After another breakfast that couldn't be beat, this morning we went to see the city of Angkor Thom. It includes a number of temples including the famous temple of Bayon. This temple is famous for having multiple faces pointing in the 4 directions. It was hear that we learnt the interesting thing that much of the damage at the various temples, isn't due to the revenges of time. Rather as Cambodia's history swung between the Hindu and Buddist religions, various religious icons of the alternate faith were destroyed as temples were repurposed. In addition, during the time of the Khmer Rouge reign, faith was banned so they destroyed things, including doing things like chopping off the heads of many of the buddas at Ankor Watt.
We saw quite a few temples over the morning, climbing up some very steep stairs in the process and it was hot, but because we had started early, we were ready for lunch early. After a delicious lunch, we returned to finally visit Ankor Watt almost spot on noon.
It was HOT and the sun was burning down, but it was the perfect time as there was barely anyone there. In a place that is usually crawling with tourists, we had whole galleries to ourselves and could just got wherever we pleased rather than wait in the queues that are aparently usually there.
As with all the temples, the carving on the walls is just magnificent, and in places you can even see skerics of the original paint. However Ankor Watt really is something special. It feels significantly larger and more grand than the other temples and you can really imagine it filled as it was intended to be with magnificent colour and full of worshiping people.
Our tour wrapped up at about 2pm and we headed straight back to the hotel for naps and swims. Tonight there will no doubt be massages, shopping and more good food. We are having a brilliant day.
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