Temples of Angkor

Lost from the world in the jungles of Cambodian lay the ancient capitals and temples of the Khmer Empire between the 9th and 15th centuries. Brought to light in 1860 by a French archeologist it has since been declared one of the “eight wonders” of the world. The wats were originally built as Hindu shrines to the god Vishnu and were later converted to Buddhist temples; some are still used today.

We spent three days exploring the 400 sq. km. archeological park by bicycle giving us the freedom to go at our own pace and see some bizarre sites like a hog on a moped who was very much still alive. Being such a large complex we focused our time on the main temples exploring Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Prohm.

Angkor Wat’s distinctive image brings about a sense of awe as you enter the complex walls. Its five towers in the center represent the mountains sounded by a lower mountain range (complex wall) and the ocean (a large 190m moat). The walls are filled with detailed bas-reliefs depicting Hindu epics of Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The baroque style of the Bayon contrasted the traditional Khmer architecture of Angkor Wat opening a different perspective into the Khmer empires. 216 faces of the king (believed to be Jayavarman VII) bear watch of the temple as we weaved our way through the site. The lower terraces are covered with an interesting collection of mythological, historical, and mundane bas-relief scenes of battle and celebration.


Our favorite temple of them all was Ta Prohm, the strangler fig tree temple made famous as the set of Tomb Raider. However, our peaceful scenes of the crushed ruins from the film were brought back down to earth with swarms of Laura Croft posers atop the all too convenient platform. Throughout the day though we found some quiet among the maze of relics. We spent much of our time wondering around the massive structure admiring nature’s roots slowly take back the ancient rubble.