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| "Other Temples", Angkor Area, Cambodia, Part
One |
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Week 4 21st May 2011 |
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At several of the outer temples a group of musicians were
playing.
Victims of land mines. A mixture of amputations and blindness.
There is really no forgiving the perpetrators, be they Khmer, or
American, or whatever.
We have absolutely no idea how to help. Money seems so inadequate, and
also its not unlimited.
Both the instruments and the music were interesting.
What is remarkable is the incredible kindness of the people we meet
given the history of the country. |
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Haven't a clue where we took this. The first male. It looks
more like a sword than a baseball bat.
The Americans hadn't got here when the carvings were produced. |
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The road past the moat outside Angkor Wat. We had to drive
along it to get to the other temples. |
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And the corner of the moat.
As mentioned earlier, the moat was probably the source of the laterite
stones. Also probably part of the irrigation system. And possibly an attempt
to keep out the Thai invaders.
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We visited the temples in sequence along the road from
Angkor Wat.
At Bat Chum we encountered more enigmatic Buddhas.
The building is still mostly sandstone, that ran out later. |
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We noticed a bit of a serrated / castellated top to the
laterite wall. |
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Pay attention now. Don't get tired. There's a lot more of
these temples than we thought ......
Moving on to Banteay Kdei. Rectangular and flat. |
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And just to prove its flat, the hole through the middle. |
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More of the guys with baseball bats. Ably supported by the
women. |
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A nice quiet corner looking at one of the galleries. |
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Laterite (the red stuff) exposed, looking towards the
center. |
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This is another of those images from my youth. The tree
and the fallen masonry. Laterite and sandstone mixed here. |
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A bit eerie as the light filters through the canopy.
There is as much masonry on the ground as there is in the buildings. |
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The corridor through the middle. The Buddha is headless. |
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And the Buddha image at the center. |
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On the opposite side of the road to Banteay Kdei is Srah
Srong.
A reservoir. Presumably part of the irrigation system that kept the
city alive. |
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A small idea of the restoration effort that has gone into
the temples so far, and there's more remaining than has been done.
This is of the causeway at Ta Prom.
This temple is another "flat" one.
Just as well as our legs are aching a bit. |
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The causeway and wall of the third enclosure from the side.
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Couldn't resist another tree. They are rather large with the roots flowing over
the masonry.
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And another one. Fig trees we think.
With a construction crane in the background. |
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Partially collapsed, but quite intricate, roof. |
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And yet another tree, with more of those corbelled arches. |
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Any one of these temples would warrant a day wondering
around.
This is Ta Keo. Only 5 more to go!
Its another pyramid. All in proportion, the height is related to the
size of the squares. |
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The center was a bit of a steep climb. |
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At last some bricks.
As the sandstone ran out, and the laterite was considered unsuitable,
so bricks were introduced. |
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The very center of the pyramid.
In place of walls the pyramids seemed to have terraces. |
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Coming down was as difficult as going up.
It seems we have too many temples, or too many photos, or too many
things to say, so we'll start
another page.
For some silly reason it seemed a good idea to get our photos into some
sort of order before our memories faded.
Sorry if you got caught in the cross fire! |
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| Other Temples, Angkor Area, Cambodia, Part Two |
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Week 4 21st May 2011 |
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