Angkor Wat

In Siem Reap, we spent parts of two days exploring Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Phrom, and Banteay Kdei. These are all 900+ year old temples, in various states of disrepair.

First, Angkor Wat:

The walkway across the moat.

The first structure seen on the other side of the moat is the entryway and enclosure that completely surrounded this "island", which is nearly one mile square. In the far distance, the towers of the wat itself can be seen.

Gus just inside the entryway, checking out the dancing girls!
There are almost 2,000 of them carved into the walls at Angkor Wat.

Once you pass through the entrance gate, there is a nearly 400-yard causeway that leads to the main temple.

Monks walking along the causeway

Midway from the entrance to the wat, there are two smaller shrines.
This horse was hanging out in front of one of them.
He was very friendly! I petted him for a few minutes.

Angkor Wat

A slightly closer view

After walking the length of the causeway, one comes to the wall surrounding the wat itself. This wall is lined with columns on the outside, and decorated with vast stretches (650 yards) of intricate carvings. The carvings detail Hindu religious stories and conquests of the kings who built Angkor Wat.

Columns

Carvings

Carvings close-up

The temple itself is a pyramid with five towers: one on each corner and one in the center. The central tower is about 150' tall.

Inside the main enclosure, with the pyramid and northwest tower on the left.

I was standing in the northwest corner of the enclosure when I took this brief video. The southwest, northwest, and northeast towers are visible. At the end of the video, Gus can be seen in the center of the frame at the base of the tower (wearing a white shirt and brown shorts).

Next post: More old buildings!