Well I didn't make it back to Bayon to see the bas reliefs but stretched out the morning circuit instead. I'm still marveling at how much the traffic is ordered chaos - this morning I got stuck at the south gate of Angkor Thom...behind and elephant and in front of a tour bus. According to my GPS the pachyderm was moving at 4.7 km per hour - the angry one yesterday had to be going twice that speed.
Started the day at 2 temples that were my favorite of the day: Thommanon and Chau Say. Both have a small and compact plan with lovely sculptures and bas reliefs. At Thommanon a "tour guide" cornered me and started to tour me around the site and took me over to a community garden complete with waterwheel and aqueduct. On the way back he asked for a donation to the orphanage that raised him. I gave a few bucks since he did a good job and seemed sincere.
Ta Keo was hot and steep and a bit dull in terms of ornament. Most of these sites are still active places of Buddhist worship. Pregnant women and bare shoulders are forbidden. The Khmers never developed structure beyond the corbeled vault which, for the non-architects out there, is just a series of stacked stone or brick that projects out a touch with each course - eventually the sides meet at a peak. This building didn't even get the flat lintel right. They tapered at the ends where is bears on the side. The buildings are basic in terms of structure but quite magnificent in terms of extent and decoration...except this one...
Ta Pron is the temple that the jungle ate. It's hard to get a picture of the layout here as trees have merged with buildings and in one case have taken over and is supporting the building.
In any case all of these sites are organized on a north-south+east west axis - based on a cosmic representation of the universe. Some step up to a central terrace/tower and others are one level in concentric squares.
Stopped for a Khmer curry and a cold Angkor beer across from the east entry. I started to get pestered by kids today for souvenirs. Some of them are the kids of the food stall owners and some are the kids of maintenance staff. I asked a few why they weren't in school, "I go the school in the morning." was the answer. I'm guessing, not. Most left me alone when I said no but persistent little guy kept asking where I was from.
Are you from France?
No
Are you from England?
No
Are you from Australia?
No
Are you from America?
No
Well, where are you from?
I'm from a country where the people are cheap and never buy souvenirs
...are you from Holland?
My last stop of the day was Banteay Kdei which was a single level temple poorly designed and quite possibly poorly constructed. There is no lateral bracing in these buildings so much of the construction has fallen like a house of cards. Apparently poor quality stone was used as well. There were some beautifully decorated courtyards still somewhat intact.
On the way home I decided to take the road less traveled (by tour buses.) The Angkor police waved me over because they were worried I would get lost going back to town. The female office then spent about 15 minutes with me reviewing my trip itinerary, made some suggestions and gave me the number of a good tuk-tuk driver. Then I dropped the bike off to get it tuned up as requested and had a mango/pineapple shake across the road. Great day, nice people.
Today's route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245635993
Started the day at 2 temples that were my favorite of the day: Thommanon and Chau Say. Both have a small and compact plan with lovely sculptures and bas reliefs. At Thommanon a "tour guide" cornered me and started to tour me around the site and took me over to a community garden complete with waterwheel and aqueduct. On the way back he asked for a donation to the orphanage that raised him. I gave a few bucks since he did a good job and seemed sincere.
At Chau Say the resident Buddhist nun invited me to light some incense and pray to Buddha for "luck. Sadly there was a $2 US dollar in he collection plate - shunned by gamblers as "unlucky." I lit some incense, offered a prayer and a dollar and got another friendship bracelet. I scored 3 yesterday with no expectation of money to boot.
There was a nice cruciform bridge here with the naga style railing. The main axis of the site connected with the river beyond once upon a time.
Ta Pron is the temple that the jungle ate. It's hard to get a picture of the layout here as trees have merged with buildings and in one case have taken over and is supporting the building.
In any case all of these sites are organized on a north-south+east west axis - based on a cosmic representation of the universe. Some step up to a central terrace/tower and others are one level in concentric squares.
Stopped for a Khmer curry and a cold Angkor beer across from the east entry. I started to get pestered by kids today for souvenirs. Some of them are the kids of the food stall owners and some are the kids of maintenance staff. I asked a few why they weren't in school, "I go the school in the morning." was the answer. I'm guessing, not. Most left me alone when I said no but persistent little guy kept asking where I was from.
Are you from France?
No
Are you from England?
No
Are you from Australia?
No
Are you from America?
No
Well, where are you from?
I'm from a country where the people are cheap and never buy souvenirs
...are you from Holland?
My last stop of the day was Banteay Kdei which was a single level temple poorly designed and quite possibly poorly constructed. There is no lateral bracing in these buildings so much of the construction has fallen like a house of cards. Apparently poor quality stone was used as well. There were some beautifully decorated courtyards still somewhat intact.
On the way home I decided to take the road less traveled (by tour buses.) The Angkor police waved me over because they were worried I would get lost going back to town. The female office then spent about 15 minutes with me reviewing my trip itinerary, made some suggestions and gave me the number of a good tuk-tuk driver. Then I dropped the bike off to get it tuned up as requested and had a mango/pineapple shake across the road. Great day, nice people.
Today's route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245635993
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