Have templed, templing and will be templing tomorrow - Angkor

Angkor Wat, the holiest of the holy...

And so without any cyrrillic letters available- what the hell! - let`s continue in English, at least for now.

Please excuse the unavoidable mistakes, will do my best! Anyway I suppose it`s better than Russian translit. I understand that there is an enormous number of photos on Angkor made by much more professional photographers than myself, but I still want to share my experience with you...

And so it goes...

Early morning - around 5:45

Early to rise and early to go! The best time to explore the temples - from 6 to 9 am, while it`s still cool, but in some places there`s enough shadow to survive even at 12! I didn`t try another option - arrive by 3 pm and stay until dark, although it`s a nice opportunity too...This whole area actually is a protected forest - one of the few forests in this part of Cambodia.

This beauty probably made me lose my mind, which resulted in losing the keys to the bicycle lock.

And these guys where innocent, despite their outlooks...

But eventually the key was found (on the road back to Angkor Wat- lucky me!), and the southern gate of Angkor Thom was in front of me.

How can one discern the demon from god? Remember the principles of Buddhism. Gods do not have emotions.

These scenario - called "The churning of The Sea of Milk" with demons and gods holding the Naga snakes - will be repeated VERY often!

This is the original face. Upper one was remade. Demon again, of course...

 And so - the inner part. Thanks to Inge and the guesthouse I stayed at, I received the great book of Angkor - an incredibly detailed guide to the Angkor monuments with every piece described, including time to visit, duration of visit, history... A bit nerdy to read the whole stuff, but at times I could probably be caught standing in front of some bas-relief and trying to match the description and the carvings. I didn`t always succeed.

Do you see the Elefant?

The Elefants are below. Elefant Terrace!

Now, MORE elefants!

The three-headed elefant, Indra`s mount

Garudas- birdmen, and enemies of Nagas. However they are often together and even holding each other...

The terrace of Leper King is actually a maze. I like it when you feel like in a game without knowing what awaits.

The Leper King himself. The signs of leprosy where much harder to find than the hidden animals in the maze.

There was a lot of cycling both this and the other days of Angkor "research". One day after I finished, I tried to escape through the same Southern gate, but there was traffic jam! And even cyclist and pedestrians had to wait for this bunch of buses to pass through...

Most of the temples are separated from each other by shaded roads, which are very nice and smooth even for the novice cyclist such as myself.

This is Baphuon - I passed by several times, now while posting the photos I realized that I wasn`t inside!

Phimeanakas - another climbing! On the top floor was the elder woman, who asked me for some money. It happens here in most popular places.

Yeah, even the pond walls are covered with bas-reliefs.

The pond itself. Near Phimeanakas.

The simple truth - actually although there definitely was a lot to tell about the temples, I didn`t find it useful to hire a guide. Stand a little bit near the place and listen, you can overhear French... English, Spanish, Russian groups... The stories are not always the same, but the more the better... until you feel overtempled. I hope you aren`t, so take a deep breath and we go on...

Prasat Kravan. Nothing special, but the carvings inside the big tower were super good!

I don`t remember the name. Just take a look!

These are called the Dancing Apsaras. In many temples there is a Hall of Dancing with columns containing such inscriptions.

The same scenes could probably be observed 900 years ago as well.

That day I finished early and took some time to look around Siem Reap. In front of the Royal Gardens was a photo exhibition. At the same time big photo festival took place in different sites at Siem Reap. Later at a bus I even met one of the photographers who made installation on Transnistria conflict. Meanwhile street photos were dedicated to the refugees from different countries at war and to migration from villages to cities. If you hapen to be there - Margarita! ;)-  take your time to explore the photos - they are rather emotional and informative. For example - reduction of number of family members due to urbanization and leaving the villages. These empty chairs were somehow even more touching than the war photos.

 And a small sight of fishing in Siem Reap river.

Actually they gather mussels, not fish. They can be easily spotted on carts in town. Cambodians eat them raw and salted as a snack.

Bridge over Siem Reap river

Oh, dear readers, I forgot to put a few pictures about logistics through Beng Melea. Here they are!

Ancestors` approach

Inge`s approach

Inge and her book. Next day I will be standing like this...

These cows are more than 1000 years old!

Next time more temples and something else.

Let`s hope next time will be in Russian).