. Still, the amazing architecture and intricate decorations on the buildings remain. We saw a Vishnu statue and many, many dancing apsaras, in addition to bas reliefs adorning the walls. One section was a total of 900 meters, at a height of 3 meters, telling the story of Ramayana.

Bas relief sculpture of the story of Ramayana

At this point, we hadn't even passed the first wall of the complex; and, I was already very impressed! Our guide led us out to the main courtyard, pointing out a library on both sides of the stone sidewalk. The sidewalk had been built to slightly slope down from the center to both edges for rain to drain. Along the walkway, the railings were stones that were cut and fitted together.

Sidewalk stone railing

Still ahead of us, the three central towers of Angkor Wat rose. The entrance gate that we walked into was 35 meters high. The central tower of Angkor Wat is 65 meters high. Currently, there is a policy in Siem Reap that no one can build any building higher than 65 meters, leaving this tower to soar alone among the trees.

The three main towers still seem a long way away

Which brings us to an important point: there is no signage anywhere within Angkor Wat. I saw one total sign about a restoration project going on in one of the library buildings. The best way to enjoy this large complex is to hire a guide to explain it all. Our guide provided us with lots of information; and, I fear that I didn't catch half of it!

One of four water reservoirs

Once inside the largest building, we walked among the four water reservoirs, one at each direction (north, south, east west). The walkway between the water reservoirs represented the center of the universe. In order to keep the temple in balance, different reservoirs would be filled or drained throughout the year. In addition, the water kept in these reservoirs was thought to have medicinal properties.

View from the central tower

Now, it was time to summit the large tower. We queued to get a chance to climb the steep wooden steps that cover the original, narrow stone steps, which our tour guide said that people used to crawl up. The views from the top were spectacular!

View from the central tower

Quick Notes:
- go early (yes, pre-sunrise early)
- you'll need a guide because there is no information posted around the temple
- no limit on number of visitors per day, so it gets busy
- keep careful track of your pass -- even a tear in your pass will require that you purchase a new pass. We had to show our passes a couple times throughout our visit. This is the same pass that you'll use for the other temple complexes in the area.
- different pass options: 1 day, 3 day, 7 day