Life Is Like That

A visit to Cambodia is deemed incomplete if one does not go to see Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are just 2 of over one thousand temple ruins in the Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, which is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. The Angkor Wat Archaeological Park is located in northern Cambodia in the Siem Reap area.

We touched down at Siem Reap International Airport at around 0800 local time. I had arranged for our driver cum tour guide, Xiao He to come to pick us up from our hostel at noon and bring us to Bayon. I shall talk about Bayon in my later post. In this post, I will write about Angkor Thom, our first encounter of many temple ruins inside the archaeological park.

To visit temple ruins inside the Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, you must possess an admission pass. Passes can be purchased at the main entrance on the road to the archaeological park. Passes are sold in one-day (USD20), three-day (USD40) and one-week (USD60) blocks. I would advise you to bring a plastic card holder with a neck strap, and wear your pass around your neck inside the temple areas all the time. It will be checked upon each park entry and at major temples. Hefty fines will be imposed for not possessing a valid pass inside the park.

Ticket booth

Heading toward Angkor Thom

Foong, my friend and I each purchased a three-day pass. After that, we headed to Bayon. Bayon is located at the center of Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom, literally means the “Great City” in Khmer Language, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. It was constructed in the late 12th century to early 13th century by King Jayavarman VII. The fortified city of Angkor Thom has a total area of 9 square kilometers. It is enclosed by a square wall 8 meters high and 12 kilometers in length and encircled by moat 100 meters wide.

Map of Angkor Thom

The city of Angkor Thom has 5 monumental gates, one for each cardinal point, namely the North Gate, South Gate, West Gate and East Gate as well as an additional gate called the Victory Gate located just north of the East Gate. According to Xiao He, the North, South and Victory Gates are usually used to enter into Angkor Thom. The East and West Gates are seldom used. I was told East Gate is the “Gate of the Dead”, and that should tell you why.

The 2 pandas arrived at the Victory Gate of Angkor Thom

We entered Angkor Thom through the Victory Gate. In front of the gate, there is a causeway. Along the causeway stand giant statues of 54 gods or devas to the left and 54 demons or asuras to the right. The 54 devas pull the head of the seven-headed serpent called naga while the 54 asuras pull the serpent’s tail in the opposite direction. This tug-of-war holding on to the naga is a depiction of the Hindu myth called Churning of the Ocean of Milk, in which devas formed an alliance with asuras to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.

Victory Gate of Angkor Thom

The demons or asuras

The seven-headed serpent or naga

The next morning when we returned to Angkor Thom, we entered through the South Gate, which is considered the best preserved as well as the most popular access to the city. Indeed, I saw more visitors posing for photos here. There are again 54 devas lining up on the left of the causeway and 54 asuras on the right. The central tower of South Gate, in fact each gate, is capped by 3 face towers sporting four carved faces oriented toward 4 cardinal points.

Approaching the South Gate of Angkor Thom

Many visitors!

Devas and some restorations

Asuras

Central tower of South Gate

Elephant riding

Amazing carved stone face! (click for wallpaper size)

Amazing carved stone face! (click for wallpaper size)

Amazing stone carvings!

View of the roof of the central tower

View inside the gate tower

The giant stone faces are astonishing, aren’t they? Stay tuned for more giant stone faces of Bayon – the famous Smile of Bayon in my upcoming post!

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