16th August 2012.
This day was our 37th anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than by visiting Angkor!
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara, meaning "city".
To quote from the Lonely Planet:
Angkor is one of the most impressive ancient sites on earth, the eighth wonder of the world, with
the epic proportions of the Great Wall of China, the detail and intricacy of the Taj Mahal, and the symbolism and symmetry of the pyramids, all rolled into one.
The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) and 6km north of the town of Siem Reap.
The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored.
Angkor Wat, with its distinctive towers, has become a symbol of Cambodia, and features on Cambodia’s national flag. More about Angkor Wat later.
In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate system of infrastructure connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres to the well-known temples at its core.
Angkor Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. At the same time, it was also placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to looting, a declining water table, and unsustainable tourism. UNESCO has now set up a wide-ranging program to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.
Entering the park is quite a procedure. About two million tourists visit the park each year, and a large number of them were already there when we arrived, bright and early. Firstly we (and hundreds of other people) lined up to have our photo taken for our day pass. Then our group was transferred from our big bus to two small buses, as big buses were not allowed into the park – quite a headache for our guide, trying to keep track of us all in two separate buses, in amongst so many tourists, but he managed admirably.
Our guide Sirkan managed to keep smiling as he shepherded us through the masses at the arrival gate at Angkor.
Then we set off to visit our first temple.
This day was our 37th anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than by visiting Angkor!
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara, meaning "city".
To quote from the Lonely Planet:
Angkor is one of the most impressive ancient sites on earth, the eighth wonder of the world, with
the epic proportions of the Great Wall of China, the detail and intricacy of the Taj Mahal, and the symbolism and symmetry of the pyramids, all rolled into one.
The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) and 6km north of the town of Siem Reap.
The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored.
Angkor Wat, with its distinctive towers, has become a symbol of Cambodia, and features on Cambodia’s national flag. More about Angkor Wat later.
In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate system of infrastructure connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres to the well-known temples at its core.
Angkor Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. At the same time, it was also placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to looting, a declining water table, and unsustainable tourism. UNESCO has now set up a wide-ranging program to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.
Entering the park is quite a procedure. About two million tourists visit the park each year, and a large number of them were already there when we arrived, bright and early. Firstly we (and hundreds of other people) lined up to have our photo taken for our day pass. Then our group was transferred from our big bus to two small buses, as big buses were not allowed into the park – quite a headache for our guide, trying to keep track of us all in two separate buses, in amongst so many tourists, but he managed admirably.
Our guide Sirkan managed to keep smiling as he shepherded us through the masses at the arrival gate at Angkor.
Then we set off to visit our first temple.
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