Siem Reap - Cambodia
Click on all the links to see our adventures
The Cambodian temple complex, where Lara Croft must retrieve the half of the triangular puzzle, is at Siem Reap in Cambodia, where she arrives in a Land Rover Defender, onto Phnom Bakheng, a hill topped by a Hindu temple.
Like Lara Croft, we also arrived on a beast...
She tools up and scoots off in her Land Rover in front of the sacred Bayon temple, in Angkor Thom, its 54 towers, each bearing four enigmatic smiling faces. The most spectacular temple of all, entwined with enormous trees, where Croft encounters the mysterious girl, is Ta Prohm.
And the most famous, Angkor Wat itself (the largest religious monument in the world and a World Heritage site), looms over the Cambodian village. It appears to be on a river…it is not. There is a moat that sorrounds the temple.
This is why we ended up in the small provincial capital of Siem Reap. We wanted to see for ourselves the millennium-old temple ruins of the Khmer (pronounced kmɛər, kəmɛər) Empire. The Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including the "Great City" of Angkor Thom (East Gate and Victory Gate) which include the famous Bayon Temple, Phimeanakas, Baphuon Temple, Prasat Top East, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King.
We also visited Royal City of Preah Khan with impressive sculptures, Neak Pean built on a small circular island, Preah Rup, Srah Srang a Royal bathing place, and Victory Gate.
We hired a taxi for the day and visited the enchanting Banteay Srei. It appears that the temple was designed to leave no space undecorated, and the fine carvings in pink sandstone are quite unique. Then we headed east to Beng Mealea. This sprawling sandstone temple has been nearly consumed by the jungle. Built in the 12th century, this forgotten sanctuary is nearly as big as Angkor Wat but gets a fraction of the visitors. The destruction is breathtaking: towers reduced to tall mounds of rubble, thick webs of tree roots snaking through the walls, and faceless carvings, their heads cut out and sold. Still, the place has seen worse: until 2003, the surrounding grounds were littered with land mines.
Like Lara Croft, we also arrived on a beast...
She tools up and scoots off in her Land Rover in front of the sacred Bayon temple, in Angkor Thom, its 54 towers, each bearing four enigmatic smiling faces. The most spectacular temple of all, entwined with enormous trees, where Croft encounters the mysterious girl, is Ta Prohm.
And the most famous, Angkor Wat itself (the largest religious monument in the world and a World Heritage site), looms over the Cambodian village. It appears to be on a river…it is not. There is a moat that sorrounds the temple.
This is why we ended up in the small provincial capital of Siem Reap. We wanted to see for ourselves the millennium-old temple ruins of the Khmer (pronounced kmɛər, kəmɛər) Empire. The Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including the "Great City" of Angkor Thom (East Gate and Victory Gate) which include the famous Bayon Temple, Phimeanakas, Baphuon Temple, Prasat Top East, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King.
We also visited Royal City of Preah Khan with impressive sculptures, Neak Pean built on a small circular island, Preah Rup, Srah Srang a Royal bathing place, and Victory Gate.
We hired a taxi for the day and visited the enchanting Banteay Srei. It appears that the temple was designed to leave no space undecorated, and the fine carvings in pink sandstone are quite unique. Then we headed east to Beng Mealea. This sprawling sandstone temple has been nearly consumed by the jungle. Built in the 12th century, this forgotten sanctuary is nearly as big as Angkor Wat but gets a fraction of the visitors. The destruction is breathtaking: towers reduced to tall mounds of rubble, thick webs of tree roots snaking through the walls, and faceless carvings, their heads cut out and sold. Still, the place has seen worse: until 2003, the surrounding grounds were littered with land mines.
