World Cruise 2013
March 16, 2013
At 6:45 I got a wake up call to start my first day in Siem
Reap. I ate breakfast at the hotel and at 8:15 AM we got on a bus for the
Angkor Wat historical site. Angkor Wat was built between from 1113 to 1150
during the reign of Suryavarman II. Angkor Wat was not only the grandest and
most sublime of all the Khmer temples but also a city in its own right. On the
outer limits of Angkor Wat are set by its broad moat of 1.5 kilometers to 1.3
kilometers. In the center sits the temple measuring 332 by 258 meters or nearly
9 hectares. The remaining 9/10 of the area was taken up with the city including
the royal palace, although of course no trace remains of these buildings,
presumably constructed in light materials.
To view all the sites at Siem Reap you got one ticket good
for 3 days. We got off the bus at the ticket counter and they took our picture
and the picture was printed on our ticket. We arrived at Angkor Wat and the bus
could not park near the entrance but about a half mile away from the entrance.
We walked to the entrance, which was a causeway across the moat. The actual
temple was still about a ½ kilometer from the entrance.
We walked thru the entrance gate to the city and passed two
large so-called ‘libraries’. We continued to a point where we could take the
classic picture of the temple and turned right to a Buddhist Temple Wat Atvea to
experience a monastic blessing. This blessing includes drops of water and
petals of flowers thrown over you by the monks. It is believed that this
traditional ceremony cleanses the bad spirits of the past and brings good luck
for the coming year.
Our walk continued to the Angkor Wat Temple, the largest
temple in the world, with a volume of stone equaling that of the great Cheops
pyramid in Egypt. It is unlike all other Khmer temples in that it faces west
and was inspired by 12th-century Hinduism. I took an estimated 30
years to build and was built with voluntary labor. The stone for the temple
came from 60 kilometers away. It is generally believed to have been a funeral
temple for the king. It has been occupied continuously by Buddhist monks and is
well preserved.
Angkor Wat is, to put it as simple as possible, a pyramid of
three levels, each one enclosed by a well-developed gallery with four corner
towers. We walked in to the temple near the middle on one side and walked to
the first level to view the Khumer art carved into the stone. This artwork
covers the walls of the exterior of the first level. We walked into the
entrance of the courtyard on the first level where we saw the central towers
rising from the courtyard. I took pictures and the guide described what we were
seeing. I walked up the stairs to the courtyard on the second level. To get to
the third level required a walk up stairs of overs 30 feet at a steep angle.
Several others and I elected not to go and we waited for the others to go up and
come down. We then walked our way around the courtyard and found our way down
to ground level and out the west or main entrance of the temple and back to the
main entrance to the city. I estimated that I walked a total of over 3 miles
and many steps to view Angkor Wat Temple.
When we got back to the bus we left for the hotel where we
had lunch.
At 2 PM we left on another tour. On this tour we did not
take the bus because the bus could not get into the entrance to the temples that
we were going to see. We rode in what is called a Remok or a Tuk Tuk.. A Remok
is a cart with bench seats pulled behind a motorcycle. Each Remok had two
people for the tour but some of the Remoks could hold four people. We drove to
the gate of Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom was one of the largest of all the Khumer
cities, was founded by Jayavarman VII and probably remained the capital until
the 17th century. We stopped at the gate with its towers with four
faces pointing in each direction. The city has a wall surrounded by a moat,
which encloses a square of 3 km on each side.
We walked thru the entrance and took pictures on both sides
and jumped in the Remok and rode to the Bayon Temple inside Angkor Thom.
Construction of this temple was late 12th to late 13h century. It
now has 37 towers but it may have had has many as 54 towers. Like Angkor Wat,
the Bayon Temple had many figures carved into its outer walls and into its
towers.
We got into the Remok and drove to Thommanon. This is a
minor but elegant temple that was built in the 12th century during
the reign of Suryavarman II.
Just across the road from the Thommanon is the Chau Say
Tevoda Temple. For some reason I did not get a picture of this
temple.
We got into the Remok and drove to Ta Keo took a picture and
left.
We got into the Remok and drove to Pre Rup, which was built
in the middle of the 12th century during the reign of
Rajendravarman. It was the state temple of King Rajendravarman’s capital. Like
all state temples, Pre Rup was at the center of a city, but nothing is left of
the boundaries or the dwellings. We went into the temple. There were many
people who walked up to the top of the temple to view the sunset but we stayed
at the first level and got some good pictures of the sun setting against the
inside walls of the temple.
We went back to the hotel for a dinner and a
show.
Below are some pictures from the second day at Siem Reap.
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken from the bus on a visit to Angkor Wat of the moat around the temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat as we were walking from the bus to the entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat as we were walking to the entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat at the entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat at the entrance of the bridge across the moat |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat at the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the front of the temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to the Buddhist Temple located within the Angkor Wat complex |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to the Buddhist Temple located within the Angkor Wat complex where we could receive a blessing from the monks |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to the Buddhist Temple located within the Angkor Wat complex |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the side entrance to the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the side entrance to the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the side entrance to the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the art work on the wall of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of the art work on the wall of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat of some of the area around the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the first level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the first level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the first level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the first level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the first level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple showing the stairs to the third level |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the second level of the Temple of some art work |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way out of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way out of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way out of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way out of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way out of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way out of the Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the bus after leaving the main entrance |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on the way back from a visit to Angkor Wat on the way back to the hotel |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour of the Le Meridien Angkor Hotel |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour of the Le Meridien Angkor Hotel |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour at the Le Meridien Angkor Hotel while we were waiting to get on a Remok as shown in the picture |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour from the Remok as we were going to visit Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom of the wall around the city |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom at the entrance to the of the city |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom at the entrance to the city |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to Angkor Thom looking back at the entrance to the city |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Bayon Temple in the city of Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour of the Remok's that our tour used to visit Angkor Thom |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Thommanon Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the TaKeo Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the Pre Rup Temple |
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| Siem Reap, Cambodia - Taken on my tour on a visit to the TaKeo Temple |
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