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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2009 16:59:36 GMT
I have a whole lot of photos taken around Angkor Wat and the other temples, but since the experience is a jumble in my mind, I think it is more honest to present the jumble of photos, rather than trying to make a documentary presentation of them. Anybody who wants to read about this incredible temple complex can find more than enough on the internet about Angkor, the Bayon, Ta Phrom, Bantay Srei and all of the others -- they are all different, and they are all spectacular in different ways. I will however mention that most of the photos showing jungle trees and vines trying to rip apart the temple (and succeeding) are from Ta Phrom. Everybody finds the battle between vegetation and stones amazing, but most people don't know that all of the temples looked like this before they were restored. All of the ones that look "nice" were taken apart and painstakingly put back together, stone by stone. Ta Phrom was left in its fantastic "ruined" condition on purpose, just to show what the temples look like when they have been left in nature's grip. Anyway, this is a first set of ten photos, but I will be adding more in the near future.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 4, 2009 17:46:24 GMT
Lovely photographs. Not wanting to rush the temple experience I stayed a week at Siem Reap and visited two temples a day. Similar to your experience, they are a jumble in my mind. Of course one week wasn't long enough. A one month visit would be ideal enabling one to take days off now and then. I was exhausted after one week but felt I had to keep going.
I hope you don't mind if I also post temple photos, in due course.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 4, 2009 19:56:29 GMT
So mysterious and fascinating! In their own way, these are just as beautiful as the fixed-up temples.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 4, 2009 20:49:15 GMT
They were all like this one.
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Post by bazfaz on Apr 4, 2009 21:07:24 GMT
It is the temples that haven't been cleaned up that stay in my mind. I loved the jungle encroaching.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2009 23:03:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 5:43:49 GMT
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Post by spindrift on Apr 5, 2009 7:56:04 GMT
K - did you climb up those steep steps? They're very dangerous. I've heard that people have fallen off them and died. I followed my partner up them but I didn't like it and I couldn't look down. I was relieved there was a hand-rail on the stairs down. But once up at the top there was a lovely view and this interesting place
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 10:06:55 GMT
Yes, I climbed those steps. I also just about made a group of four Americans fall down them as they neared the top, because they were laughing too hard. I had recovered from the climb and was looking at the people suffering below me. These people seemed particularly out of shape, so I just couldn't resist and said, "Hey, didn't you guys know that there's an escalator on the back side?" I think they were giddy from the effort and they just collapsed on the steps.
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Post by Jazz on Apr 5, 2009 15:33:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 16:17:29 GMT
I just found the second half of my Angkor Wat photo collection, so I will be spending more time in scanning hell soon. In the meantime, here are some more of the photos that have already been scanned.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 5, 2009 16:32:28 GMT
I just can't believe how beautiful these temples are! The "red" one (4th from bottom in Reply #5) takes my breath away.
And I know this is an ignorant thing to say, but I had no idea that so much delicate detail had survived the centuries. I can't stop marveling at the pics in Reply #10.
Kerouac, this is so great. I hardly ever feel that I get to see enough when looking at pictures of archeological sites. They're usually chosen to give an iconically touristic view, and don't really give a feel for the place. Sorry to sound greedy, but ~~ more! more!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 16:38:04 GMT
The red temple is Bantay Srei, one of the most difficult ones to get to, about an hour by dirt road beyond the main temple area. The first time I went to Angkor, it had only just reopened again, because there was still some residual Khmer Rouge guerilla activity in the area and two tourists had been killed about six months earlier.
There was also a major warning to never step off the paths, because the area had not been demined yet. (Cambodia is the country with the highest percentage of amputees in the world, and you really see lots of them, often children.)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 17:36:09 GMT
In recent years, the temples have regained a certain amount of religious activity, which is only normal. You can see a bit of it in some of the following photos.
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Post by Jazz on Apr 5, 2009 18:36:13 GMT
The first three photos are remarkable.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 5, 2009 18:44:28 GMT
The places shown are so big. Were they properly temple complexes with monasteries and other things as part of them?
I'm assuming the ruins belong to the country. Who installs the contemporary statues and their accoutrement? Are the monks in the photos visitors, or do they stay there to maintain the premises?
Sorry about all the questions, but this is so interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 19:04:31 GMT
There are some residential monasteries next to some of the temples. Obviously the cheesy plaster (and sometimes plastic) statues are contemporary.
As for the missing heads on so many statues, you can admire them in the private residences of the rich and powerful all over the world, plus of course a minority of them in museums.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 19:14:50 GMT
I'm sure that the Buddhist monks would be just as happy if we brought them some garden gnomes.
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Post by onlymark on Apr 5, 2009 19:47:20 GMT
Bixa - I don't want hijack this thread but I thought I'd quickly mention that if "I had no idea that so much delicate detail had survived the centuries" do a quick image search on Khajuraho in India. You'll come up with a page of things like this - eehard.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/khajuraho7.jpgThey are about a thousand years old(?) Peek first if you are of a sensitive nature. Sorry Kerouac, as again, good photos.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 5, 2009 20:53:37 GMT
Well, that was pointless, childish, and perhaps even a little hostile, Mark.
I live in the shadow of a ruin that is estimated to be as much as 2,000 years old. I did not see fit to mention that here because it's not in Cambodia. I was asking about a specific ruin in Cambodia. Cambodia: the country featured in this thread, not India.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 5, 2009 22:04:38 GMT
Most enjoyable viewing. Thank you.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 6, 2009 1:33:42 GMT
It's all beautiful and interesting, but those friezes just blow me away. I guess I should do some research instead of badgering you with questions. Okay - one question: are the purposes & history & inscriptions all deciphered & known?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 5:03:48 GMT
Actually, there is quite a close link between Indian art and Cambodian art. Most of Angkor Wat is considered to be of Indian inspiration.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 5:31:29 GMT
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Post by onlymark on Apr 6, 2009 6:11:57 GMT
Oh dear........
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Post by spindrift on Apr 6, 2009 8:00:06 GMT
I brought back a book on the temples. I can look it up.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 8:25:04 GMT
It's all beautiful and interesting, but those friezes just blow me away. I guess I should do some research instead of badgering you with questions. Okay - one question: are the purposes & history & inscriptions all deciphered & known? Sorry, I had missed the question. All of the friezes tell in intricate detail the story of various battles and reigns and every image has a specific significance, even the number of spokes on a wheel or which way an elephant is facing. What would really blow you away, Bixa, is that you find these things out from the 'temple children' who tell you these things in lengthy detail and are able to answer any additional question that you may ask. They are disappointed if you give them anything less than US$1 after 30 minutes of explanation, but I confess that I have benefited from free tours a couple of times when I told the temple children 'I don't have any money on me, so you can talk to me if you want, but I can't give you anything.' I would even turn my pockets inside out to prove it. Often, they would say, 'Okay, good to practice my French (or English), nobody else here right now anyway.' When you wonder how a ten year old can be fluent in English, French, Thai, German and Japanese (and some in Italian and Korean), they say things like 'I go to school in the afternoon.'
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Post by hwinpp on Apr 8, 2009 5:20:15 GMT
I love Angkor. When I was still living in Siem Reap I'd go there at least once a week (I have a special pass ). I had friends in the villages surrounding the Angkor Thom moats and I've even been to weddings there. Re the girls selling trinkets: Girl: Hello mister, buy one only 1 dollar, please! Me (showing wrist): How is that going to fit? Girl: Buy for your wife! Me: Not married. Girl: Buy for your girlfriend! Me: No girlfriend! Girl: If I find GF for you will you buy?
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Post by hwinpp on Apr 9, 2009 8:47:03 GMT
Beautiful photos, K2.
Yes, most of the temples and ruins are dedicated to Hindu gods.
A major exception are the temples built by Jayavarman VII, who was Buddhist. And one of the biggest builders. His Buddhas got defaced after he died and Hinduism came back (until Theravada Buddhism arrived).
For Indians, it's either a pilgrimage to Angkor, or a honeymoon.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2009 5:13:48 GMT
Some tourists apparently require this sort of experience. The divinities must be fed.
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