Far East and Pacific Adventure 2014: Angkor Wat and the Floating Village

The area of Angkor is the earthly representation of Mt. Meru, the Mt. Olympus of the Hindu faith and the home of ancient gods. Angkor Wat is the worlds largest religious building and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is believed that this religious, political and social center of the Khmer empire boasted a population of over one million when London was still only 50,000. The complex was built and improved by a succession of royals beginning about AD 802 to 1432. While there are hundreds of temples in the Angkor area, Angkor Wat is the main location. It was built by Suryavarman II who reigned from AD 1112-1152. Those who really love this site speak of it as having the epic proportions of the Great Wall of China, the intricacy of the Taj Mahal, and the symbolism and symmetry of the Great Pyramids all rolled into one.

Our plan was to capture the grandeur of Angkor Wat (AW) at sunrise. So off we went at 5:00 AM. The only problem was we had had an early morning thunderstorm. This is how AW looks in rain and overcast skies at 6:00AM.

An idea of the weather.

But the sun eventually came out and that was the last we saw of rain. The approach to AW is across this manmade moat and main gate. The main building is about 1/4 mile past this gate. The pictures below were taken at two different times during the day so you may see some differences in lighting. I’ve combined both visits into one for the best continuity of sharing our visit to AW.

Inside the gate. You can see AW in the background. It appears offset because we used a side entrance we knew about and avoided the crowds on the main walkway.

On the approach.

Every place we go is under restoration.

I am smiling because I just had the opportunity to tell Noreen, “Watch out for the monkey.” (You don’t get to say that very often.) One was sneaking up on her. She looked down and took the next picture.

He doesn’t look very guilty at being caught.

Neither does this one. There are monkeys all around AW but they didn’t appear to aggressive to us. However we did hear stories of monkeys stealing all kinds of things.

AW is divided into three levels; level one has all the long wall bas-relief carvings that tell stories, level two is just long corridors with little decoration, and level three is the royal and most religious level. This is a level 1 carving depicting a large battle fought between the Kauravas from the north and the Pandavas from the south. There are a total of nine bas-reliefs totaling almost 2600 feet (800 meters) around the first level. You can see the length in the first picture and some of the detail in the second. It is all white stone but over the centuries the millions of hands that have touched them and the rubbings make parts look like black marble. You are no longer allowed to touch or make rubbings of the walls.

Some carvings that depicted the Apsara dance we saw the night before.

These holes were cut into the carvings by people who thought that the stone had powers to help their deceased family members. They ground the stone up and placed it in the grave site. Another theory….they were cut by Thai soldiers who believed that the inscriptions in those areas gave clues to the buried treasure of Suryavaman II. Whatever the reason, no one cuts out pieces of the walls anymore.

There is a lot of repair work going on and you can see how much the structure has shifted in the displacement of the cross beam stone work.

A view from the back side of AW. Not many people come back here for this view.

I hate to disappoint any alien theory builders but AW was built by earthbound folks. The stone came for a quarry about 45 KM away and was transported on bamboo rafts and carried overland by poles and pulled by ropes. You can still see the holes for the poles and ropes in stones all around the structure.

Holes in flooring stones.

These pools are located throughout the structure. They are not swimming pools. When filled with water the King and religious leaders would enter the pool and the water became holy water for various uses.

This one is located on the third level. The people give you an idea of the size.

The third level was ascending to heaven and reserved for the royals and religious leaders. It was deliberately difficult to get there with very steep steps.

You can no longer use these steps due to numerous injuries. A set of modern steps has been added. Access is limited and controlled over the day. What it looks like from the top of the steps.

This Is still an active religious site and visited by many monks.

Services are being held.

These monks were praying at the shrine. Then they took pictures with their phone.

Only the top or exposed stone is white. Underneath the primary building blocks are this type of sandstone.

The large annual rainfall in the area required an intricate drainage system. Here you see flow control groves in the floor leading to drains.

Had to do a selfie….

Noreen by the Buda Shrine on Level 1.

When labor is cheaper than gasoline this is how you cut grass.

The following morning we visited the floating village of Mechreay. To get there we had to drive through an area of rice fields located on a flood plain. Most of the homes were raised above flood stage with open ground level for animal shelter.

Some other roadside views on the drive to the village. Note the power lines. They do have power in these remote areas.

People from the city build large houses in the rural area as a sign of their wealth and success.

This area supports the people who run the tourist boats to the floating village. Many of the boat drivers come for the village. They live here with the boats.

This girl had a new camera but had nothing to take pictures of outside her life here. She ran up and took pictures of us when we arrived. I took one of her and we shared views. That is a shrine and the boats in the background.