Wat Did You Say?

Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is only a short distance from the modern (meaning it has an airport) city of Siem Reap, Cambodia. It is the major tourist attraction in the country. During our stay, we saw more Anglo faces than we had since the wheels came up and we left Atlanta. It is truly a world famous tourist site. There were Americans, Brits, Australians, Russians, and Europeans of every variety.  Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world.

The temple was built in the early 12th century in Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire. It is the best-preserved temple in the area and it is the only one to have remained an operational religious center since its construction – first Hindu, now Buddhist. The temple is the height of the classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat combines the temple mountain and the galleried temple. The three rectangular galleries are each raised above the next (three heavens). At the center of the temple stand five towers, one higher than the other four. It is designed to lie within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometers long.

The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous dancing nymphs adorning its walls.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer. There is not just one temple in the area as each king built his own temple. (Remember there are many pyramids in Egypt). As a matter of fact, you can’t throw a stick in this area without hitting a temple complex or a Wat.

There is Angkor Thom (I thought the guide was saying Uncle Tom and was looking for the cabin); there is the Elephant Terrace, the Leper King Palace, Baksei Cham (we saw other Cham civilization ruins in Vietnam as well) and the Jungle temple. Of course, all of these places have official names in Khmer, but I can’t say them or spell them.

Angkor Wat is the largest and best preserved of the temples. One of the first Western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of." I would have to add “Amen” to the monk. 

These stone faces look remarkably like the beautiful modern girls in Cambodia.

Since Angkor Wat is still a working Buddhist temple there is a good chance that you will discover a monk or two.

Every doorway, lintel and jam was finely decorated as were the walls. The walls contain text describing the creation of the world according to Khmer legend and the exploits of the king.

 

Just west of Angkor Wat on a mountain top is Sunset temple. It has that name because folks climb the mountain to get a view of Angkor Wat from up high and to watch the sunset. Well, of course, we had to check it out. It was covered with folks on every square foot of the temple trying to get a glimpse of the sunset. You would have thought that they had never seen a sunset before. It was like the druids at Stonehenge for the spring equinox of Y2K.

The legend of the Tree of Life occurs in many cultures. It is beautifully shown on the walls of Angkor Wat.

The Jungle temple is in a state of disrepair and the jungle is truly taking it back. Banyan trees cover some walls and some buildings have collapsed. I felt like an explorer discovering a lost city. Many features reminded us of Mayan ruins.
 

 

Similar to a Mayan corbel arch

Cambodia has two seasons: hot, humid and raining or hot, humid and not raining. It was 94 °F and 90% humidity. But, it could have been worse; it could have been the rainy season.


Angkor Wat has been on our bucket list for a while. I’m glad we took the time to check it out.

 

Boarding the Volendam on the South China Sea – first stop: Bangkok

After four months of eating Chinese food and breathing Xi’an air (air that you can see, feel, smell and taste), it was a pleasure to board a Holland America ship, the Volendam in Singapore. Our cabin was clean, and it had hot water 24/7. We could even drink it right out of the tap! The sky was blue. There was western food whenever we wanted it. We have been bad mouthing cruises for years, but having the hotel and restaurant take us to the sights was terrific. And we left the cold behind in exchange for 90 °F and humidity like Georgia—what a deal!

 

Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand (think Yul Brenner in “The King and I”) and the most populous city in the country. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, but it is a lot easier to say in English. It has a population of over eight million. Over fourteen million people (a quarter of all Thais) live in the surrounding metro area. (Just an average city in China.)

   

The Grand Palace is the major site to see in Bangkok. It is a complex of buildings in the heart of the city. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782. Rather than being a single structure, the Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings, halls, pavilions and temples set around open lawns, gardens and courtyards. Its asymmetry and various styles are due to its development over time. Additions and remodelings were made by successive reigning kings over a period of 200 years.

If the buildings look like they are made of gold – they are! There are several tons (yes tons) of gold leaf in the buildings. It is covered with glass mosaic tiles.

    

 Each gable and roof line is decorated with flowers, garlands and colored tiles. No, they are not made of frosting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Grand Palace is currently partially open to the public as a museum; but it remains a working palace as several royal offices are still situated inside.

 

Monkeys and demons play a significant role in Thai mythology. A monkey is good and does not wear shoes. A demon is bad and wears shoes and rings of power on his fingers. It is very important to be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys in the stories. In America, we accomplished this by having the good guys wear white hats. The demons were driven from power by the monkey king who restored the human king to his throne.

This story is displayed in a mural with real gold figures.

 

 

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain. However the King has more power in ruling his country than Queen Elizabeth has. Thais love their king; there are big posters and decorations of him at various times in his life all over town. Like all countries in Southeast Asia, there is a great divide between the rich and the poor. Average income in Thailand is said to be about $10,000 per year.  

 

 

The river that runs through the city serves as a highway for the river taxis.

Like everywhere in the world, you can always find the Golden Arches.