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Saturday 3 December 2011

Angkor WAt - Cambodia

We visited Angkor Wat which was totally amazing - it was a dull and very hot day and the complex is huge!! You do not have any idea of the large scale of the complex before visiting it.

Angkor meas literary "Capital City"or "Holy City". It is a Hindu temple complex built for  King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and the capital city.
It is architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It is a massive three tiered pyramid crowned by five lotus-like towers rising 65 metres from the ground level. This is only one of the temples in the complex.
The moat surrounding the Angkor Wat is 1300 metres X 1500 metres. The temple itself is 1km square.

We also found a sculpturor - a very old man who had survived the war - one of the few artistians who  survived the war and he had made a full miniature  of the complex - it was so fascinating and not many tourists visit this place - even the tuk-tuk driver did not know where it was and we had difficulty finding it but what a place. It was great to see the complex in a small size and as a whole and as it is SO big you cannot take photos of the whole only bits. This was excellent to view before going to the complex.

The miniature of Angkor Wat - a great way to see it from up above
Our tuk-tuk driver who got us very lost but we found it in the end
Entrance to the sculptor's house and display
More of the miniature - beautifully carved to scale
Part of the real Angkor Wat

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