Our big day at the Angkor complex and we decided to make the most of it. We set off early on rented bicycles and did an extensive route of both popular sites we'd seen before (to get photos and allow Tracy to climb around) and those off the beaten track, following the so called "grand tour". In all we did over 30km (20 miles) and arrived home in the dark. This page is mainly of Angkor Thom at the heart of the complex, and a few buildings outside the eastern gate. Click here for the rest of the pictures.
November 29th: Angkor
To follow our path there is a good map with desciptions of the various locations here
.
Click on a picture for a larger version. Use your browser's back button to return to this page.
These bike powered chariots are unique to this area
Cambodian breakfast - seafood soup
Early morning view of Angkor Wat
Extensive moat
Some of the moat's ornamental surround
Angkor Thom
South gate
Inhabitants
Bayon
Large scale renovations are ongoing
Tracy in front of the amazing Bayon, it may look like a heap of rocks from here but inside it's amazing
The walls have extensive carvings, of ceremony, war and day to day life
Building called "the library"
There are apparently 129 of these huge faces in Bayon
Local dance display
There are still large amounts of "spare" rock awaiting replacement
All over the complex Buddhas (even partially destroyed ones) are draped in saffron and given offerings
Terrace of the Leper King, one of the main tourist attractions
Elephant Terrace
This building (North Khleang I think) was a short distance from the Terraces...
...and yet it's not on the tour bus itinerary and therefore deserted
These trees have enveloped the ruins all over and are tough to remove
Prasat Suor Prat Towers
A few temples are active
East gate
It was big!
Chau Say Tevoda
It would be great to see artist's impressions of more of the buildings
Another major rebuilding job, different countries sponsor different projects
In these shots you can see how repairs requiring replacement stone are done in slightly different material so you can tell repair from original
Thommanon
A small but beautiful set of buildings
We saw a number of these, looking like a false door
Tracy does our Xmas shopping
Ta Keo
Even the old bridges were impressive, but remain overgrown
Heed the warning, the climbs are steep and high
This building was never finished, hence no carvings. It is thought the emporer Jayavaraman V died and it remained incomplete
Another shrine
Click here for page 2 from Angkor
© Tim Cooke 2006
