Hermits Upon Mount Meru

We packed in eight sites today! After a hearty breakfast this Tuesday morning, we made it to four before lunch then squeezed in four more between pool-time and lunch during the hottest part of the day and a gloriously blood-red sunset followed by dinner and shopping at Siem Reap's Night Market.

I scored some sweet Ray Bans and a duffle bag made from a recycled fish feed bag to carry back all my loot.

I miraculously managed to take two hundred and fifty pictures today...You can call me crazy, but I prefer the term inspired.  I obviously can't post that many pics and I'm sure very, very few of you want to see them all (with the obvious exceptions of Amy and Cassie, and possibly a few others), so I'm going to excruciatingly attempt to cut it down to a maximum of seven or eight photos per site.  *CRACK*  (That's the sound of my heart breaking in twain.)  We'll be going chronologically, not by time of building but by the order in which I visited them, just to confuse you even more and make you keep looking at the lovely Angkor map I'll be uploading to each Cambodian post just for your slight convenience.  We spent the day in the eastern central area, below the area labeled Baray.

Remember me?



Our indispensible tuk tuk driver and guide Proeun, aka Mr. Jolly.

First stop of the morning is Chao Say Tevoda, a temple built in the Angkor Wat style in the mid-twelfth century CE, near the end of the reign of Suryavarman II...Yeah, I don't really know any of this history, either, so just trust me that I'm telling you what my guidebook says.  There's a method-ish to my madness.

Kyle bright-eyed on the causeway to the E (aka main) entrance.

Roman bushy-tailed tickling the naga under one of its chinny-chin-chins.

Hello, gorgeous.  View of the W entrance gate, or gopura.

Another "Library" that's not a library.  They're usually found near the SE and NE corners of complexes. 

Reading my  guidebook (aka my Angkor Bible) at the Library.

This is a block of laterite, a volcanic stone that is easily carved and very commonly used at Angkor for walls and walkways.

Crossing the street, we come to Thommonon, a temple complex that is frequently thought to make a pair with Chao Say Tevoda to flank the Victory Way from Angkor Thom.  (See above map if you're totally lost.)  This notion is incorrect since both temples predate Angkor Thom (and thus the Victory Way), and since Thommonon was built in the early twelfth century CE, at the beginning of Suryavarman II's reign.  Enough history?  Good.

Ahaaa! That's the sound of angels singing.

Everything's amazingly tall. I just wish we could get up to the top to check out that view.

"Library."

Next we stopped at a bridge that's not really a bridge.  I know, I know, but I didn't plan the place; I'm just visiting.  Spean Thma (meaning, rightfully enough, "stone bridge" in Khmer) has stayed in one place since the sixteenth century CE, making it the youngest site visited today, but not the most aptly placed as the Siem Reap River has since changed course, making the bridge obsolete but still quietly beautiful.

Channels through which no water runs.

And in contrast to the five-hundred-year-old bridge, here's a lovely modern water-wheel two hundred yards away.

Our last stop for the morning is Ta Keo, an impressively large and high temple complex with a quincunx (four towers at each corner of the sanctuary area with a fifth in the middle) representing the five peaks of Mount Meru.  (Today's post name comes from one of my favorite Yeats poems.)  It's referred to as a "temple-mountain," and the description really does the complex justice.  With its absence of decoration (due to its incomplete nature) and the four very steep flights of steps up which one must climb to reach the apex, Ta Keo feels like an organic monument testing your worthiness.  The steps are incredibly narrow and high, forcing you to walk up and down them sideways, which (I overheard one guide say) is supposed to bring you luck.  I'm actually proud to say I only fell once on the treacherous and worn sandstone stairs, fortunately very near the bottom of the flight and unfortunately injuring several body parts (which shall not be enumerated to save what little dignity I have left). ;)

The tippy top doesn't seem so far away from down here.  Thanks, false perspective.

These steps are about four inches wide and maybe fourteen inches tall.  I only fell down two of them, but it currently feels like a lot more. :/

Taking a much-needed breather.

At the highest level on which the quincunx sits. This is the central sanctuary, captured while teetering near the edge.

View of the "Library" from the top.

After finally making it back down.

Roman opted to stay down in the shade and made the comment upon my return that I looked a bit peaked. You climb a man-made mountain, and we'll see how you look afterwards. :/

The afternoon involved much less climbing and no falling.  Our first stop was Ta Prohm, described by the Angkor Bible as "romantic" due to its dilapidated state with huge trees growing over and in the ruins.  I have to say,  the lighting set a very enchanted mood over the twelfth century site, but the reconstruction kept attempting to destroy the ambiance.  It's good that they're clearing out the fallen stones so that visitors are able to move about and within the site, but modern support beams and cranes take away from the magic.  Still, this was my favorite site today, in large part due to the beautiful trees, monuments in their right, that are encroaching on the complex and unfortunately endangering it.

Devata, female deity, with a "split personality."

One of the restored sections.

Perfect lighting!

Then on to Banteay Kdei, a "smaller version of Ta Prohm" dating to the same period.  It's got more face towers (yippee!), some fine examples of carving, and a naga balustrade at both the E and W entrances.  And when we came out, parched with thirst and dust inhalation, we bought a coconut to revive us while heading to the next mini-adventure.

Naga balustrade! For all you HP fans, JK Rowling named Nagini after a Hindu serpent goddess. See, all this stuff I'm telling you is important and applicable to modern life.

In your face (towers)!

Most things here don't sit quite straight anymore. The ground is sandy and has shifted over time, taking pieces of the monuments along for the ride.

Inside.

Outside.

Dvarapala (temple guardian).

Apsaras in the Hall of the Dancers.

YUMS!!! This was the fourth try. The first three coconuts were dry.

We sauntered with our coconut across the road to Srah Srang, a small baray (artificial reservoir) whose name means "royal bath" and which is described in tenth century inscriptions as the place where "water has been stored for the benefit of all creatures" except the "dyke breakers" (elephants).  Just a little trivia for the next time you're on Jeopardy!

No dyke breakers welcome in these here parts. No sirree.

Our final visit for the day was technically closed, but Mr. Jolly was kind enough to stop so we could take a quick picture, which I quickly turned into a quick exploration of the site, Prasat Kravan.  The tenth century complex is unusual for its brick construction and five towers lined up in a single row, as well its unique brick bas-reliefs.  Unfortunately, the complex is not unusual in its E-facing alignment, so sunset was not the best time to capture these carvings on film, but I gave it my all anyway.

From the rear.

Bas-relief on the exterior of the central tower.

Khmer inscription on the doorway into the middle tower.

Bas-relief within the central tower of Vishnu riding a garuda, a beaked bird-man.



We finally had to call it quits with the setting of the sun and head back to Siem Reap.  Today's highlight was most definitely sinking into the icy water of the hotel pool for a refreshing (and injury-soothing) dip at the hottest part of the day.  It was sinfully wonderful.