Siem Reap

We are currently discovering the wonders of Siem Reap.  It has been so fun to get out of Phnom Penh and see this site that is truly amazing.  Siem Reap is a very different town than PP. It is much smaller, and it is full of tourists, people just coming through to move on in a few days.  I somehow don’t feel like we fit that category because we aren’t leaving Cambodia any time soon.  I think the most significant difference is that we know a little bit of Khmer.  When someone asks me about being pregnant or we ask their name in Khmer they smile from ear to ear.  Not many tourists do that here.

Angkor is unbelievable. Our pictures aren’t all that great cause the weather was very gray, but it was well worth choosing an overcast day to walk around for 8 hours, especially being nearly 7 months pregnant.  We went into the day thinking we would be in and out much faster than that, but the hours kept ticking by and we were still curious about what we might find in the next temple.  I wish there was a better way to describe these temples. I am still in awe at the architecture.  Some of them were built over 1200 years ago.  

The builders had to make little rivers and rafts to float the massive stones to the building sites, as there are no mountains near by; or they would use elephants to carry the stones.  It must have been such a massive undertaking.  The detail on each stone is mind-boggling too. 

The three main temples we visited were very different. We saw other smaller ones, but these are the most famous and hopefully I will be able to get the pictures to match what I write. The first was Angkor Wat and it was the most impressive simply because of its magnitude. 

This is the temple that usually shows up when you google Cambodia.  It is also the background of our blog page. It was originally built as a Hindu temple but later converted to a Buddhist temple. 

The second temple is called Bayon and it is famous for the massive and serene faces on each of the towers.  There used to stand 54 towers, but only 39 remain (I think), and most of them are only partially standing.  Each tower has four faces, pieced together with huge stones. It is also famous for its bas-reliefs that show scenes of mundane everyday life but also mythological and historical scenes.

The final temple is Ta Prohm, which is familiar to anyone who has seen Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, as a few scenes are shot on these grounds.  This was probably my favorite temple, although it is hard to choose.  It is unique because when the temples were starting to be restored at the beginning of the 20^th century this one was left in its natural state, which is quickly becoming part of the jungle. Huge trees are growing out of the walls surrounding the temple and over the top of it.  It is truly beautiful.

We miss you all, and look forward to hearing from you.  We will put more pictures up soon, and write again when we can.