Wikitravel: Angkor Wat

Actually, Angkor Wat is only one of the many temples within the grounds, which are meant when mentioning this name. The temples really are very fascinating, and all who visit Siem Reap, should at least take a look at a few of them. According to our calendar, the facility dates back to the year 1000. Times when in Paris there was a population of around about 50,000, at the same time, there were already about one million people living here.

The temples are unbelievably impressive, mountains of stone processed piece by piece and stacked up. Without turning our short sex-tourist report into a cultural guide, because there are better sources of information, I will now show you a few photos just for a first impression. I took about 1000 photos whilst visiting the facilities; it’s a pity that the weather wasn’t all that good.

A ticket for the day costs 20 US dollars, there are also tickets available, which cover a period of a few days, in the long run, these are a little cheaper. It is possible to book tickets at the hotel; one is picked up in the morning and guided through the temples. I preferred to do things more individually, meaning that I got my driver to pick me up and take me down there, this meant that I was not dependent on a group or some special tour what ever. My driver waited at the front of the temple while I trudged around… It is well worth buying one of the guidebooks on offer here and there. They point out quite a few interesting places that one most certainly would have marched passed without even realising that there was something to be seen.

I found the large stone faces very impressive, and the symbiosis between building and plants to be found in some areas. Sometimes one wonders whether the building is keeping the tree together that is standing on top of it, or whether the trees roots are keeping the building intact…

There are quite a few begging children around the smaller of the facilities, they press some sort of rubbish into ones hand, and hold out their hand demanding „One Dollar“, a standard price. The Monks (there are also females amongst them) gladly give their blessing, and expect one to give them a small reward for doing so.

The facility seems to be a continuous construction site; the materials are partially very weather beaten. Some buildings have been destroyed by the huge tree roots, and the damage caused by the “Khmer Rouge” plays its part in making the temples’ requirement for renovation immense. At the moment, visitors are still allowed to touch the figures, and at some locations, the “frescos” have dark patches from the many hands that have stroked them whilst searching for luck, luck that these obviously promise. Despite the masses of visitors who are led through the facilities on a daily basis, everything is in quite an original condition, which provides the corresponding impression.

The first picture shows the only one of thousands of temple dancers who shows her teeth when laughing, nobody knows why she has such a dirty smile on her face, and nobody ever will. All records from this day and age were kept on organic materials and rotted away many years ago, this being the reason why many of the facilities mysteries will never be solved… these dancer can be found just behind the gate to the main facility.