And so after a hearty breakfast, we boarded the tuk-tuk with Sokha to get to the well-known location set of Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider. I dunwannabe her. I just wannabe there……

This ruin was found amidst a jungle & the trees have overtaken the structure by their gigantic root system. When the Khmer empire fell, the temple was deserted for centuries, allowing nature to take over. We arrived before 9am & there weren’t that many people yet so I had a free reign to do whatever I wanted to do with my Man…………………………..frotto Modo!!! Hah! What were you thinking? My travel partner was busy scouting for that special silk cotton tree, leaving me all by myself to pose & pose some more! This was a place where I could fantasise all day about being a maiden in distress & my prince coming to my rescue……..& then I hear my name being called out to get off that tree. Errr…..now where were we??

I imagined a world of intensity within this 1 sq kilometre compound of temple. The massive trees were left here intentionally by the archaeologists working on the site. While clearing back the forest it was decided to leave them in place to serve as a reminder of how the original discoverers found it and other temples. Many of the trees have grown around and through the remains, and soar high above the temple. Every turn I make, there is a giant tree. And this giant strangler fig was so huge, I was almost afraid that if I touched it, it would stretch out to grab me & swallow me up. I would think giants lived here.

I had a field day walking around the skirted roots & imagining a Jack climbing up this massive beanstalk……I hurried through the corridors of the inner sanctum before the Giant got down Jack’s beanstalk……it’s amazing how I can run when I feel something big is on my trail……

When there are many sanctums, corridors & doorways to pass through, one would get really confused when you see rubble, rubble & rubble. Apparently a whole lot of rubble had been removed from the passageways to make nicer walkways for visitors to appreciate Ta Phrom. This place is so ancient that you can almost feel a part of the Khmer civilisation taking place. Darn, the giant is after me, I must keep the pace……*huff! huff!*

Most parts have trees sticking out or growing over the temple like this one.

It’s a real sight to behold. The contrast of my pictures are too great & I couldn’t stick around long enough in one spot lest the giant finds me & eats me…..

Where is my prince who’s supposed to rescue me from the menacing giant?!? Having time to climb over a root system to take this picture within a 12 second lapse, I’ve just about made it away from the menacing giant on my tail……my prince is nowhere to be seen……

Ah…..my prince finally came to rescue me & we lived happily ever after!

It’s an enormous complex of elevated towers, covered galleries, decorated frontons, courtyards, gopuras, stairways & of course, exquisite carvings. A large pool to the left presented us with a magnificent view of all five sanctuary towers reflected in the water & after exploring this gigantic structure (check out the size comparison of the human being in the pictures……the one of me standing against the middle tower with the desire to climb but could not because they’ve cordoned off the place for restoration works!!!) we stopped at a refreshment stand close by to gobble up the contents of a coconut, water & all.

There were tourists all over the place & I had to strategically position myself to take shots WITHOUT them in my frame or set up my Manfrotto Modo on a 12 seconds’ timer to give myself lots of room to dash in front of the camera for candid poses & such. And I was having the time of my life because Angkor Wat is so BIG & SPACIOUS.

By the time we decided to go, the thought of walking the entire stretch of the courtyard (300metres or so) was enough to make me go jelly from the day’s journey. I was ready to kick my Timberlands off & jump into any pool of water even with frogs. I was so hot. Well, there is a moat outside which had crocodiles in the days of old before…..

That night, we had my first taste of Cambodian food at the Khmer Kitchen near Pub Street. I’ve fallen in love with Khmer Grilled Mackerel at first bite. I also got my Lemon Grass Tea. Apart from great food, we were serenaded by a band of buskers who are victims of land mines. I was then, totally emersed with the Khmer culture at last.

We headed out to what was once, a great empire nestled in the vast expanse of fertile land. Sokha took us in a tuk-tuk, a rather tiny carriage fitted for joyrides, towed by his ever-trusty motorbike, to the first destination, The Bayon. The Bayon was the last state temple to be built at Angkor. The similarity of the 200 or so gigantic faces on the temple’s towers to other statues of the king has led many scholars to the conclusion that the faces are representations of Jayavarman VII himself. Angkor scholar George Coedès has theorized that Jayavarman stood squarely in the tradition of the Khmer monarchs in thinking of himself as a “devaraja” (god-king), the salient difference being that while his predecessors were Hindus and regarded themselves as consubstantial with Shiva and his symbol the lingam, Jayavarman as a Buddhist identified himself with the Buddha and the bodhisattva. There were so many faces on the wall, that every corner I turned, I found a face staring at me.

The most profound thing to me in this ruin was the bas relief on the wall. Not sequential, the depiction of the battle that took place was intense, with people in the market scenes being exceptionally comical when a woman shoves a ‘turtle’ to bite the butt of a man (possibly the husband who came home late last night!)……..I thought it was brilliant!

Women cooking around the pot & birds atop the roof!

The naval battle…..

The King on the elephant in a procession…..

As we were within the 9sg km compound of Angkor Thom, Sum, who was the licensed Tour Guide assigned to us that day, brought us to see what transpired through this empire’s civilisation. Whatever that’s left of Baphuon & the Terrace of The Elephants…….

……..where the king would watch the parade of his people. As I walked on the terrace, I too, felt like the king who once lived in the grounds of Angkor Thom. The sheer size of this structure & the vista from the terrace is amazing, not to mention he built 82 temples during his reign. Why is one not enough?

Then along the way was Phimeanakas, a tower built as a Celestial Palace, was a bit too steep for me to climb so I walked around it instead. I have no plans to roll down this tower should I & my two left feet slip & tumble. My precious Oly will not like that too.

And a structure that represented Hell & Heaven which is a narrow walkway within the walls carved with idols. It was flooded from the rain inside so I only went so far.

We were taken to Preah Khan where I walked through a maze of tunnels & doorways leading to a huge courtyard at the back. Upon reaching the core of this ruin, I found an old lady guarding the statue of Buddha. According to the guide, she’s been there forever. I gave her something & took a picture of this lady as she was rolling some leaves to eat…..

I wanted to know why she stayed within the temple & where her family was or if she had any family but the language barrier prevented me from doing so. For that moment, I thought about the many Cambodians who had their family members killed in the Pol Pot’s Regime. Sokha’s father was one of them. His mother’s cousin had 4 children & the husband had to steal a corn from the corn fields of Pol Pot to feed the famished family but when he ws found out, the entire family was massacred. Such was the atrocities committed in Pol Pot’s reign of terror. I can never look at a corn the same way again.

The entrance to Preah Khan…..

There were tunnels……

…and there were doorways…..

…..seemingly endless with broken stones that piled beyond recognition. The reconstruction is almost impossible as they didn’t know which piece fit what & where it belonged.