Perry and Robyn's Travel Blog: Asia 2018: Day #13 Temples, Temples and More Temples

The major tourist attraction in the Siem Reap area is, of course, the temples in the surrounding countryside. Most people know of the Angkor Wat temple but there are hundreds of others, some very small and some bigger. We had no intention or desire to see a huge number and so picked a local tour guide who would be able to take us around to the high points without running us into the ground. It is, by the way, hot (around mid 30's C) and very humid (at the 80's or 90's % level). Not the sort of weather we are used to or good at.

The guide picked us up from our hotel and we drove off to get our “Temple pass”, a 3-day ticket which allows access to all the temples for USD62. Hopefully the bulk of the money goes to the running and restoration programs but there is really no way to tell. A sign did say that USD2 went to a local children's hospital and similar thoughts about the money's destination apply there as well.

First stop was the Ta Prohm temple, best known for its appearance in the Angelina Jolie film Lara Croft:Tomb Raider. Built in the 960's the temple is covered with trees growing out of the walls which are slowly but surely destroying it. The problem here is that the Hollywood depiction of the temple may well ave brought a large number of people to the site and it raises the question: do you remove the trees and possibly jeopardise the revenue stream? I have no answers.

Ta Prohm entrance

Tree roots flowing over the temple walls

This temple is also called the Mother temple.

By the time we finished here the day was already warm and we were sweating profusely. No need for a sauna after this excursion.

Second stop was at Banteay Srey (also called the Lady temple) renown for the colour of the stone used in construction. This is a 10-Century temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. A lot of the temples near Siem Reap were built at a time when Cambodia was a Hindu country. It subsequently converted over to Buddhism and the temples were “re-purposed”. This temple is smaller in size which comes as a bit of a relief and is very popular.

Banteay Sray entrance

Small towers inside the temple

Lunch then the last temple of the day Preah Khan, or “Royal Sword” or Father temple. This was built in the 12^th century which meant that the three temples visited on this day gave us a gradual introduction to Cambodian styles over time. This has been left largely unrestored so there are a lot of trees and other vegetation growing on and around the stones.