Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, CAMBODIA

Day 3 (January 20, 2009)

We were looking for places to visit other than Angkor Wat. The silk farm, located in the Puok District about 16km from town seemed a good bet. I had never been to a silk farm before. The farm, a complete silk processing cottage industry offers a free tour.

Bizarre Food. Zack tasting boiled silk worms. I did not have the courage.

Spinning silk yarn

Delicate Works

We were taken from the beginning of rearing silk worm to the final stages of ‘tie & dye” and finished products. We also learned how some silk products are smooth and some are not. It was pure hard work that needs full attention. The tools used were basic.

Color worn by Khmer Royalty. Each colour for each particular day starting from Monday on the left.

Somehow, I am not much of a silk fan.

We decided to make our way to Siem Reap’s feature attraction, the Angkor Wat. We had to pay USD20 for the daily entrance ticket.

The Entrance across the moat

View from inside the temple

Typical corridor inside the temple

Writings on the wall

The first time I saw Angkor Wat I was in awe. It is one of the top on my 1001 things to do/see before I die. I was pretty much excited as we walked over the bridge across the moat. It was almost mid day and the sun was really at its peak. There were many tourists, mostly westerners, walking around the Wat.

Story of Hindu God Vishnu on the wall


From inside the Wat

Angkor's many walls

Brief Respite from the Heat

We walked into the main entrance and followed the path straight to the front. The walls were covered with aspara carvings in Angkorian era art, nearly 2000 of them. They depict stories of characters from Hindu mythology and the historical wars of Suryavarman II. I also learned that Angkor Wat was initially built for Hindu deities and later changed to Buddhism motifs. Buddha statues lined the paths but some were in bad shape. Some parts of the temple were in ruins and some were restored. The restoration works were still going on but grinding slowly obviously in need of further financing.

Majestic!

Awesome!

The best time to visit Angkor Wat is during the sunrise. The sun will rise behind Angkor Wat providing a silhouette of Angkor towers against the sky. However we were there during the mid day sun. The sunset, I was told, would be equally fascinating. Unfortunately we did not come back for it despite holding the daily pass.

The ruins of Buddha. Headless & Handless.

As we were making our way back to the car, we detoured to the stalls on the right side where people were peddling souvenirs and food and drinks. It was the same old stuffs. Some kids were trying to get me to buy books on Angkor by telling some pitiful stories of dire need for money to go to school. I bought 2 books.

Been There!

We left Angkor Wat hoping to come back for the sunset. We never did.