Cambodia 2020 - 9. Angkor Wat: Part 1

9. Angkor Wat: Part 1

We had waited for cooler days to visit Angkor, but learned Siem Reap will always be around 34C during the day. It also never rains in February.

Just a Few of the Many Cambodian Temples

First of the Cambodian ruins on the agenda is of course Angkor Wat. Despite there being over 1000 temples in Cambodia, Angkor Wat is what everybody knows something about and the main reason we came.

This Is the Outer Wall Across the Moat - the Temple Is Behind

I have seen many a picture of this temple; literally from every angle it can be photographed. There is no use trying to find the ‘perfect’ or ‘better’ photo. Carol and I just clicked away. And this building is not about finding the perfect photo, like many people we saw tried to do. This UNESCO building is truly one of a kind. I tried to just enjoy it during my visit, heat, other tourists and all.

Parking Lot is Several Hundred Meters to the Left of the Bridge Over Moat on (L)

Angkor Wat is humongous. Angkor Wat is amazing. Angkor Wat is stunning. I am trying to find words but cannot compete with what others wrote and I read about. 

Everything I read though is true. It’s a MUST see.

This Wat (temple) is a Hindu Temple. The largest temple ever built. But it’s not about just the size; it’s about the spirit personified, made visible. It is about leaving a legacy, or story, or belief carved in stone.

Temple Is Inner Square, Then Inner Wall, Then Outer Wall

Religion is a strange subject; my beliefs were formed from being brought up in Europe. I look today at all other religions in awe and amazement. I know nothing; everybody else is right when it comes to religion. I just hope I will find the answers I have been looking for all my life.

Nobody living today really KNOWS what is true. I was told to just ‘believe’. I am sure we all were told the same thing no matter which religion we practice today or even if we don’t believe in anything. Nobody KNOWS.

But what people do with this ‘I believe’ is stupefying, flabbergasting and sometimes shocking to me. Even a well-intentioned act (in the name of religion) can still stupefy others.

Built By King Suryavarman II - Showing Several Levels

So it is with Angkor Wat, the amount of work, planning, resources, ideas, art used and applied is over the top. I just stood there, looking this way, that way, behind me, around me and it is difficult to believe that they mainly built this during the years 1113 through 1150 AD, plus some later additions. All this in the name of religion, I thought.

The temple is called a complex because it has so many different levels, niches, hallways, doors, sections, etc.

Hans' 7-Day Pass

First stop though is to buy admission tickets. One can buy daily passes, 3-day or weekly passes. We bought a 7-day ticket; we had a full month to use our ticket on 7 different days. Pink shirted guards check these tickets and punch a hole in the card for each day you use it. It’s a good system, it works just fine. Our tickets were $72 each.

After our ticket purchase, we continued on our way to the ruins.

We got off the tuk-tuk way before the entrance gates and agreed to meet the driver for our return trip at a certain spot. Our driver could not drive us into the ruins or even nearer to the entrance to Angkor Wat. It’s literally forbidden and from here to the entrance… it’s a hike to get into the ruins from our drop off place.

Looking Back Over Pontoon Bridge, Parking About 100 Meters Behind Arrow

The original bridge from the West was under repair, we had to use a 200-meter, temporary, pontoon bridge erected a bit south of the old causeway. It was fun stepping on this new floating bridge, each step felt like we were walking literally on water. Each step had a ‘give’ to it, it felt squishy, wobbly to walk on this pontoon bridge.

Entering Through the Outer Wall

Our walk was long. Once we crossed the moat; we still had a 300 meter walk along an old stone causeway to get to the entrance. It took us a while to get to the Wat proper and the walking was perilous over this old, heaved up, broken walkway, over ruins, essentially. So yes, watch your footing. Every step needs to be planned. 

One of the Small Buildings on the Way to the Main Temple

The vista while walking is of a grand scale; extensive and a bit overwhelming. There were smallish, old ruins along this old walk. Behind us now is the outer wall that runs all around this temple. The total dimensions are all large. The scale is hard to comprehend. It took us a good 45 minutes to just walk to the actual entrance of Angkor Wat from the parking lot.

Looking Back 350 Meters Towards the Outer Wall - We Are Almost At the Inner Wall

Almost to the Inner Wall

The temperature has reached 30C by now, it’s humid, too.

Once we are near the temple, we have to climb stairs to a higher level, and then enter through a few gates. Doors upon doors lead ever deeper towards the center. Carol read that inside the main entrance when we have the choice to go right or left around the inside perimeter or straight ahead into the temple, we should turn right. We followed these recommendations and now walk through more doorways and smallish rooms until we see the famous bas-reliefs along the western walls.

This Wall Is Half the West Wall of Bas Reliefs of the Battle of Kurukshetra

Against the inner walls are carvings (bas-reliefs) that run for 150 meters along the west wall, 400 meters along the south wall and then another 150 meters along the east wall. And we have only walked around half of the inner walls. The dimensions are stupendous.

From the Hindu Epic the Mahahharata, the Kauravas Clan is Going Into Battle

Battle of Kurukshetra From the Above Hindu Epic

Each inch, each feasible space on the walls, all the columns, all the door lintels are densely carved. Naturally, those carvings represent life lived in the past, battles, Gods, Demons, Apsara (divine dancer) of myth (over 2000 Apsaras alone), and displays of their sagas.

It blows your mind. It’s incomprehensible, it’s impossible to take it all in. This temple complex, this Angkor Wat sight needs weeks or even years of study to understand. Wow!

Khmer Soldiers Wore Headgear Topped With Animals

I felt floored, felt small, and felt lost. How could all this be coordinated, how could all this have been done so that it makes sense?

I have seen buildings, but this Angkor Wat just blows me away.

Different Animals on Cambodian Headgear

Yes, it’s a bit of mayhem. Tour guides from every conceivable nation walk along these walls. I heard Spanish, Polish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Russian, Japanese and Hindi? Yes, it’s the typical joke; a guy holds a flag for his group and yells some information about this

King and that King. 

18 Armed Yama Who Decides Whether Souls Go to Heaven or Hell

Top - Souls in Heaven, Bottom - Demons Are Beating Emaciated Souls Sent to Hell

But Carol and I did not have to follow any group; we took our time, walked at our own pace. And yes, we might have missed a lot by not having a guide, but then I did not come here to get the details, I came to just feel this place, admire the grandness of it, marvel at the details of the carvings.

One of 32 Hells - In This One, Demons Are Pounding Nails Into a Lost Soul

We did the right thing, Carol and I, we did it on our own. I understand that some people are only here for a day or two, so they want to cram in what they can. Not so with us, we can come back 6 more times to just look at any temple if we wish, we bought a 7-day admission ticket, remember?

But there are over 1000 temples here; big and small places besides Angkor Wat.  

Well, I will stop here for part 1…

Read more in part 2