Day 19 - Siem Reap and Angkor

Today we visited some of the sights in the Ancient City of Angkor which was constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries.  When the Khmer people left it was swallowed up by the jungle for hundreds of years and was relatively unknown until 1860 when it was rediscovered by the French during their colonisation of Cambodia.

We first were taken to Angkor Thom which was the last capital city of the Khmer Empire and dates back to the late 12th century.  We stopped to look at the South Gate of the city and then went through to see some of the more important structures, many of which are still being renovated.  We did see some Long Tailed Macaques of which there is a sizeable colony here.

Angkor Thom 

Statues on bridge leading to South Gate, Angkor Thom

Moat around Angkor Thom 

South Gate, Angkor Thom 

Pile of stones awaiting restoration 

Long Tailed Macaque playing with a stone

Long tailed Macaque after pushing the stone over

Angkor Thom 

Small yellow butterfly 

We then went to Ta Prohm Temple where trees have grown and fused with the remaining architecture.  This temple was the setting for the Lara Croft - Tomb Raider movies.  As the jungle grew around the city, trees began to grow from the tops of the walls.  As they grew they started to topple the stone walls.  The roots are visible as they penetrate their way down through the ground.  This jungle growth was removed from much of the Angkor complex but these remain and are fascinating to see.

Ta Prohm 

Tree roots at Ta Prohm

Tree roots at Ta Prohm

Tree roots at Ta Prohm

After lunch we went to Angkor Wat, which is the largest religious structure in the world.  It was originally built in the 12th century as a Hindu temple but was changed to a Buddhist Temple shortly after and is now considered a Hindu/Buddhist Temple


Angkor Wat - view from back

First floor at Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat front view

Angkor Wat 

Angkor Wat

Dragonfly


Long Tailed Macaques

Small band of musicians who have lost limbs through 
land mines raising money to help others


The main tour has finished now so we had a farewell dinner and traditional dance show.



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