A little over a thousand years ago the Khmer Empire straddled what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and a big lump of China. The site of Angkor Thom is the empire’s most notable legacy. There was an immense city here that included such majestic temples as Angkor Wat. The city was a product of immense wealth, the seat of great power and a centre for art, architecture and other aesthetic achievements. Up to a million people lived here – one of the most populous cities of the medieval world. Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor Thom‘s elaborate water management network was the most extensive pre-industrial urban complex in the world.
It all started to go wrong in the 14th century. Probably a combination of events that included the usual social and political upheavals of a myriad of waring factions. An ecological failure caused by a series of droughts and floods driven by erratic monsoons which led to an infrastructure breakdown. Even a plague has been suggested. The dominant religion changed from Hinduism to Buddhism. The jungle moved in and as is the way of great empires, it all fell apart and mostly disappeared.
Today, Angkor Wat and some other temples remain. Still the largest religious complex in the world and still an active Buddhist temple. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and became one of the world’s great tourist attractions. In 1993, there were 7,650 visitors. By 2018 this had risen to 2.6 million. We thought we had better go and have a look.
It was hot. It is always hot in Cambodia. It was also sunny. That was a change from the previous couple of days. It was a long day. We did a lot of walking. visited a lot of temples. I can only remember the names of some of them. We had a local guide. He made things a lot easier. Not just showing us around but also explaining stuff as we went. I am sure we would not have seen half as much without him.
We started off with the big one. Angkor Wat. There were a lot of people there. A lot of cameras. A lot of selfies. A lot of that very Asian thing where she stands there making odd hand gestures and he takes lots of photographs. To take photographs of the temple without many people in the way was quite difficult.
We discovered that there is a lot of detail in the temple. Just about every surface is covered in carvings. Some decorative, some of religious significance and many depicting epic stories and histories. Our guide described some of the more interesting points but we had to skip over the vast majority of what we saw.
Much of the temple is very run down. Some of the entry ticket price is used for restoration. More work is done by teams sponsored by different countries. China is spending a lot of money on the place. Even with all of this, the scale of the work is daunting. There is also the inevitable tension between preservation and renovation. Do you simply stop things getting worse or do you try and rebuild some of the former glory?
At the very centre of Angkor Wat is a structure several floors high. You can climb up here via some extraordinarily steep steps. The view is terrific and we could catch a bit of a breeze. This was very welcome as the climb up had made me sufficiently hot as to feel quite uncomfortable. Diane flaked out with the heat when we were in Papua New Guinea, so I was keeping a close eye on her.
The next temple was Ta Prohm. Also known as the “Tomb Raider Temple”. Angelina Jolie was here, albeit briefly, filming some of the iconic scenes in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001). The temple was built without mortar. Since it was abandoned, many trees have taken root and are now in the process of systematically demolishing the temple. Looks fantastic. The combination of tree roots and ancient masonry is remarkably picturesque and evocative. The problem now, is that if left alone, the trees will dismantle every last wall. Nobody advocates killing the trees so the renovation plan needs to be exceptionally long term. New trees are plucked from the walls when they are barely formed saplings. The existing trees will die eventually. When each one finally gives up the ghost, it will be removed and the walls reinstated. The trees can last hundreds of years. Only a small part of the lifetime of the temple but still long enough that some patience will be required.
We walked on and passed a temple that was being rebuilt. Like many of the structures here it looked less like a temple and more like a pile of stones. Some clever people have been using modern technology to help put it back together. First of all, each stone is assigned a number. Then they are all scanned using a 3D scanner. A Lidar or similar is used so the stones do not need to be moved. Finally, a computer builds a 3D model of how the temple may have looked. It uses the positions and shapes of the stones. It considers the architecture of adjoining and contempory buildings. All clever stuff. The final output is a complete plan showing where each stone needs to go and which stones are missing or broken.
Our guide pointed out a small carving that looked like a dinosaur. Nobody knew about dinosaurs back in the 12th century. Fossils had not been identified or even known about. So how come a picture of a stegosaurus? Proof of aliens, I expect.
Our last temple was the Bayon Temple. At one time this must have been magnificent. Multiple towers each carved with faces looking in the cardinal directions. Sadly, all looking a bit battered now. There were also many wall carvings and a rather nice Buddha statue. Our guide thought this was probably only a couple of hundred years old. Inside the temple was a bit of a labyrinth. I was not really sure of the purpose of so many small tunnels. But we did find a corner with some bats in.
The South Gate to the ancient walled city of Angkor Thom is known locally as Tonle Om. It is the best-preserved and most famous entrance located to the north of Angkor Wat. So, I have no idea why it is called the South Gate. It is 23 m high and features more massive stone faces along with a bridge lined by gods and demon. The figures on the bridge hold a giant serpent, a naga, to depict the Hindu creation myth of churning the cosmic ocean. We paused here briefly for some photographs while dodging traffic. The road goes straight through the middle of the gate.
That was the end of a long, sweltering day. Really fascinating and wonderful way to get all your steps in. Next day we were to set off on a river cruise.
