Siem Reap Trip - Part 4

If you have limited time to tour around Siem Reap, I believe you'd know where are those you-cannot-miss-out places in Siem Reap. Angkor Wat is one of it.

Angkor Wat is such an amazing spot, there are lots of information you can surf through internet. So, I'm not going to write the history and background about this temple, they're just repetitive. (What a powerful excuse. Hehe) Here's some useful links (you may just search in google and you'll get plenty anyway....):

Angkor Wat Information Page

Angkor What??

吴哥窟
风尘四侠游柬埔寨

To summarise:

1. This temple was built by Suryavarman ІІ and is considered the biggest Asian pyramid
2. The temple is divided into 3 levels
3. The most famous decorations of Angkor are the heavenly nymphs (Apsara)
4. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods

If you ask 10 ppl who've been to Angkor Wat, 10 will tell you they wake up early in the morning for sunrise at Angkor Wat. Yeah... we're one of them. Set off to Angkor Wat at 5am for the sunrise.. crazy huh..

Find a good spot and sat by, there were many crazy fella like us sitting by the lotus pond and waiting for the sunrise. Then, you'd see local kids approaching the tourist: Sir, you want coffee? You buy coffee from me, the sun will come out. Hahaha... (if you go market, ppl will say: Lady, you want scarf? If you buy, I can give discount.. )

Can see the sky was covered by cloud. It's a bad timing and we're not able to see the sunrise. The best sunrise we could see is shown in the pic. No sun at all, but "sunlight".

After the disappointing sunrise, before we headed for breakfast, I took this pic for Ninja. Then suddenly he said: "Hey... 什么来的？？" (see the 不明物体 circled in picture). Yalor.. What's that? UFO? Then we had another shot, the thing was not there anymore..

We came back Angkor Wat in the afternoon. As Angkor Wat is oriented to the west, it is best for visit in the afternoon whereby it looks more magnificent under "optimal lighting condition"?

The first level presents the mass of bas-relief carving include includes the Battle of Kurukshetra, the Army of Suryavarman II, Heaven and Hell, Churning of the Ocean of Milk, Elephant Gate, Vishnu Conquers the Demons, Khrisna and the demon King, Battle of the Gods and the Demons and the Battle of Lanka. (Don't ask me what are those.... basically 我看不懂... 呵呵..... Maybe a tour guide will be helpful who can tell you the stories?)

An introduction quoted from ctrip.com:

第一层：最下面一层平台周遭长800米的回廊布满讲述宗教故事的浮雕。从西门入口开始逆时针行进，看到的分别是：

（西）决战俱卢之野-黑天举起牛增山-猴王波林之死-

（南）苏利耶跋摩二世军队-阎摩审判-

（东）搅拌乳海-（大象门）-毗湿奴战胜群魔-

（北）黑天与魔王班那-神魔之战-

（西）楞枷之战

It's pretty tiring though.. I felt so as I tour along the long galaries. Of cos.. woke up so early in the morning...

Some ppl even fell asleep lor....

Scenic view from at first level. Can see the hot air balloon right? Something out of topic - we'd been to the visitor centre thrice before we can actually alight to the hot air balloon.

Then come to second level, actually the second level didn't leave me much impression. According to the guide book, second level presents distinctive apsara carvings.

第二层：第二层平台比第一层高7米，周长约430米。这一层的浮雕与第一层相比较多装饰意味，如仙女雕像、莲花蓓蕾等形象。

You might be wondering what is apsara... This is apsara.. This is not the classic one. Something out of topic again: According to Ninja, it was a nice smile while he took this picture but, it turned to be angry face and she showed teeth. Those red spots were not seen while the picture was taken. Strange huh?

Don't ask me what is this.... looks like a swimming pool to me... haha...

This is a stone temple. Carving is everywhere on wall, pillar, and roof. I cannot visualise how the temple was built. How much human resource and efforts were put into the building of the temple?

You might be impressed by this.... although it doesn't look coordinated with the background.

Lotus tower

Then, the third level... I'll not forget about this because of this STEEP staircase.

第三层：呈正方形，边长75米。这是神庙的最高层，四座小塔拱卫中央主塔，象征着诸神居住的圣地须弥山。通向主塔的台阶被称为“天堂阶梯”，高13米，几乎与地面垂直，攀登时必须手脚并用，信徒以此体会天堂之路的艰辛，表达无限虔诚。 1973年，一名法国女游客在攀登中失足跌落致死，她的丈夫悲痛之余捐资在西面台阶一侧修造了扶手。从此这一侧阶梯也被称作“爱情阶梯”。

Looking from top-down... quite scary actually...

Up there at third level, the view is quite similar to the 2nd level actually. It's surrounded by apsara carvings along the walkway.

Till then... Angkor Wat... Stay tune for next part - Bayon... :)