Angkor Thom, Bayon & The Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King
We were advised that the speed boats to Siem Riep were cancelled so land transportation was arranged for us. We were lucky to see much of the Cambodian countryside on the way, even
stopping at a local market where one of the popular items for sale were cooked spiders!! Not quite our taste so we continued on. There were lots of people travelling on the roads with loads of food and
wares to sell but the thing that amazed us was the number of people that could fit in a vehicle. On the roof, inside and hanging on anywhere they could find! We stopped at a stone factory on the way
and could marvel at how clever these artisans are. Our last stop was at a river so the driver could have a short break as this journey took about 6 hours.
We eventually reached Siem Riep where we were met by our guide, Sethi. What a delightful and informative guide he was.
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Our first visit the next morning was to see Angkor Thom starting at the South Gate. An awesome sight, just amazing to see so much history in front of us! The name Angkor Thom, means "The Great City,"
and it was the capital of the Khmer empire from very early times. There are five gateways into this city but the one we have chosen to enter has 108 stone figures on the causeway, gods on the right and demons on the left.
An impressive entry over the moat and at the end of it is the southern gopura which has four enormous faces facing different directions.
Walking around the ruins seemed a little surreal and we were all entertained by Sethi's commentries of times gone by.
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Next stop was to see Bayon, probably one of the most famous temples after Angkor Wat. There are some 200 stone faces here on 54 towers and the sight of these is amazing. There
are bas reliefs here on the first two levels that give todays historians a positive glance at times of battles and life long ago. There are everyday scenes from all walks of life and fairly well preserved.
Time seems to fly here as there are so many places to obtain different views of the faces, let alone the stone structure that has stood the ravages of time.
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The Elephant Terrace was our next stop. The weather was very humid and even though we were feeling the heat, the thought of exploring more kept us going. The actual terrace is about 300m
long and must have been like a viewing platform for special occasions. The wall itself has many elephant scenes carved into it and again history has been preserved. The main steps
are flanked by elephant trunks and are a great place for tourists to take photos. We then moved onto the Terrace of the Leper King and viewed the headless statue which sits with its right knee raised. It appears that
this could be Yama, the god of judgement and death. Nearby there are terraces which have many well preserved bas reliefs that depict people or animals of the era.
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