Thailand & Cambodia are awesome!
- Thread starter warpus
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warpus
In pork I trust
A ton of effort has been put into restoring a lot of the temples in Angkor, and I'd guess they probably put the most effort into restoring Angkor Wat.
The maintenance they do to it keeps it very clean, the grasses mowed, in one of my pictures you can see workers climbing a tree in order to remove large branches, there's always some sort of a restorative type work going on somewhere.. etc. It's the #1 tourist attraction in the country after all.
A lot of international organizations seemed to be involved in a lot of the restoration.. One of the temples in the area had a lot of French involvement, another one Japanese, and so on. So it seems like a lot of good folks around the globe stepped up to save these amazing structures and that there's enough money to maintain them to a reasonable degree.. I bet most of it comes in from foreign and international organizations, as Cambodia isn't really that well off at all.
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
Yeah, that's the stuff.
Wow, I don't think I'd know how to properly deal (i.e. without getting angry) with people who won't take no for an answer.
warpus
In pork I trust
It wasn't that bad really, my mistake was that I showed interest in the book.. I figured that if I just walk away they would just move on to the next person with no hard feelings between us, but who knows, maybe now I have a couple enemies in Cambodia who are training to defeat me.
warpus
In pork I trust
Angkor Wat 5
It was just after noon and there were almost no clouds in the sky.. Anyone here without some sort of a sunhat was not going to have a good time..
It was just after noon and there were almost no clouds in the sky.. Anyone here without some sort of a sunhat was not going to have a good time..
warpus
In pork I trust
Angkor Wat 6
warpus
In pork I trust
Angkor Wat 7
After making my way to the top I found a bit of a courtyard surrounded by a a walkway which had great views of the surrounding landscape.
The climb up was controlled as you might have seen, in the sense that they only allowed a certain number of people to be up there at the same time.. But once you were there, you could stay for as long as you want.
At 1pm or so I was back at the entrance.. I looked at the sea of tuk tuks and started looking for the one with my number (I think it was 7).. but before I could really get started with my search, my guy was waving me down and getting the engine started. Awesome.
Next up was Bayon.
After making my way to the top I found a bit of a courtyard surrounded by a a walkway which had great views of the surrounding landscape.
The climb up was controlled as you might have seen, in the sense that they only allowed a certain number of people to be up there at the same time.. But once you were there, you could stay for as long as you want.
At 1pm or so I was back at the entrance.. I looked at the sea of tuk tuks and started looking for the one with my number (I think it was 7).. but before I could really get started with my search, my guy was waving me down and getting the engine started. Awesome.
Next up was Bayon.
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I see they've installed easier/safer wooden steps for climbing since I was there.
The stone steps are very steep and could be very slippery, so you had to climb them on all fours (which was the point, I guess, it's a holy place and accessing it was made purposely difficult and humbling)
The stone steps are very steep and could be very slippery, so you had to climb them on all fours (which was the point, I guess, it's a holy place and accessing it was made purposely difficult and humbling)
warpus
In pork I trust
Hi everyone.. I just got back from a week long cottage/hiking trip to the Bruce peninsula, which is a place that probably contains the finest hiking trails in the province.. at least from what I've seen so far.
I am still recovering and unpacking, but I will do my best to post another update shortly.
Thanks!
That's very interesting, I did not even consider any of that..
I am still recovering and unpacking, but I will do my best to post another update shortly.
Thanks!
That's very interesting, I did not even consider any of that..
warpus
In pork I trust
Bayon
Next up on the itinerary was Bayon. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. (thanks wikipedia)
Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences. The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.
Here's an improved map of the region. Angkor Wat is the largest southernmost temple. Follow the western entrance north and you will run into Bayon, which can also be found on the zoomed in map in the bottom left corner.
Next up on the itinerary was Bayon. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. (thanks wikipedia)
Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences. The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.
Here's an improved map of the region. Angkor Wat is the largest southernmost temple. Follow the western entrance north and you will run into Bayon, which can also be found on the zoomed in map in the bottom left corner.
warpus
In pork I trust
Bayon 2
warpus
In pork I trust
Bayon 3
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
What do the barays look like these days? Like empty gigantic swimming pools?
warpus
In pork I trust
Is the east Baray filled with water too? According to my map we crossed some sort of a road (bridge?) over it. It's possible I zoned out during that time and was busy reading something in the back of my tuk tuk, so I didn't notice... because I can't remember crossing anything like that at all, unless only parts of it are filled with water.
I've been too busy lately... I will try to post another update tonight.
I've been too busy lately... I will try to post another update tonight.
warpus
In pork I trust
Ta Keo
Next up on my itinerary was Ta Keo, built around 1,000 AD for Jayavarman V. It might be the first sandstone temple-mountain to have been built by the Khmer. It was also never completed, apparently because during construction a thunderbolt hit the structure and people at the time took it to be a bad omen and dropped everything, never to finish.
When I arrived near the entrance at 2:15pm or so, I noticed that parts of the site were being worked on.
Fortunately not too much was off limits!
Looking back:
The theme here was clear: rectangles.
This was a much smaller temple than the previous two, especially Angkor Wat. I did not spend more than 15 minutes here.
Don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting site. There just wasn't a lot of ground to cover.
After I returned to my tuk tuk I asked my driver about food. He took me to a restaurant set up specifically for Angkor temples tourists. I wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up getting a chance to sample Lok Lak, which was one of the local dishes recommended to me earlier by somebody Cambodian.
Lok Lak is basically a bunch of beef pieces smothered in sauce, on a bed of lettuce, with tomatoes, onions, and rice on the side. This particular version had french fries in the mix as well, so the whole thing really reminded me of Peru's Lomo Soltado. The sauce and the seasonings were not really that similar, but most of the visible ingredients were.
Cambodian cuisine was definitely surprising me, although to be honest I did not really know much about it beforehand. The only expectations I had going in were that it was going to be similar to Thai food, which it sort of wasn't. Not nearly as much as I thought it was going to be anyway.
Next up on my itinerary was Ta Keo, built around 1,000 AD for Jayavarman V. It might be the first sandstone temple-mountain to have been built by the Khmer. It was also never completed, apparently because during construction a thunderbolt hit the structure and people at the time took it to be a bad omen and dropped everything, never to finish.
When I arrived near the entrance at 2:15pm or so, I noticed that parts of the site were being worked on.
Fortunately not too much was off limits!
Looking back:
The theme here was clear: rectangles.
This was a much smaller temple than the previous two, especially Angkor Wat. I did not spend more than 15 minutes here.
Don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting site. There just wasn't a lot of ground to cover.
After I returned to my tuk tuk I asked my driver about food. He took me to a restaurant set up specifically for Angkor temples tourists. I wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up getting a chance to sample Lok Lak, which was one of the local dishes recommended to me earlier by somebody Cambodian.
Lok Lak is basically a bunch of beef pieces smothered in sauce, on a bed of lettuce, with tomatoes, onions, and rice on the side. This particular version had french fries in the mix as well, so the whole thing really reminded me of Peru's Lomo Soltado. The sauce and the seasonings were not really that similar, but most of the visible ingredients were.
Cambodian cuisine was definitely surprising me, although to be honest I did not really know much about it beforehand. The only expectations I had going in were that it was going to be similar to Thai food, which it sort of wasn't. Not nearly as much as I thought it was going to be anyway.
warpus
In pork I trust
Ta Prohm
After the late lunch my tuk tuk driver dropped me off at Ta Prohm, which ended up being one of my favourite temples. It used to be known as Rajavihara and some people now know it as "that temple from the Tomb Raider movie". A huge tourist attraction, possibly #2 in the region after Angkor Wat, it gets a lot of tourists trying to take pictures in very specific parts of the temple.. the coolest looking parts of the temple.
The one defining feature of Ta Prhom is that it's in the same state that it was found in - overran with trees and other vegetation. It was incredibly fun to walk through and explore, as loaded with people some parts of it were..
This spot was relentlessly occupied by large groups of people. The next 2 photos were very strategically timed, if you can believe it.
After the late lunch my tuk tuk driver dropped me off at Ta Prohm, which ended up being one of my favourite temples. It used to be known as Rajavihara and some people now know it as "that temple from the Tomb Raider movie". A huge tourist attraction, possibly #2 in the region after Angkor Wat, it gets a lot of tourists trying to take pictures in very specific parts of the temple.. the coolest looking parts of the temple.
The one defining feature of Ta Prhom is that it's in the same state that it was found in - overran with trees and other vegetation. It was incredibly fun to walk through and explore, as loaded with people some parts of it were..
This spot was relentlessly occupied by large groups of people. The next 2 photos were very strategically timed, if you can believe it.
