December 2005 - Siem Reap Cambodia

Our first stop on our Xmas 2005 trip was Siem Reap Cambodia.  Nestled between rice paddies and stretched along the Siem Reap River, the small provincial capital of Siem Reap serves as the gateway to the millennium-old temple ruins of the Angkorian-era Khmer Empire.  Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including Bayon, Banteay Srey, and the legendary Angkor Wat whose artistic and archaeological significance and visual impact put it in a class with the Pyramids, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.  And though the major temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park are well visited these days, it is still possible to get away from the crowds, to explore the area and discover the ancient temples of Angkor. While everyone has heard of the Angkor Wat temple, we were equally impressed with some of the other temples we visited during this 3 day visit.  This gave us a full 2 days to visit several temples and a half day to visit a silk factory.  You could easily spend a week or more here if you really wanted to take your time and explore the many temples and were really into the history and architecture.  See below for a description and pictures of the temples we visited. Angkor Balloon ride near entrance to Angkor Wat temple - tethered to the ground it takes you up to 180 meters for a birds-eye view of the surroundings.  Although it was hazy when we went up in the balloon it was an enjoyable trip. Cambodia Facts Country name: Kingdom of Cambodia Motto: Nation - Religion - King Capital City: Phnom Penh Languages: Khmer, secondary English and French Ethnic Groups: Khmer (95%), ethnic-Vietnamese, ethnic-Chinese, Cham, several ethno-linguistic minority groups (hill tribes) in the northeast Population: 13.1 million (2001 estimate) Religions: Theravada Buddhism (97%), Islam, Christianity, Animism, Caodaism Land Area: 10,229 square km Currency: Riel (US$ approx. 4000R) Climate: Cambodia has 4 seasons: 1) November-February, cool/dry, 2) March-May, hot/dry, 3) June-August, hot/wet, 4) September - October, cool/wet. The hottest days of the hot season rarely climb above 35° Celsius, though the sun can be quite intense.  The cool , push the mercury as low as 20° Celsius.  The monsoons between June and October follow a regular pattern, clear mornings with 1-3 hour rains in the afternoon. Visas & Entry requirements: A passport with at least 4 month validity is required.  A visa is required for most nationalities.  One-month visas are available on arrival at the international airports.  Tourist visa: US$20 Airport departure tax: International US$25 Temple admission fee: You must possess an admission pass to visit the temples and sites in the Angkor Archaeological Park.  Passes are sold in one-day (US$20), three-day (US$40) and seven-day (US$60) blocks.  A one-day visit allows you to see the highlights of the most famous temples but very little more. Three days is sufficient to visit all of the major temples once, a few of the minor ones and have a little extra time at your favorites.  Seven days is enough time to really explore some of your favorite ruins and visit many of the minor structures as well.  One passport-sized photo must be provided at time of purchase of three and seven day passes. How we got there We flew from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia on Vietnam Airlines.  This was a relatively short flight of about 1 hour.  Service was ok and about what would be expected for a short duration flight. Where we stayed We stayed at the newly opened Le Meridien Angkor which is the closest hotel to the Angkor Wat temple complex.  This is a new, very modern hotel which offered all the amenities you would expect at a hotel of this caliber.  Prices were high by local standards (about US$160/night) but not by international standards for a hotel of this standard.  We ate most of our meals at the hotel as the onsite restaurants were very good and reasonably priced.  We would recommend this hotel for anyone planning on visiting Siem Reap.  Click here to see more photos from around the hotel. History of Angkor "Angkor" literally means "Capital City" or "Holy City".  Khmer refers to the dominant ethnic group in modern and ancient Cambodia.  In its modern usage, Angkor has come to refer to the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed in the area of Cambodia between the 9th and 12th centuries.  The temple ruins in the area of Siem Reap are the remnants of the Angkorian capitals, and represent the pinnacle of the ancient Khmer architecture, are and civilization. At its height, the Age of Angkor was a time when the capital area contained more than a million people, when Khmer kings constructed vast waterworks and grand temples, and when Angkor's military, economic and cultural dominance held sway over the area of modern Cambodia and much of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. The First Century : Indianisation Southeast Asia has been inhabited since the Neolithic era but the seeds of Angkorian civilization were sown in the 1st century.  At the turn of the millennium, Southeast Asia was becoming a hub in a vast commercial trading network that stretched from the Mediterranean to China.  Indian and Chinese traders began arriving in the region in greater numbers, exposing the indigenous people to their cultures, though it was Indian culture that took hold, perhaps through the efforts of Brahman priests.  Indian culture, religion (Hinduism and Buddhism), law, political theory, science and writing spread through the region over a period of several centuries, gradually being adopted by existing states and giving rise to new Indianised princedoms. The Beginning Jayavarman II was the first king of the Angkorian era, though his origins are recorded in history that borders on legend.  He is reputed to have been a Khmer prince, returned to Cambodia around 790AD after a lengthy, perhaps forced stay in the royal court in Java.  Regardless of his origin, he was a warrior who, upon returning to Cambodia, subdued enough of the competing Khmer states to declare a sovereign and unified "Kambuja" under a single ruler.  He made his declaration in 802AD in a ceremony on Kulen Mountain (Phnom Kulen) north of Siem Reap, where he held a 'god-king' rite that legitimized his 'universal kingship' through the establishment of a royal linga-worshipping cult.  The linga-cult would remain central to Angkorian kingship, religion, art and architecture for centuries. Roluos : The 'First' Capital After 802AD, Jayavarman II continued to pacify rebellious areas and enlarge his kingdom.  Before 802AD, he had briefly based himself at a pre-Angkorian settlement near the modern town of Roluos (13km southeast of Siem Reap).  For some reason, perhaps due to military considerations, he moved from the Roluos area to the Kulen Mountains.  Sometime after establishing his kingship in 802AD, he moved the capital back to the Roluos area, which he named Hariharalaya in honor of the combined god of Shiva and Vishnu.  He reigned from Hariharalaya until his death in 850AD. Thirty years after Jayavarman II's death, King Indravaraman III constructed the temple of Preah Ko, the first major member of the 'Roluos Group', in honor of Jayavarman II.  He then constructed Bakong, which was the first grand project to follow the temple-mountain architectural formula.  When visiting these temples, note the deep, rich, detailed artistic style in the carvings that where characteristic of the period. The Capital Moves to Angkor Indravarman III's son, Yasovarman I, carried on the tradition of his father, building the East Baray as well as the last major temple of the Roluos Group (Lolei), and the first major temple in the Angkor area (Phnom Bakheng).  Upon completing Phnom Bakheng in 893AD, he moved his capital to the newly named Yasodhara-pura in the Angkor area.  The move may have been sparked by Yasovarman I's violent, confrontation with his brother for the throne, which left the Royal Palace at Roluos in ashes.  With one exception, the capital would reside in the Angkor area for the next 500 years. The exception took place in 928AD when, for reasons that remain unclear, there was a disruption in the royal succession.  King Jayavarman IV moved the capital 100km from Angkor north to Koh Ker, where it remained for 20 years.  When the capital returned to Angkor, it centered not at Phnom Bakheng as it had before, but further east at the new state-temple Pre Rup (961AD). Apogee : The Khmer Empire at Angkor An era of territorial, political and commercial expansion followed the return to Angkor.  Royal courts flourished and constructed several major monuments including Ta Keo, Banteay Srey, Baphuon and West Baray.  Kings of the period exercised their military muscle, including King Rajendravarman who led successful campaigns against the eastern enemy of Champa in the mid 10th century.  Just after the turn of the millennium, there was a 9 year period of political upheaval that ended when King Suryavarman I seized firm control in 1010AD.  In the following decades, he led the Khmer to many important military victories including conquering the Mon Empire to the west (capturing much of the area of modern Thailand), thereby bringing the entire western portion of old Funan under Khmer control.  A century later, King Suryavarman II led several successful campaigns against the Khmer's traditional eastern enemy Champa, in central and southern Vietnam. Under Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, the empire was at its political/territorial apex.  Appropriate to the greatness of the times, Suryavarman II produced Angkor's most spectacular architectural creation, Angkor Wat, as well as other monuments such as Thommanon, Banteay Samre and Beng Melea.  Angkor Wat was constructed as Suryavarman II's state-temple and perhaps as his funerary temple.  Extensive battles scenes from his campaigns against Champa are recorded in the superb bas-reliefs on the south wall of Angkor Wat. By the last 12th century, rebellious states in the provinces, unsuccessful campaigns, against the Vietnamese Tonkin, and internal conflicts all began to weaken the empire.  In 1165, during a turbulent period when Khmer and Cham princes plotted and fought both together and against one another, a usurper named Tribhuvanadityavarman seized power at Angkor. In 1177 the usurper was killed in one of the worst defeats suffered by the Khmers at the hands of the Cham.  Champa, apparently in collusion with some Khmer factions, launched a sneak naval attack on Angkor.  A Cham fleet sailed up the Tonle Sap River onto the great Tonle Sap Lake just south of the capital city.  Naval and land battles ensued in which the city was assaulted, burned and occupied by the Cham.  The south wall of Bayon displays bas-reliefs of a naval battle, but it is unclear whether it is a depiction of the battle of 1177 or some later battle. Jayavarman VII : The Monument Builder The Cham controlled Angkor for four years until the legendary Jayavarman VII mounted a series of counter attacks over a period of years.  He drove the Cham from Cambodia in 1181.  After the Cham defeat, Jayavarman VII was declared king.  He broke with almost 400 years of tradition and made Mahayana Buddhism the state religion, and immediately began Angkor's most prolific period of monument building. Jayavarman VII's building campaign was unprecedented and took place at a frenetic pace.  Hundreds of monuments were constructed in less than a 40 year period.  Jayavarman VII's works include Bayon with its famous giant faces, his capital city of Angkor Thom, the temples of Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei and Preah Khan, and hundreds of others.  The monuments of this period, though myriad and grand, are often less architecturally confused and artistically inferior to earlier periods, seemingly due in part to the haste with which they were rendered. Jayavarman VII's prodigious building campaign represents the finale of the Khmer empire as no further grand monuments were constructed after his death in 1220.  Construction on some monuments, notably Bayon, stopped short of completion, probably coinciding with Jayavarman VII's death.  His successor, Indravarman II continued construction on some Jayavarman VII monuments with limited success. The End of a Era Though the monument building had come to a halt, the capital remained active for years.  Chinese emissary Zhou Daguan visited Angkor in the late 13th century and described a vibrant city in his classic, 'Customs of Cambodia'. Hinduism made a comeback under Jayabarman VIII in the late 13th century during which most of Angkor's Buddhist monuments were systematically defaced.  Look for the chipped out Buddha images on almost all of Jayavarman VII's Buddhist monuments.  Literally thousands of Buddha images have been removed in what must have been a huge investment of destructive effort.  Interestingly, some Buddha images were crudely altered into Hindu lingas and Bodhisattvas.  There are some good examples of altered images at Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. Jayavarman VIII constructed the final Brahmanic monument at Angkor - the small tower East Prasat Top in Angkor Thom.  After Jayavarman VIII's death, Buddhism returned to Cambodia but in a different form.  Instead of Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism took hold and remains the dominant religion in Cambodia to this day. After the 13th century, Angkor suffered repeated invasions by the Thai from the west, pressuring the Khmer and contributing to the capital being moved from Angkor.  After a seven month siege on Angkor in 1431, King Ponhea Yat moved the capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh in 1432.  This moved may also have marked a shift from an agrarian-based economy to a trade based economy, in which a river junction location like Phnom Penh rather than the inland area of Angkor would be more advantageous.  After the move to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia moved a couple of more times, first to Lovek and then Oudong, before finally settling permanently in Phnom Penh in 1866. After the capital moved from Angkor, the temples remained active, though their function changed over the years.  Angkor Wat was visited several times by western explorers and missionaries between the 16th and 19th century, but it is Henri Mouhot who is popularly credited with the 'discovery of Angkor Wat in 1860'.  His book, 'Travels in Siam, Cambodia, Laos and Annam' is credited with bringing Angkor its first tourist boom. Temples Visited Below is a listing of the temples we visited.  Click on each photo to read about each temple and view pictures from each temple.  We also visited a silk factory on our last day which was very interesting. Angkor Wat Temple Angkor Thom Entrance Angkor Thom Temple Bonteay Srey Elephant Terrace Leper King Temple Preah Khan Bayon Temple Pre Rup Temple Tha Prohm Temple Silk factory tour Trip Video You can view below a video compilation which includes the temples we visited along with the visit to a silk factory (approximately 30 minutes/34 megabytes). Some useful Web Links -Lonely Planet Guide to Cambodia -Cambodia Travel Professional -Mekong Travel and Tourism -CIA World Fact Book on Cambodia -Angkor Wat Information Pages -Cambodian Cyber Culture -The Angkor Wat Portal