Angkor Wat Day 2
Our second morning exploring Angkor took us through four new sites. We started with Prasat Preah Khan which was also built by the seventh king in the 12th century. It too was unrestored, with beautiful trees growing among the ruins.
The name means "Holy Sword" but may have meant "Holy City of Victory" as King Jayavarman VII allegedly built the temple as a celebration of his victory over an invading army. The temple was originally Buddhist but with many later Hindu expansions.
My favourite part of the temple was this incredibly sweet older lady giving blessings. And this little frog and some weird alienesque parasite found on many of the statues.
Next up was Prasat Neak Pean, a medical facility with healing water for curing imbalance in the four elements. There is a central Buddhist temple and pond and four surrounding ponds representing water, fire, earth and wind.
The four elements are also represented by four animals: elephant, lion, horse and bull (which was actually human at Neak Pean), but these are no longer visible.
And last but not least was Angkor Wat itself. It was originally built as a Hindu state temple and eventual mausoleum when it was started in the 12th century by Suryavarman II. It's the largest religious monument in the world.
We came through the back of the complex nearby the royal stairs where we had a chance to see the Churning of the Sea of Milk stone carving. As promised, the story as I remember it is as follows. After offending Indra, the king of gods, the lower gods lost their immortality and power. They reached out to Vishnu for compassion and to get their power back. There was a competition between 91 devas (benevolent gods) and 88 asuras (demons) for immortality. Under Vishnu's supervision, both parties agreed to churn the ocean of milk until the holy nectar emerged on either the god or demon side of the sea. Whichever side the nectar emerged on would be declared the victors and gain immortality. The devas and asuras had to use Mount Mandara as the churning staff and the great serpent Vasuki as a rope with the turtle Kurma supporting the contraption as the mountain began to sink into the sea. Fourteen precious wonders emerged from the churning ocean, with the nectar being the last to emerge and on the asura's side. As they quarrelled over the nectar of immortality, the god Vishnu transformed into the most beautiful woman Mohini, distracting the asuras so the devas could steal the nectar. The devas then gained their immortality and defeated the asuras, those dirty cheaters!
The site is covered in elaborate carvings of Aspara - beautiful holy dancers and spirits of the clouds and waters - as well as Devatas - various deities.
Angkor Wat is so well preserved, you can still climb up into the temple towers for a great panoramic view of the site. If you're not afraid of heights or tiny stairs.
Crossing the moat and causeway, we paused to see a set of well restored naga - the holy many-headed snake that protected Buddha during deep meditation.
After such a big day in the scorching sun, I was ready for a nice cool swim in the pool and a relaxing massage. The pool was lovely, but the massage was not so much... I thought I knew what I was in for with a Thai style massage, but I didn't know my feet could stretch that far over my head and that people's fingers could be that bony. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the masseur totally belched like twice and peed with the bathroom door open. I was littered with bruises in the days afterwards. And had a tremendous giggling fit the second the masseur was done and gone.
We went out for a quick bite on Pub Street and to check out the night market for our last night in Siem Reap. The market was good and open to some competitive bargaining.
The name means "Holy Sword" but may have meant "Holy City of Victory" as King Jayavarman VII allegedly built the temple as a celebration of his victory over an invading army. The temple was originally Buddhist but with many later Hindu expansions.
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| A two-story building possibly storing the king's holy or victory sword |
My favourite part of the temple was this incredibly sweet older lady giving blessings. And this little frog and some weird alienesque parasite found on many of the statues.
Next up was Prasat Neak Pean, a medical facility with healing water for curing imbalance in the four elements. There is a central Buddhist temple and pond and four surrounding ponds representing water, fire, earth and wind.
And last but not least was Angkor Wat itself. It was originally built as a Hindu state temple and eventual mausoleum when it was started in the 12th century by Suryavarman II. It's the largest religious monument in the world.
We came through the back of the complex nearby the royal stairs where we had a chance to see the Churning of the Sea of Milk stone carving. As promised, the story as I remember it is as follows. After offending Indra, the king of gods, the lower gods lost their immortality and power. They reached out to Vishnu for compassion and to get their power back. There was a competition between 91 devas (benevolent gods) and 88 asuras (demons) for immortality. Under Vishnu's supervision, both parties agreed to churn the ocean of milk until the holy nectar emerged on either the god or demon side of the sea. Whichever side the nectar emerged on would be declared the victors and gain immortality. The devas and asuras had to use Mount Mandara as the churning staff and the great serpent Vasuki as a rope with the turtle Kurma supporting the contraption as the mountain began to sink into the sea. Fourteen precious wonders emerged from the churning ocean, with the nectar being the last to emerge and on the asura's side. As they quarrelled over the nectar of immortality, the god Vishnu transformed into the most beautiful woman Mohini, distracting the asuras so the devas could steal the nectar. The devas then gained their immortality and defeated the asuras, those dirty cheaters!
The site is covered in elaborate carvings of Aspara - beautiful holy dancers and spirits of the clouds and waters - as well as Devatas - various deities.
Angkor Wat is so well preserved, you can still climb up into the temple towers for a great panoramic view of the site. If you're not afraid of heights or tiny stairs.
Crossing the moat and causeway, we paused to see a set of well restored naga - the holy many-headed snake that protected Buddha during deep meditation.
After such a big day in the scorching sun, I was ready for a nice cool swim in the pool and a relaxing massage. The pool was lovely, but the massage was not so much... I thought I knew what I was in for with a Thai style massage, but I didn't know my feet could stretch that far over my head and that people's fingers could be that bony. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the masseur totally belched like twice and peed with the bathroom door open. I was littered with bruises in the days afterwards. And had a tremendous giggling fit the second the masseur was done and gone.
We went out for a quick bite on Pub Street and to check out the night market for our last night in Siem Reap. The market was good and open to some competitive bargaining.
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Ang and I stopped to get our nails painted at an open chair salon in the night market where we were subjected to a truly awful ladyboy show. It was like a bad and confusing high school play, with some "hilarious" domestic violence act and SOME THINGS THAT CANNOT BE UNSEEN!
As soon as our nails were dry, we took as fast as we could back for the hotel to pack for the trip to Bangkok tomorrow morning.
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