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| The view from Prae Roup Temple |
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| Bayon Temple |
So finally after almost 2 weeks, we
continued to what is the biggest 'must' of Cambodia, maybe the biggest 'must' of
South East Asia – 'Angkor Wat'.
Well actually the modern town is very nearby,
called Siem reap (It's name is to commemorate kicking out the Thai empire -
Siem = Thialand and reap = defeat). This town has a very western atmosphere, very
touristic. But at the same time, not too big and only the very small center is
the tourist center.
'Angkor wat' is located about 5 Km outside of the town and there is very little
aside from the Khmer Empire's ruins that tourist come to see here.
Some History:
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| Banteay Srei |
This Empire existed between the 9th and 15th century and at
its peak included the Area known today as most of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Northern
Vietnam. Angkor Thom was its capital and at its peak the valley was home to
about 1 million people. Angkor Wat is the single biggest temple in the world.
The state of the temples and sculptures are in, is beyond imagination. So much of the ruins remain and in such good
condition – this place is simply breath taking!!!
Statues that at any other place on earth I'd spend minutes admiring are skipped
due to the lack of time. And the things that I do spend a few minutes admiring,
I could spend a day in any other circumstance (other = not coming here with my
kids). On the first day we went to 'only' 3 temples. We started at 8:00 and
finished at 18:00 and on the way found out that there is nothing worse than
eating at the world's biggest tourist trap.
The 2nd day was a little shorter; we took 2 tandem bicycles (one
with a baby chair) and spent the day on them. This day we only went to 2
temples, but aside from 'Angkor Wat' they are the 2 most visited temples (Bayon
and pre-pun) in the area. We took a guide for this day and it was wonderful.
The tour was very informative and we learnt a lot and touring with the bicycle
was a lot of fun too!
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| Khmer and Chinese betting on a cock fight |
We learnt about the mundane life during that period. How to recognize the
Khmer warriors, the Vietnamese intruders and the Chinese merchants. We saw a
lot of stories about the fighting. A lot of Buddha (believed to be the face of Jayavarman VII who built them)
statues, Moats, Vishnu, Shiva, Nagas, etc... Trees growing out of temples,
monkeys, elephants…
We learnt about the different rocks
that were used, how they brought them from over 50 Km away, about what
a brilliant water system the Khmer had, about how the Khmer Empire ended and
about the looting that took place during the 'Khmer Rouge' reign. We learnt
about the masses of people it took to build these amazing temples and about the
ridicules speed they did it in (10-15 years for Bayon temple). What amazes me
most about the Khmer Empire is not the technology they used, but their management
skills. Coordinating projects of such magnitude with such detail requires not
only skill but a remarkable talent!
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| look at all the trees growing out of the temples |
In between all this history and
temples we rested at our wonderful hotel (Tanei), where we had a swimming pool
that was a perfect retreat from the bustling streets and the Cambodian heat.
The girls made sure that each day had a swimming break and something fun besides temples...
The girls saw a circus (called Phare) show that was amazing. Most of the kids come from the streets and the performance was breathtaking!
like a fish massage...
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| it is very tickelish |
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| only one managed to survive! |
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| check out all the fish |
Angkor Wat
We left Angkor Wat for our
last day with the ambitious aspiration to see is at sun rise! We woke up at 04:10,
got organized and woke up the girls. At 04:45 our tuktuk driver picked us up and
by 05:15 we were at the temple. We walked through the dark, following the
stream of tourist, who like us, were trying to understand where the place to be
for sunrise is. We finally found the place and had front row seats. Slowly the dark
night made way for the new day and as it became lighter, we found ourselves among a few hundred tourists waiting for the sun to come up. It was
beautiful…
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| look at that sweet girl in the middle |
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| looking west from the main palace towards the main gate |
The day began and we started our trip
of the amazing Angkor wat. We set out to see the main temple that has an outer wall of about 800m long with every inch of it sculptured with a story. We then
continued into the inner temple which has 3 stories (65 m high) of which the upper level is
only accessible to kids older than 12. So Alma took charge of Yael and allowed
Galia and I to visit the holy of the holy of the long gone Khmer empire, the
place where supposedly the ashes of the King Suryavarman II (who built this great
temple) where placed.
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| horse sculpture on temple wall |
This temple was built in the 12th century and
was never really abandoned. Even after the fall of the Khmer empire, monks
stayed here and kept on worshiping Buddha. Some of the sculptures still have
their original red coloring on them, there is even one wooden beam left from
that era.
 |
| elephant sculpture on temple wall |
It was hard to pull me out of this place, but as Galia so eloquently put it: "Alma has had her lifetime share of temples and Yael is falling asleep – you got
the sunrise and a fair walk of temples, let's head to the city and get a
decent lunch." – as always Galia was right, but for a change I was smart enough to listen...
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| Galia along side the temple wall |
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| The View from the top floor |
 |
| on the way back |
Statues that at any other place on earth I'd spend minutes admiring are skipped
due to the lack of time. And the things that I do spend a few minutes admiring,
I could spend a day in any other circumstance (other = not coming here with my
kids). On the first day we went to 'only' 3 temples. We started at 8:00 and
finished at 18:00 and on the way found out that there is nothing worse than
eating at the world's biggest tourist trap. 
The 2nd day was a little shorter; we took 2 tandem bicycles (one
with a baby chair) and spent the day on them. This day we only went to 2
temples, but aside from 'Angkor Wat' they are the 2 most visited temples (Bayon
and pre-pun) in the area. We took a guide for this day and it was wonderful.
The tour was very informative and we learnt a lot and touring with the bicycle
was a lot of fun too!
This temple was built in the 12th century and
was never really abandoned. Even after the fall of the Khmer empire, monks
stayed here and kept on worshiping Buddha. Some of the sculptures still have
their original red coloring on them, there is even one wooden beam left from
that era. 
מרשים ומושקע.
השבמחקמרשים ומושקע.
השבמחק