It was an early morning rise to meet our Tuk Tuk driver for today Mr Kaka. He would be sending us out onto the grand circuit of Ankgor Wat. These are a lot of the less known temples or at least less frequently visited.
On the way in we went past some of the temples from the last tour it was cool as it was like a best of hits from the other day.
Our first stop today was Preah Khan temple. Preah Khan was built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII to honor his father. It was said to have housed almost 100,000 officials and servants. When we arrived one of the Angkor Wat workers took it upon himself to borrow my phone and treat us to a photo shoot on the outside of the temple. He moved us around and told us where to stand and what poses to make. He hardly spoke english but he was pretty funny. Also his photos turned out pretty good.
After our photo shoot we got to head into the temple. This temple was my absolute favourite temple of the 2 days. It was stunning, still a little rustic and looked a little unexplored. The rooms were beautiful and it really looked like something out of Indiana Jones. It also helps is there was hardly any tourists at this time in the morning.
We next headed to a very different temple which was still Constructed during the era of king Jayavarman VII. Neak Pean is one of the most unique temples as it is located on a man-made island at the center of a massive lake. You have to walk over a bridge through lily pads and dragon flies to get to get the temple. It is a weird one as its not overly spectacular but it is very interesting design.
Back in the tuk tuk we headed to our next destination which was Tam Som Temple. It is a bit of a smaller temple and is similar to Preah Khan and others. There were some bats in this temple which was different. It was a nice easy walk around so it was a good one to explore.
Next we moved onto a very different style of temple. East Mebon temple is the oldest temple we visited being built during the reign of King Rajendravarman (reign 944 to 968 AD) it was build with much different sandstone and had some really big elephant statues on it to. Apparently back in its hey day it would have been surrounded by water.
We then made a stop at the next Pre Rup which was built in the same time period. It was so hot at this point that we decided to just walk the base of it and not wander up the stairs.
We asked to be dropped back a Tra Prohm as one of my friends was telling us there was a stegosaurus there that we did not see. We headed through the temple again and found what Erin was talking about. It does look like a stegosaurus. Here is some information I found on this bas relief
” Several different theories have been advanced to explain its presence. Some maintain it’s a recently-carved hoax, while others say that the ancient Khmers could have unearthed a fossil and figured out what kind of creature it belonged to. One theory has it that the image actually shows a cow or rhino with a palm tree in the background - the palm’s fronds being easily mistaken for the fin-like blades running down a stegosaurus’s back.”
It was a really cool thing to go and find. I love obscure things like this.
We called it a day here. Grabbed some lunch near the temples which was alright and then came back to rest. We headed back out for some coffee from common grounds which is a great organisation. Their mission is to provide on the job vocational training to Cambodians that desire to develop their skills and gain experience to work in the food and beverage industry. They also use 100% of their profit to fund humanitarian relief projects through People For Care And Learning in Cambodia.
Then it was dinner at a great place called Socheata Restaurant which we saw recommend on the you tube channel Probably lost. It was delicious! Then we had to come back and pack ready for a travel day tomorrow.
