Had our toasted bread & orange juices at the guest house before we started our long day.
We had a new driver & he drove us in a new Hyundai MPV. Hehe!
--Ta Prohm--
Our first destination of the day. This was the entrance to the temple.
But if you think we will see the temple immediately, then u are wrong. We gotta walk quite a distance before we see Ta Prohm.
It's hard to see old trees in Phnom Penh, but it's not the same case at Siem Reap & the Angkor temples. There were lots of super old trees in Ta Prohm! The trees made this temple rather special...
I wondered how old is this tree...
You would get to see trees taking over the ruins of the temple, and their roots became a solid support for the bricks.
The roots of two different trees joining together.
I liked the mysterious aura of Ta Prohm.
Stand next to this wall and hit your chest near the heart. You will get to hear echoes...
I forgot to zoom a closer pic of the "angkor mona lisa", which was hidden among the roots.
Another iconic tree at Ta Prohm.
Gems such as ruby were used to fill up the holes in this wall.
Roots of a silk cotton tree running along the gallery of the second enclosure. (credits to Wikipedia)
There used to be Buddha statues on the walls, but the new king who was a follower of Hinduism, removed the Buddha statues from the walls.We decided to skip Ta Nei, which is rather similar to Ta Prohm.
--Ta Keo--
On our way to Angkor Thom, we passed by this temple. So, we asked Dino which temple this was and it happened to be Ta Keo! I only got Dino to take the pic by the roadside & did not climb up since it's not in our itinerary. Ta Keo was easy to identify as there were an absence of external decorations, as carvings had just begun when the works stopped. Dino said the temple symbols bad luck as lightning struck the unfinished temple, thus works stopped.--Angkor Thom--
Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring Khmer capital built in the 12th century.
Entrance to Angkor Thom: Victory Gate.
The three-headed elephant is called Airavata in Khmer & it's plucking lotus flowers. A Hindu deity, called Indra sits on the elephant, but my pic's angle could not see the figure properly.
We followed Dino and climbed up a small hill to take a closer pic of the 4 faced-statue at Victory Gate.
Terrace of the Leper King is located in the northwest corner of the Royal Square of Angkor Thom. It was built in the Bayon style under Jayavarman VII, though its modern name derives from a 15th century sculpture discovered at the site. The statue depicts the Hindu god Yama, the god of Death. He was called the Leper King because discoloration and moss growing on the original statue was reminiscent of a person with leprosy, and also because it fit in with a Cambodian legend of an Angkorian king who had leprosy. (I did not take the pic of Yama! Haiz...) (credits to Wikipedia)
Terrace of the Elephants is part of the walled city of Angkor Thom. The terrace was used by Angkor's king Jayavarman VII as a platform where he viewed his victorious returning army. It was attached to the palace of Phimeanakas. The terrace is named for the carvings of elephants on its eastern face. (credits to Wikipedia)
The 350m-long Terrace of Elephants was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king's grand audience hall. (credits to Wikipedia)
Entering the royal palace...
Phimeanakas means "celestial temple" and it's a Hindu temple in the form of a three-tiered pyramid.
The original stairs of Phimeanakas. Tourists who wanna climb up have to use the "new stairs" at the other side. We did not climb the temple as we saw tourists queuing to climb up, and why were they waiting? It's because they gotta wait for other ppl to climb down first. Haha!
Baphuon was built in the mid-11th century. It is a three-tiered temple mountain built as the state temple of Udayadityavarman II dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. In the late 15th century, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple. A 9 meter tall by 70 meter long statue of a reclining Buddha was built on the west side's second level, which probably required the demolition of the 8 meter tower above, thus explaining its current absence. The temple was built on land filled with sand, and due to its immense size the site was unstable throughout its history. Large portions had probably already collapsed by the time the Buddha was added. (credits to Wikipedia)
You could see a better picture of the reclining Buddha on this signboard.
Saw many of the collapsed bricks laying neatly on the ground at Baphuon.
The gallery at Baphuon.
The front view of Baphuon.
Walking on the gallery...
The rectangular paved pool.Kleangs & Prasat Suor Prat. We also passed by these two places on our way to Angkor Thom. I took a pic of the 12 towers of Prasat Suor Prat, but due to poor quality, I did not upload here. As for Kleangs, I could not take a pic of them.
My favourite destination in Angkor Thom has to be Bayon.
The outer wall of the outer gallery features a series of bas-reliefs depicting historical events and scenes from the everyday life of the Angkorian Khmer. Though highly detailed and informative in themselves, the bas-reliefs are not accompanied by any sort of epigraphic text, and for that reason considerable uncertainty remains as to which historical events are portrayed and how, if at all, the different reliefs are related. (credits to Wikipedia)
View of Bayon from afar.
A scene from the eastern gallery shows a Khmer army on the march. (credits to Wikipedia)
There was also Chinese army on the march. The Chinese general rode on horse, and it's quite easy to tell the difference from hairstyle & dressing.
Some unfinished carvings on the wall.
The upper terrace, with 37 "four-faced" towers.
Some people thought the faces of Bayon were Buddha's face, but I believed they were the faces of King Jayavarman VII.
--Lunch--The weather was hot, and we were kinda tired. Had lunch at a restaurant which was just opposite of the Angkor Wat compound.
E.W's stir-fried tomato & pineapple dish.
Our stir-fried veges & fish.
Tom yam chicken soup.
Stir-fried squid lemon.
Stir-fried pork.--Angkor Wat--
The 190m wide moat, which surrounds Angkor Wat.
Entering the outer wall.
Outer wall.
Angkor Wat towers from afar.
The library.
Thanks to Dino, we found a good spot to take the pic of Angkor Wat & its reflections.
Angkor Wat has lots of impressive & detailed bas-relief carvings.
The Churning of the Sea of Milk gallery was closed for renovation works. What a pity!
The bas-relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk shows Vishnu in the centre, his turtle avatar Kurma below, asuras and devas to left and right, and apsaras and Indra above. (credits to Wikipedia)
There were many galleries in Angkor Wat. This was probably the inner gallery.
The tower, which was inaccessible to tourists.
The tower of the inner gallery.
The apsara dancers.
No chance to climb the stairs.
--Artisans d'Angkor--We decided to visit the handicrafts workshop since we still got time in the afternoon. The place was actually a school to help young Cambodians artisans to find work in their home villages and provide them with a trade and role in society. There were many handicraft workshops, ranging from lacquerware, stone and wooden Buddha statues, to paintings & silk. They got a shop where they sell their products, but the prices were damn expensive.
--Cambodian Market--
On our way back, we stopped by this local market which was near our guest house. E.W wanted to buy some fruits, while the others were interested in their street food.
HM & SC's favourite BBQ bananas.
I loved their sugar cane drink~~~
Check out their BBQ food.--Golden Mango Inn--
Had a little rest before we went for dinner. I went to take a look at Sony's croc farm which was behind the guesthouse. Don't ask me how many crocs were there...lol!--Dinner--
We were back at Pub Street for dinner. Decided to check out "Red Piano". We went up to the 2nd floor and I loved the ambience of the restaurant.
We heard fireworks again, and many ppl stood at the street to watch la. Too bad my view was blocked. There were kids shouting & screaming whenever the fireworks appeared. I did not understand why they need to scream their lungs out. Haha!Anyway, the restaurant was pretty dark to take pics, so I had to use flash in order to see the food properly. Lolz~
My Lime Soda sux...should have ordered another drink!
Delicious Belgian fries.
KH's spaghetti.
HM & Aunt Jo's baked spagh...
E.W's sandwich...haha! We were surprised that the sandwich came in this form.
My super duper delicious cream Marinara. Initially I worried that the cream was those creamy sauce we had in SG, but thank goodness, it's totally different.
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