Angkor Thom is the ancient capital of the Khmer Kingdom and is a magnificent spectacle. The Bayon is famous for its BAS relief and the carvings depict much of the history of the time. In particular, their defeat of the Cham armies is well documented. From there we moved onto the Elephant Terraces and then to Angkor Thom. What was particularly good was the fact that our guide didn't go over the top with his spiel on each of the main attractions. Our guide in 2010 talked incessantly in very hot conditions and lost us, and, in addition took us to 6 temples. This time I limited it to the big 3 and this proved a wise move as the group was pretty much tired out by the time we finished at Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat lived up to everyone's expectations and it's sheer size and grandeur amazes. We arrived around 3pm and the late afternoon light looked great on the stone. We were also lucky that there was a little cloud cover with the occasional sunshine so while it was hot, it was bearable. It was a Buddhist holiday today so there were many monks in the complex and they had closed off the upper level of the temple for Buddhist prayer.
Most people were pretty drained after the visit to the temples so the pool was too good to resist on our return. Tinh had organized a meal at the Apsara dancing show and I'd have to say I wasn't looking forward to it after a previous experience in a big venue. This venue turned out be very modern and intimate and we enjoyed the traditional dancers. The food was good as well and the whole evening was a fitting farewell to Cambodia.
No comments:
Post a Comment