Angkor Wat - Part 3

The last instalment we talked about the remarkable bas-reliefs on the 1st level. We will wrap up the Angkor Wat in Part 4. Here we go...

The 2nd level of Angkor Wat is a cruciform cloister called the Gallery of a Thousand Buddhas. The cloister is flanked symmetrically by 2 temple libraries. Contrary to the name of the gallery, it does not contain a Thousand Buddhas. It used to contain numerous Buddha images, left behind by pilgrims over the centuries. Most of them have been removed – either by theft or kept at some place for preservation. Damaged Buddha statues litter the cold dark corridors of the cloister, most of them headless – work of looting bastards, looking to earn a quick buck....


Cruciform Cloister – The roofs are adorned with intricate garuda gargoyles. The 4 small courtyards marked out by the cloister might have been originally filled with water. As the temple was built to replicate Mt. Meru, the 4 water-filled courtyards might be heavenly pools where apsaras or devatas (heavenly nymphs) frolic with boundless amorous desire…hehehe…I sure like to be Suryavarman II....


A giant buddha statue for ppl to offer prayers, incense & joss sticks...


The few remaining artifacts of the Gallery of a Thousand Buddha. The lion's face looks smashed...or did it suffer a crushing death move from Haruman's monkey warriors?


Photos of the libraries that flank the cloister. In the background of the 1st photo is a hot air balloon. You pay USD11 for a 10 minute ride. That's like USD1.10 per minute! But u get a bird's eye view of the Angkor temples. The 3rd photo shows some restoration work being done to the enclosure...


Here's a look at the carvings on the ceiling & beams. The 2nd photo leads to the inner gallery, 3rd level of the temple....

3rd level consists of the a stone courtyard, enclosed by uber dark corridors littered with debris and damaged artifacts. In the centre of the courtyard, lies a massive tower, about 50m in height....


The tower from inside the cold dark passageways...


We saw this little kid expertly climbing down the steep steps of the main tower. Comparing with the kid, you can see how huge the tower is... We followed him as he continued to descend to the 1st level. Checkout the style he used to navigate down the steepness of the steps. The 3rd photo is a gateway to the outer enclosure bas reliefs - where the kid disappeared into...


Stone courtyard of the 3rd level... Note the carvings of devatas on the walls of the enclosure... 3rd photo is a little girl that was wandering around aimlessly - I thought she was lost but she's just waiting for her slowass family to catch up...


Huge imposing central tower upclose....


Checkout the jackass tourist Dude trying to do a Spiderman on the outer perimeter of the tower. I was hoping he would fall, hahaha...I almost didn't climb the tower cos the steps are ultra steep...furthermore, the width of the steps are freaking narrow....apparently to reach the kingdom of the gods is not an easy task..... then I remembered I spent USD20 on that 1-day pass so wat the hell, let's go! Worry about getting down later!


Ok, done. I would have let go and screamed like a girly man if not for my conservative, male-chauvinistic Asian upbringing....My legs were shaking when I reached the top... My supervisor climbed pretty fast. He used an old technique that can be best described as side-climbing...going from left to right then switch opposite directions, continuing the climb until the summit was reached. That's a french Dude, just behind me...


Here's the view from the tower...pretty kickass...1st photo shows the entrance of the temple. Angkor Wat is surrounded by thick jungle - checkout the canopy of trees in 2nd & 3rd photos


Inner sanctuary is made up of stone courtyards, inter-connecting galleries of pathways, galleries & shrines. In the centre is the highest peak of the Angkor Wat - 3rd photo.


1st photo is a huge statue of Naga protecting Buddha - one of the Naga's head is missing... I took the 2nd & 3rd photos becos everybody was staring up at the ceiling....maybe there's an interesting story here? Maybe the ceiling collapsed and fell on the Spiderman Dude?


The highest peak is actually a shrine, open at all 4 cardinal points. Religious relics are placed in each opening. Here's my sales supervisor praying again...


Here's the other 3 openings and their contents...


We were looking for a way to go down. Fortunately, there's a railing installed at the steps on the south side. There's also larger steps built at the side for weakass tourists like me.... Might have bent the railing becos of my grip....hehehe....And yeah, I should have wore flip-flops or sneakers instead of my leather shoes...n'vermind, I'll come better prepared the next visit...


Remember the Japanese family we encountered at the Heaven & Hell bas-relief? Yup, they were behind me. The grandpa was the first to come down. He plopped himself down next to me and waited for the rest of his family. That's one of my favourite photos of the whole trip...That look of joy & bliss... Cool socks, oji-san! The 3rd photo is the same family descending to the 2nd level...


We slowly made our way out of the temple, feeling tired but extremely humbled by wat we saw...
Remember the horse & tree? Now there's 3 horses hanging around the tree...


Cambodian women cutting the grass along the moat... Most of them were wielding machetes, swinging them at the grass.... At first I thought they had ropes that band their machetes to their wrists (so that the machetes don't fly out while they swinging with wild abandonment...) But as I got closer, it was apparent they were just holding them...needless to say, I hightailed out of the area, screaming like a girly man...


Some monks arriving as I was leaving the place....


On the sandstone causeway, walking out....following the french Hottie - black flared, hipster jeans....Mmmmm, nice....

Alot of ppl make the mistake the Angkor Wat is the only temple to see in Siem Reap. FYI, throughout the 600 years of the Khmer empire, the god-kings built other temples around the Angkor area. Angkor Wat is just the most famous (also most accessible) of all the temples... No disrespect to AW, but there are other temples much more kickass. Much more atmospheric & mysterious. Like the next temple I visited - The Bayon...