16th August, 2012 (our 37th wedding anniversary).
This was such a huge day that I’m struggling to remember the sequence of events. We definitely walked over the Naga Bridge and through the South Gate. Then I think we boarded our two minibuses, which must have appeared from somewhere, and drove a bit over a kilometre to the Bayon Temple, right at the centre of Angkor Thom.
When we hopped out of our buses near the Bayon Temple, the first thing to catch the eye was an elephant. I get very excited about elephants, and Meredith, the youngest member of our group, would dearly have loved to have a ride, but our guide urged us along, saying that unfortunately, our schedule was too tight to allow for elephant rides.
Little did we realise just how much more he had in store for us that day.
Here is the Bayon waiting for us between the trees.
The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.
How many stone faces can you see here? Altogether, there are 216 gigantic faces on the temple's towers.
Stone faces up close:
Like the faces on the devas and asuras on the Naga Bridge leading to the South Gate, these faces might represent:
Some temple lions …..
….. and of course some nagas.
Here I am, looking out a window. At least it was shady and several degrees cooler in here.
We didn’t exactly have the Bayon to ourselves.
Apsaras are beautiful, supernatural female beings. They are youthful and elegant, and superb in the art of dancing.
There were some real live Apsara dancers you could pay to be photographed with. They only seemed to smile when they were having a paid photo taken.
The outer wall of the outer gallery features a series of bas-reliefs depicting historical events and scenes from the everyday life of the Angkorian Khmer.
Here are some battle scenes. The Khmer soldiers are the ones with the long ears (a sign of wisdom).
My favourite views of the Bayon were looking back as we left. The velvety green grass lent a magical quality to the scene - it was like looking through a window into the mysterious past.
This was such a huge day that I’m struggling to remember the sequence of events. We definitely walked over the Naga Bridge and through the South Gate. Then I think we boarded our two minibuses, which must have appeared from somewhere, and drove a bit over a kilometre to the Bayon Temple, right at the centre of Angkor Thom.
When we hopped out of our buses near the Bayon Temple, the first thing to catch the eye was an elephant. I get very excited about elephants, and Meredith, the youngest member of our group, would dearly have loved to have a ride, but our guide urged us along, saying that unfortunately, our schedule was too tight to allow for elephant rides.
Little did we realise just how much more he had in store for us that day.
Here is the Bayon waiting for us between the trees.
The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.
How many stone faces can you see here? Altogether, there are 216 gigantic faces on the temple's towers.
Stone faces up close:
Like the faces on the devas and asuras on the Naga Bridge leading to the South Gate, these faces might represent:
- King Jayavarman VII himself
- the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
- guardians of the empire's cardinal points
- some combination of these
Some temple lions …..
….. and of course some nagas.
Here I am, looking out a window. At least it was shady and several degrees cooler in here.
We didn’t exactly have the Bayon to ourselves.
Apsaras are beautiful, supernatural female beings. They are youthful and elegant, and superb in the art of dancing.
There were some real live Apsara dancers you could pay to be photographed with. They only seemed to smile when they were having a paid photo taken.
The outer wall of the outer gallery features a series of bas-reliefs depicting historical events and scenes from the everyday life of the Angkorian Khmer.
Here are some battle scenes. The Khmer soldiers are the ones with the long ears (a sign of wisdom).
My favourite views of the Bayon were looking back as we left. The velvety green grass lent a magical quality to the scene - it was like looking through a window into the mysterious past.
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